Siddharthnagar district
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Siddharthnagar district is one of the 70 districts of Uttar Pradesh state in Northern India. Navgarh town is the district headquarter. Siddharth Nagar district is a part of Basti division. The district is known for the ruins of the ancient capital of the Shakya Janapada, Kapilavastu at Piprahwa, 22 km from the district headquarters Navgarh.
The district lies between 27ºN and 27º 28'N latitudes and 82º 45'E and 83º 10'E longitudes. The district is adjacent to neighbouring country, Nepal. It is surrounded by many other districts of Uttar Pradesh, on the East by Maharajganj district, South by Basti and Sant Kabir Nagar districts and in West by Balrampur district. The district occupies an area of 2752 km2.
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[edit] Origin of name
The district was named after prince Siddhartha, the pre-enlightenment name of Buddha, as he spent his early years (till the age of 29 years) in Kapilavastu, which lies within the territory of this district.
[edit] History
Siddharthnagar district was curved out on December 29, 1988 by bifurcating Basti district. The new district comprised the Northern part of the erstwhile Basti district.
[edit] Divisions
The district has 5 tehsils; Navgarh, Shohratgarh, Bansi, Itwa and Domariaganj.
6 Vidhan Sabha constituencies are located within this district. These are Navgarh, Shohratgarh, Bansi, Itwa, Domariaganj and Khesraha. The only Lok Sabha constituency in this district is the Domariaganj.
[edit] Demography
The population (according to 2001 census of India) of the district is 2,038,598 (male 1,047,573 and female 991,025) and the literacy rate is 43.97%.[1]