East Champaran district

East Champaran district or Purvi Champaran district is an administrative district in the Tirhut division of the state of Bihar in India. The district headquarter is located at Motihari. Prior to 1971, there was a single Champaran District. On 1 December 1971, it was divided into East and West Champaran (Purvi and Paschimi Champaran). In early days the land of East Chamapran was ruled by different kingdoms as Videha, Sunga, Kanvas. It is also believed that Champaran used to be a major part of King Janak's empire. Mahatma Gandhi started his famous Satyagraha movement from here.

East Champaran District is functioning from 2 November 1972. The headquarter of the district is at Motihari. It is situated at 26° 16′ to 27° 1′ North latitude and 84° 30′ to 85° 16′ East longitudes. Nepal makes its northern boundary, Sitamarhi and Sheohar eastern while Mehsi, Muzaffarpur South and with part of Gopalganj and West Champaran bounds it in western side.

The district occupies an area of 3,969 km² (1,532 sq mi) and has a population of 5,099,371 (as of 2011^[update]). East Champaran is a part of Tirhut Division. It was earlier part of the Red Corridor.

As of 2011, it is the second most populous district of Bihar (out of 38), after Patna.

East Champaran is the second most crowded district of Bihar. The district gets its name from the union of two words, champa and aranya. Champa alludes to scented blossom trees and Aranya alludes to the home or an encased spot. The name began back in when the district was encircled by a backwoods of magnolia (champa) trees.

The East Champaran district occupies an area of 3,968 square kilometres (1,532 sq mi), comparatively equivalent to Vanuatu's Espiritu Santo. Gandak, Burhi Gandak and Baghmati are important rivers flowing through this region.

According to the 2011 census East Champaran district has a population of 5,099,371, roughly equal to the United Arab Emirates or the US state of Colorado. This gives it a ranking of 21st in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 1,281 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,320/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 29.01%. East Champaran has a sex ratio of 901 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 55.79%. 7.87% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 12.74% and 0.24% of the population respectively.

According to the 2011 census, 82.67% of the population spoke Bhojpuri, 7.33% Urdu and 7.06% Hindi as their first language. 2.58% of the population spoke 'Others' under Hindi. The eastern border of the district lies in a transition between Bhojpuri and Bajjika.