Sonitpur district

Sonitpur District is home to several wildlife sanctuaries and national parks. In 1998, Sonitpur district became home to Nameri National Park in the north, which has an area of 200 km² (77.2 sq mi).[7] It is also home to Orang National Park, which it shares with Darrang district. Orang National Park was established in 1999 and has an area of 79 km² (30.5 sq mi).[7]

Sonitpur is home to two wildlife sanctuaries: Burachapori Wildlife Sanctuary and Sonai Rupai Wildlife Sanctuary.[7] It is also home to the registered forests (RF) of Behali RF (140 km²), Naduar RF (69 km²), and Charduar RF (260 km²).[8]

Sonitpur District falls in the Sub-Tropical Rainforest climate region, (Af ) in Koppen's climate classification and enjoys Hot & Wet type of climate. Summers are hot and humid; with an average temperature of 27 °C. Rainfall is heavy above 3,000 mm (9 ft) in wet months January to June which is both a boon and a bane for the people. A boon, for it, provides natural irrigation to the fields; and a bane, as it causes the rivers to overflow their banks and cause floods. All months have average precipitation of at least 60 mm and the average temperature of the cold month is above 18 °C. As anyone can expect, Tropical rainforest is the vegetation in and around the city.

The forests of Sonitpur district are semi-evergreen forests, moist deciduous forests and bamboo forests, with hydrophytes in the wetlands.[3] Species include: Aegle marmelos, Albizia procera, Alstonia scholaris, Arundo donax, Bambusa balcooa, Cynodon dactylon, Dipterocarpus macrocarpus, Duabanga grandiflora, Eichhornia crassipes, Mesua assamica, Melocanna baccifera, Mesua ferrea, Shorea assamica (mekai) and Shorea robusta.[3]

According to the 2011 census, of 693,989 the population speaks Assamese, followed by Bengali at 306,564, Hindi at 333,258 and Bodo speakers at 161,447, Nepali is spoken by 135,525 people, while 15.26% of the population speak other minority languages.[12]

There are around 500,000 people belonging to indigenous Assamese communities in Sonitpur. These are Assamese Brahmins, Koch Rajbongshis, Ahom, Karbi, Keot(Kaibarta), Mising, Nath Jogis, Bodo, Thengal Kachari, Chutia, Rabha, other indigenous Assamese communities. They are considered to be among the earliest inhabitants of the place, and the indigenous traditional Assamese culture of the place grew with them. They have become a minority in the district due to influx of immigrants like Bengalis (both Hindu and Muslim), Biharis, Marwaris etc.

The Nepali speaking Gorkha community with a population of over 350,000 (nearly one-fifth of the district's population), is fairly dominant in the central and southern part of the district, especially in the Biswanath Chariali, Gohpur, and Jamugurihat subdivisions. Sonitpur district boasts the largest and highest concentration of Nepali speakers in Assam. Nepali speaking people are considered to be immigrated into the district starting from the early 1850s as soldiers, cultivators, etc.

Adivasi community mainly composed of Munda, Santal, Kudumi Mahato, Kurukh, Gond, Ahir Gowala, Kharia, Bhumij, Porja, Saora and dozens of motley group of tribes forms a significant portion accounting for nearly one-third of the district's population or if taken as a whole the largest community in the district with over 600,000. Their ancestors were chiefly brought from the tribal-dominated region of Central India for the purpose of employing in the tea industry by British during the late 19th century. They are now spread all over the district. However, they are mostly concentrated in the surrounding regions of Dhekiajuli, Rangapara, Balipara, Jamugurihat, Biswanath chariali, Behali, Gohpur, Helem and northern parts of the district. They use Sadri, a dialect of Hindi as their first and primary language amongst themselves and Assamese as their second or third language. Almost 100,000 of them practices Christianity.

The immigrant Bengali speaking Hindus came from erstwhile undivided Bengal and Bangladesh, as officials and clerks of the British administration and the Tea Industry; and stayed back. Later, on account of the partition of India, Hindu people from Bangladesh coming as refugees added significantly to the community. Their primary language is Bengali most of them are also fluent in Assamese too. They are mostly urbanised having a sizeable population in towns of Rangapara, Tezpur, Dhekiajuli, Biswanath Chariali, and Balipara. The population of immigrant Bengali Hindus is over 100,000 in the district. There has a sizeable population of immigrant Bengali speaking Muslims living since colonial times in the district mainly in and around char areas of Brahmaputra river and surrounding areas of Dhekiajuli, Thelamara, and Tezpur (Napam). The population of the community is now around 300,000 in the district.

There are nearly 50,000 speakers of Hindi and it's dialect Bhojpuri living in the district who are primarily immigrated into the district from Hindi-speaking regions of India particularly Bihar and Rajasthan.

All the indigenous Assamese communities use indigenous traditional Assamese culture and are a part of the indigenous Assamese community.

The major religions of the populace of Sonitpur district are – Hindu and Muslim, As per 2011 census there are approximately 1,422,821 (73.83%) Hindus and 350,675 (18.18%) Muslims in the district. There are around 138,355 (7.19%) Christians in the district. Other small population following Buddhism (0.5%), Jainism and Sikhism is also present in the district.