Silchar

Silchar শিলচর
City
Aerial view of the Barak river, Silchar
Nickname(s): The Island of Peace
Silchar Show map of Assam Silchar Show map of India Location in Assam, India
Coordinates: 24°49′N 92°48′E / 24.82°N 92.8°E / 24.82; 92.8Coordinates: 24°49′N 92°48′E / 24.82°N 92.8°E / 24.82; 92.8
Country	India
State	Assam
District	Cachar
Government
• Body	Silchar Municipality Board
• No. of Wards	28
Elevation	22 m (72 ft)
Population (2011)
• Total	228,985
• Rank	2 (in Assam after Guwahati )
Languages
• Official	Bangla and English
Time zone	IST (UTC+5:30)
PIN	7880xx
Telephone code	+91 (0) 3842
ISO 3166 code	IN-AS
Vehicle registration	AS-11
Website	www.cachar.nic.in

Silchar (/ˈsɪlˌʧə/ or /ˈʃɪlˌʧə/) is the headquarters of Cachar district in the state of Assam in India. It is 343 kilometres (213 mi) south east of Guwahati. It is the second-largest city of the state in terms of population and municipal area.

It also has the 2nd busiest Airport (76 civilian flights/week) in Assam and 4th busiest in North east after Guwahati, Agartala and Imphal.

After around 68 years of Indian independence, only recently, the railroad connectivity has been upgraded to broad gauge. Suresh Prabhu, the present rail minister, has announced direct rail connectivity to metropolitan cities like New Delhi and Kolkata with regular train services having been commenced as planned.

Being politically stable in the otherwise disturbed Northeast earned it the bon mot of "Island of Peace" from India's then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

Bengali Hindus 52% of the Silchar population forms the majority of Silchar City while Bengali Muslims about 28% are the second largest community in Silchar. Approximately 80% residents of Silchar are Bengalis (including Bengali muslims) who speak the Sylheti dialect, the rest being Dimasa (barman), Manipuri (Meitei), Bishnupuriya, Bihari people, Marwaris and some Nagas. Silchar is situated by the banks of the Barak River in what is popularly known as Barak Valley. Rice is the staple cereal. Fish is also widely consumed. Shuţki (the local name for dried fish), shidal chutney and chunga-r peetha (sticky rice cakes prepared inside bamboo sticks) are some of the local delicacies.