Dantewada district दन्तेवाड़ा जिला |
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District of Chhattisgarh | |
Location of Dantewada district in Chhattisgarh |
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Country | India |
State | Chhattisgarh |
Administrative division | Bastar |
Headquarters | Dantewada |
Tehsils | 4 |
Government | |
• Assembly seats | 1 |
Area | |
• Total | 3,410.50 km2 (1,316.80 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 247,029 |
• Density | 72/km2 (190/sq mi) |
Demographics | |
• Literacy | 33 per cent |
Website | Official website |
Dantewada District, also known as Dantewara District or Dakshin Bastar District (South Bastar District), is a district in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada is the district headquarters. The district is part of Bastar Division. Until 1998, the Dantewada District was a tehsil of the larger Bastar District.
As of 2011 it is the third least populous district of Chhattisgarh (out of 18), after Narayanpur and Bijapur.
Before Indian Independence, the district was part of the princely state of Bastar. After Indian Independence in 1947, Bastar's ruler acceded to the government of India, and the erstwhile state became part of Bastar District of Madhya Pradesh state. Bastar District was divided into the districts of Bastar, Dantewada, and Kanker in 1999. In 2000, Dantewada was one of the 16 Madhya Pradesh districts that constituted the new state of Chhattisgarh. Dantewada was bifurcated in the year 2007 resulting in a new district Bijapur district, Chhattisgarh with 4 Tehsils namely Bijapur, Bhairamgarh, Usoor and Bhopalpatnam. It was further bifurcated in the year 2012 resulting in another new district Sukma with 3 Tehsils namely Chhindgarh, Sukma and Konta.
The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor. Over the last year, more than 350 people have been killed and 50,000 moved into camps in the Dantewada district, as a result of a Maoist uprising.