Shimla district, known as Simla district until 1972, is one of the twelve districts of the state of Himachal Pradesh in northern India. Its headquarters is the state capital of Shimla. Neighbouring districts are Mandi and Kullu in the north, Kinnaur in the east, Uttarakhand in the southeast, Solan to the southwest and Sirmaur in the south. The elevation of the district ranges from 987 metres (3,238 ft) to 4,500 metres (14,764 ft). Shimla district culturally is part of the Mahasu region.
As of 2011, it is the third most populated district of Himachal Pradesh (out of 12), after Kangra and Mandi. It is the most urbanized district of Himachal Pradesh.
Contents
History
Shimla district was part of Mahasu district which included Shimla, Solan and Kinnaur districts. Kinnaur was carved out on 1 May 1969 out of Mahasu district and Shimla and Solan districts were made separate districts out of Mahasu district on 1 September 1972. Shimla district was obtained by the British as Mahasu district which included aforementioned districts also in 1815.
Access
By road
Shimla is connected by road to all the major towns. Distance between the major towns and Shimla:
Kalka - 80 km
Patiala - 172 km
Chandigarh - 119 km
Ambala - 166 km
Delhi - 380 km
Agra - 568 km
Amritsar - 342 km
Jammu (via Pathankot) - 482 km
Srinagar - 787 km
Jaipur - 629 km
Dharmsala (via Mandi) - 290 km
Dharamsala (via Hamirpur) - 235 km
Dalhousie - 345 km
Chamba - 401 km
Kullu - 235 km
Manali - 280 km
Mandi - 153 km
Palampur - 270 km
Dehradun - 275 km
Rampur - 132 km
Kumarsain - 80 km
Narkanda - 60 km
Rohru - 129 km
Theog - 28 km
Chaupal - 100 km
Demographics
According to the 2011 census, the district had a population of 814,010. This gives it a ranking of 483rd in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 159 inhabitants per square kilometre (410/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 12.67%. Shimla has a sex ratio of 915 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 83.64%. 24.74% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 26.51% and 1.08% of the population respectively.
Language
At the time of the 2011 census of India, 67.61% of the population recorded their language as Pahari, 20.31% Hindi, 4.63% Nepali, 1.39% Punjabi and 1.05% Kangri as their first language.
Notable people
Aalisha Panwar - Indian actress
Abhilasha Kumari - Former Indian Judge
Anupam Kher - Indian actor
Asmita Sood - Indian television actress
Anand Sharma - Former Union Minister and Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha
Ashish R Mohan - Indian film director
Balak Ram Kashyap - Former Member of Parliament and Member of Legislative Assembly
Chetan Singh - Historian
Dhan Singh Thapa - a prestigious Indian Army Officer and Param Vir Chakra Awardee
Harish Janartha - Member of Legislative Assembly
Kamayani Bisht - educator, poet, actress
Krushna Abhishek - Indian actor and comedian
Nirmal Verma - Hindi writer
Pratibha Singh - Member of Legislative Assembly
Pratibha Ranta - Indian actress
Priety Zinta - Indian actress
Rakesh Singha - Politician
Renuka Singh - Indian cricketer
Rubina Dilaik - Indian actress