Gariaband district

Gariaband District is one of the 33 districts of Chhattisgarh. It has its headquarters at Gariaband town. The district was carved out of Raipur district in 2012. The earliest history of the district is associated with Rajim. At the Rajiv Lochan temple, a 7th century inscription records the king as Vilasatunga, most likely from the Nala dynasty. The region was controlled by a variety of powers, including the Mauryas and Guptas. The Kalachuris, who conquered the territory in the 10th century CE continued to rule there until Maratha invasions in 1742. The district covers an area of . The district is bordered on the south by the Nabarangpur district of Odisha, on the east by the Kalahandi and Nuapada districts of Odisha, on the north by the Mahasamund and Raipur districts and on the west by the Dhamtari district. On the north the district is bounded by the Mahanadi river, which merges with the Pairy river near Rajim. Part of the district's southern boundary with Odisha is formed by the Tel river. The district is divided into five taluks: Gariaband (Bindranavagarh) Chhura Mainpur Khurd Deobhog Rajim The district has four urban bodies: Gariaband Municipality and Rajim, Chhura and Fingeshwar Nagar panchayats. Much of the district is covered by forest. The forest area of the district is , including Udanti Sitanadi Tiger Reserve, making up over half the district area. The present Collector and District Magistrate of Gariaband is Chhattar Singh Dehre (IAS). Shri Bhojram Patel is the Superintendent of Police of Gariaband District. According to the 2011 census, the population of the district was 597,653, of which 40,454 (6.77%) live in urban areas. The sex ratio was 1020 and the literacy rate was 68.26%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 17.97% and 36.14% of the population respectively. Tribals made up 48% of Chhura taluk and were the majority in Gariaband and Mainpur taluks. According to the 2011 census 69.48% of the population speaks Chhattisgarhi, 22.95% Odia, 5.10% Hindi and 1.19% Marathi as their first language.