East Garo Hills district

The East Garo Hills district was formed in 1976, after the erstwhile Garo Hills district of Meghalaya was re-organised with a view to bring the administration closer to the people.

The district headquarters-complex of the district, christened as Williamnagar, after Captain Williamson A. Sangma, the founder Chief Minister of the State of Meghalaya. Williamnagar is located on the vast plainlands along the bank of the Simsang River, at Simsanggre. These plainlands are in a sense historical, as it was here that the Garos made their last major resistance to the British intrusion into Garo Hills during the year 1837. The legendary Garo leader Pa Togan Nengminja Sangma was felled by the British, in skirmish, at Chisobibra, quite close to Wiliamnagar, on 12 December 1837.

The district headquarters are located at Williamnagar. The district occupies an area of 2603 km².

The district falls under the Tura (Lok Sabha constituency) which Purno Agitok Sangma had been represented at the Lok Sabha, the Lower House of the Indian Parliament since 1975-2016. Purno Agitok Sangma had been former Union Minister and has the distinction of being the only unanimously elected Speaker of the Lok Sabha (during the 11th Lok Sabha). After his death, his son Conrad Sangma representing this constituency.{{cite news|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/congress-dragging-religion-into-meghalaya-polls-says-conrad-sangma/articleshow/63047624.cms |title=Congress dragging religion into Meghalaya polls, says Conrad Sangma |publisher=The Economic Times |date=Feb 23, 2018 |access-date=Feb 27, 2018}}

There are 3 (three) Assembly Constituencies of the Meghalaya State Legislative Assembly within the East Garo Hills District of Meghalaya. The Assembly Constituencies are as follows:

• SONGSAK (ST)
• RONGJENG (ST)
• WILLIAMNAGAR (ST)

East Garo Hills division is divided into five blocks:{{cite map |publisher=The Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India, New Delhi, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |title=Meghalaya Administrative Divisions |url=http://censusindia.gov.in/2011census/maps/administrative_maps/MEGHALAYA.pdf |language=en |format=PDF |year=2011 |access-date=2011-09-29 }}

{{East Garo Hills district image map}}

According to the 2011 census East Garo Hills district has a population of 317,917,{{cite web | url = http://www.census2011.co.in/district.php | title = District Census 2011 | access-date = 2011-09-30 | year = 2011 | publisher = Census2011.co.in}} roughly equal to the nation of The Bahamas.{{cite web | author = US Directorate of Intelligence | title = Country Comparison:Population | url = https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070613004507/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/rankorder/2119rank.html | url-status = dead | archive-date = 13 June 2007 | access-date = 2011-10-01 | quote = Bahamas, The 313,312

}} This gives it a ranking of 569th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of {{convert| 122 |PD/sqkm|PD/sqmi}} . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 26.75%. East Garo Hills has a sex ratio of 968 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 75.51%.

Garo is the most spoken language in the district, with 93.73% as of 2011. East Garo's languages include A'Tong, a Tibeto-Burman language spoken by 10,000 people in Bangladesh and India.{{cite encyclopedia | editor = M. Paul Lewis | encyclopedia = Ethnologue: Languages of the World | title = A'Tong: A language of India | url = http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=aot | access-date = 2011-09-28 | edition = 16th | year = 2009 | publisher = SIL International | location = Dallas, Texas}}

In 1986 East Garo Hills district, along with its sister districts South and West Garo Hills, became home to Nokrek National Park. The park has an area of {{convert|47|km2|mi2|abbr=on|1}}.{{cite web|author=Indian Ministry of Forests and Environment |title=Protected areas: Meghalaya |url=http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/envis/envis_pa_network/index.htm |access-date=September 25, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110823163836/http://oldwww.wii.gov.in/envis/envis_pa_network/index.htm |archive-date=August 23, 2011 }}

{{reflist}}

• [http://eastgarohills.gov.in East Garo Hills District Administration Official Website]

{{Geographic location

|Centre = East Garo Hills

|North = Goalpara district, Assam

|Northeast = Kamrup district, Assam

|East = West Khasi Hills

|Southeast =

|South = South Garo Hills

|Southwest =

|West = West Garo Hills

|Northwest =

}}

{{Meghalaya}}

{{coord|25.49546|N|90.61682|E|type:adm3rd_source:itwiki|display=title}}

Category:Districts of Meghalaya

Category:1976 establishments in Meghalaya

Category:Autonomous regions of India