Amravati district is an administrative district in the Vidarbha region of the state of Maharashtra, India. The city of Amravati serves as its administrative headquarters and as the divisional headquarters of the Amravati Division, which also includes Akola, Buldhana, Washim and Yavatmal districts.
| Key facts | |
|---|---|
| State | Maharashtra |
| Division | Amravati Division |
| Headquarters | Amravati |
| Region | Vidarbha |
| Country | India |
Amravati district lies in the northern part of Vidarbha. It is bounded by the Satpura Range and the state of Madhya Pradesh to the north, while neighbouring districts in Maharashtra include Wardha to the east, Yavatmal to the south, Washim and Akola to the south-west and west, and Betul (in Madhya Pradesh) to the north. The northern hilly tracts include the Melghat region, part of the Gawilgarh Hills, while the southern portion forms part of the fertile Payanghat plains drained by tributaries of the Purna and Wardha rivers.
The district is administered by a District Collector and is divided into several talukas (tehsils) for revenue and administrative purposes. Talukas in the district include Amravati, Bhatkuli, Nandgaon Khandeshwar, Chandur Railway, Dhamangaon Railway, Tiwsa, Morshi, Warud, Achalpur, Chandur Bazar, Daryapur, Anjangaon Surji, Dharni and Chikhaldara. Dharni and Chikhaldara fall within the Melghat tribal area.
The population is predominantly Marathi-speaking, with significant tribal communities, notably the Korku, in the Melghat hills. The district economy is largely agrarian; cotton, soybean, tur (pigeon pea), jowar, wheat and oranges are important crops. The Warud and Morshi belt is especially known for orange cultivation, and Amravati is sometimes referred to in connection with the citrus economy of Vidarbha.
The region has a long history associated with the Berar province under successive medieval polities, including the Bahmani and Nizam Shahi states, the Mughal Empire and later the Nizam of Hyderabad. Berar was assigned to British administration in the mid-19th century and later merged into the Central Provinces and Berar. After the reorganisation of states in 1956 and the formation of Maharashtra in 1960, Amravati became a district of the new state. In 1998, the erstwhile larger district was bifurcated, with Washim being carved out as a separate district from the neighbouring Akola district during the same wave of district reorganisation in Vidarbha.
Amravati city hosts Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, established in 1983, which is the principal affiliating university for higher education institutions across the Amravati Division. The district also has engineering, medical, agricultural and general degree colleges affiliated with this and other universities.
The district is served by the Howrah–Mumbai trunk route of the Central Railway, with major stations at Badnera (the junction serving Amravati city), Dhamangaon and Chandur Railway