District Profile

District Pithoragarh : Profile

Pithoragarh District having its entire northern and eastern boundaries being international, assumes a great strategicsignificance and, obviously, is
a politically sensitive district along the northern frontier of India. Being the last district adjoining Tibbet, it has tremendous strategic importance as the passes of Lipulekh, Kungribingri, Lampia Dhura, Lawe Dhura, Belcha and Keo, open out to Tibbet. The breath taking beauty of Pithoragarh -
Himalayas, wide expenses of grassy meadow, perennial streams roaring down the zig-zag course, a stupendous variety of flora and fauna, above all,
pure nature yet unsullied, seem to beckon the beholder into their folds, into a charmed world of virgin beauty.

It was in the wake of the Chinese aggression that on the 24th Feb. 1960, a sizeable section of Almora district was carved into Pithoragarh district
containing extreme border areas with its head quarters in Pithoragarh town. On 15th September 1997, the Champawat Tehsil, hitherto under
Pithoragarh, was carved into Champawat district.

The Pithoragarh town is located at a height of 1645 meters above sea level.The district lies between 29.4° to 30.3° North latitude and 80° to 81°
East longitude along the eastern and southern part of the central Himalayas with Indo-Tibbetan watershed divide in the north and the Kali river

Greenary in Pithoragarh Photo : Deep Chauhan

forming a continuous border with Nepal in the east. The Pithoragarh district is surrounded by the national boundaries of Almora, Champawat,
Bageshwar and Chamoli districts and extends over an area of 7,217.7 sq. Kms. The details of the land utilization are given as below :

S.N.	Particulars	Area (in lakhs hac)
1.	Land Utilization area	4.61
2.	Land under Forest	2.15
3.	Permanent pasture	0.54
4.	Dry Land Area	0.53
5.	Fallow Land	0.128
6.	Total Cropped Area	0.793
7.	Net Area Sown	0.50
8.	Irrigated Area	0.05
9.	Area Sown more than once	0.35
10.	Kharif Area	0.468
11.	Rabi Area	0.380

There are numerous gay spots to which the prospective tourist may plan excursions like Chandak, Thal Kedar, Gangolihat (77 kms) famous
for its kali temple, Patal Bhuvneshwar (99 kms) , Berinag (Tea Garden of Chaukori - 11 km away from Berinag), Didihat,Munsyari (base camp for
traks to Milam,Ralam and Namik Glacier), Dharchula(base camp for Kailas Mansarover Yatra, Adi Kailash Yatra, Narayan Swami Ashram) and Jauljibi.

Administrative set up

The district has been divided into six tehsils viz. Munsyari, Dharchula, Didihat, Gangolihat, Berinag, Pithoragarh and two sub-tehsils Dewalthal,
Kanalichhina having its head quarter at Pithoragarh and the Commissionery head quarter at Nainital.There are 8 Development Blocks, 3 Towns,
64 Nyaya Panchayats and 644 Gram Panchayats in the district.There are 1672 villages out of which 1579 are inhabited. As per 2001 census, total
population of the district is 4,62,289 out of which 2,27,615 are males and 2,34,674 females. Also the Total literacy rate of the district at present is
75.95.

S.No.	Name of Tehsil	Name of Blocks
1.	Munsyari	Munsyari
2.	Dharchula	Dharchula
3.	Didihat	Didihat, Kanalichina
4.	Gangolihat	Gangolihat
5.	Pithoragarh	Bin, Munakote
6.	Berinag	Berinag

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Web site developed at : National Informatics Centre, District Unit, Pithoragarh (Uttarakhand) INDIA
Phone : 91-5964-24162, 28017 E-mail : uapit@nic.in