Reasi is one of the oldest towns of the Jammu and Kashmir State. It was the seat of the erstwhile Bhimgarh State, said to have been established by Raja Bhim Dev somewhere in the 8th century. It remained an independent principality till 1822, when Maharaja Gulab Singh the then King of Jammu consolidated the small states. Up until 1948 Reasi was a District of Jammu Province, but in the first administrative reorganization of the State undertaken in 1948 the major part of the then district Reasi was merged with district Udhampur, while some areas became part of District Poonch (now Rajouri).
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Longitude : 33 05 N
Latitude : 74 50 E
Reasi is located at a distance of 64 km from Jammu and is bounded by Tehsil Gool-Gulabgarh in the north, Tehsil Sunderbani and Kalakote of District Rajouri in the west, Tehsil Udhampur in the east, Tehsils Jammu and Akhnoor of District Jammu on the south. Reasi sub division has a population of 1,20,380 as per 2001 census with 25.57% Muslims and Hindu majority. Climatically a major part of this Sub-Division falls in sub-tropicalzone and the rest in temperate zone. Summers are generally warm and winters cold with snowfall on the high ridges.one of the most beautiful thing about reasi is that in summer the temperature of reasi will be less than most of the districts in jammu and in winter its temperature will be higher than other districts in jammu. so this makes reasi favourable for all kinds of people visiting there.
According to the 2011 census Reasi district has a population of 314,714 ,[1] roughly equal to the nation of The Bahamas.[2] This gives it a ranking of 570th in India (out of a total of 640).[1] The district has a population density of 184 inhabitants per square kilometre (480 /sq mi) .[1] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 27.06 %.[1] Reasi has a sex ratio of 891 females for every 1000 males,[1] and a literacy rate of 59.42 %.[1]
An historical fort named as Bhimgarh Fort, but generally also known as ‘Reasi Fort’ is located in the town of Reasi on a hillock approximately 150 meters high. As per local lore initially the fort was made of clay which later on was reconstructed with stone masonry and was generally used by the royal family for taking shelter during emergencies. Presently the fort is in the charge of the Department of Archeology, J&K Government since 1989. Today the fort stands out as one of the important landmarks in the town. During the time this was damaged several times due to its age and natural violence. From time to the government understanding the importance of this fort has tried its best to reconstruct it. It's due to this fact that this fort is still standing in reasi and it adds shine to the reasi city.
Being far away from Jammu–Udhampur–Srinagar Highway 1-A and somewhat inaccessible due to the hilly area, economic progress in the mostly hilly region of Reasi has been rather slow. With the commissioning of Salal Hydroelectric Project at Dhyangarh near Reasi, the economic activity of the area has picked up considerably. Construction work of this project was started in 1970 by the National Hydro-Electric Power Corporation (NHPC) and the project was commissioned in 1987 when the first stage of 345 Megawatt power station was completed and balance/second stage of the project with 345 MW was commissioned in 1995 making the total generation to 690 MW. Power from this project flows to the Northern Grid from where it is distributed to the states of J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Chandigarh.
The Jammu–Srinagar–Baramulla Railway line which is under construction will pass through Reasi. The Railway line up to Katra is likely to be commissioned during 2007. From Katra the Railway line will traverse to Reasi-Banihal area with stations at Reasi, Salal A–Salal B, Surukot, Barala, Sangaldan, Kohli and Laole. The 1315 meters long railway bridge will be constructed over river Chenab near Salal with a height of 383.10 meters from the river surface and shall be the highest bridge in the world. This railway line will bring Reasi on the rail map of the country and accelerate developmentand prosperity in the area..
The people of this hilly area have been demanding for restoration of the District status for Reasi, and even in the Wazir Commission report among other recommendations, it was proposed to upgrade the Sub-Division to District level, but this was not implemented till 2007. Rishi Kumar Koushal, a prominent leader of erstwhile Jan Sangh, and now Praja Parishad lead agitation to restore the district status in vain in late nineties. Whereas it has been upgraded to District level in the year 2007 due to constant efforts made by the people. Now it is on the verge of becoming one of the most happening district in the entire Jammu region. there are many reason behind it. First all the major Hindu places like Vaishno Devi, Shiv Khori, Dharsar Baba, and Baba Siyad are located in this district. Also, there are many enjoyable places which come within Reasi District. Due to this Reasi district sees a great in-rush of people from all over across the country, especially in summer.
Reasi district has two tehsils viz., Reasi and Gool-Gulabgarh comprising 239 and 60 villages respectively.
This district consists of 4 blocks: Arnas, Mahore, Reasi and Pouni.[3] Each block consists of a number of panchayats.
Reasi District has 3 assembly constituencies: Reasi, Gulabgarh and Gool Arnas.[4]
| Kulgam district | Ramban district | |||
| Rajouri district | ||||
| Reasi district | ||||
| Jammu district | Udhampur district |