Udalguri district is one of the 27 districts of Assam state in northeastern India. Udalguri town is the headquarters of the district. This district is bounded by Bhutan and West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh state in the north, Sonitpur district in the east, Darrang district in the south and Baksa district in the west. Udalguri District covers an area of 1852.16 sq. km. The name of the district originated from flora origin. According to few beliefs, the name is derived from Odal (a tree) and Guri (roots or surrounding). The town also developed around an Odal tree. According to others, the name of the place became Udalguri because there was a hermitage of a sage named Uddalak Muni. Others also believe that the name is derived from two Bodo Tribe word Ordla and Gundri. Bodo people still pronounce the name as Odalguri. In Bodo language `Ordla` means wide and spacious and `Gundri` means powdered object.
History of Udalguri District
This district was formed on June 14, 2004 as one of the four districts under the Bodoland Territorial Autonomous District. This district was carved out from Darrang district. The territory of the present district was earlier Udalguri sub-division of the undivided district. Hindu, Christians and Muslim together reside in this district. The main composition of people there are Assamese (Borpetia), Boro Kachari, Saotal, Marwari, Bengali Hindu and Muslims, Nepali, Garo Tribe and other tribes. This was a very peaceful place until mid 80s but various communal clashes took place from time to time. Late Jojaram Sharma was one of the prominent India freedom fighters from Assam lived here. There is an old Namghar (Assamese Worship Place), an old Lord Hanuman temple and an old Baptist Christian church in the Udalguri town.
Demography of Udalguri District
According to the Population Census in the year 2011, the Udalguri District had a population of 832,769. Out of which male and female were 423,617 and 409,152 respectively. Udalguri District population constituted 2.67 percent of total population of Assam. The population density of Udalguri district is 497 people per sq. km. Udalguri district administers 1,676 square kilometers of areas. The average literacy rate of Udalguri in 2011 was 66.60 percent. If things are looked out at gender wise, male and female literacy were 73.79 percent and 59.17 percent respectively. The total literates in Udalguri District were 481,867 of which male and female were 271,529 and 210,338 respectively.
