The district was established under British rule in 1818 and, on establishment, constituted the then tehsils of Meerut, Ghaziabad, Mawana, Baghpat, Sardhana and Hapur.[4][5] These now constitute the districts of Meerut, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Bagpat, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr and a part of Gautam Buddh Nagar district.[4]
Geography
Meerut district lies between 28°57’ to 29°02’ North latitude and 77°40’ to 77°45’ East longitude in the Indo-Gangetic plains of India.[6] It is bound on the north by Muzaffarnagar district, in the south by Bulandshahar district while Ghaziabad and Baghpat districts form the southern and western limits.[7] The river Ganges forms the eastern boundary and separates the district from Moradabad district and Bijnor district. The Hindon forms the western boundary and separates the district from Baghpat.[7] The ground is not rocky and there are no mountains. The soil is composed of pleistocene and sub-recent alluvial sediments transported and deposited by river action from the Himalayan region. These alluvial deposits are unconsolidated. Lithologically, sediments consist of clay, silt and fine to coarse sand. Land is very fertile for growing crops, especially wheat, sugarcane and vegetables.[6]
Administration
The administrative head of district of Meerut is a District Magistrate[2] while the administrative head of Meerut Division is Divisional Commissioner, an IAS officer.[3]
Tehsil
The District administration comprises three tehsils, namely:[8]
According to the 2011 census Meerut district has a population of 3,443,689,[11] roughly equal to the nation of Panama[12] or the US state of Connecticut.[13] This gives it a ranking of 94th in India (out of a total of 640).[11] The district has a population density of 1,346 inhabitants per square kilometre (3,490/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 1.489%. Meerut has a sex ratio of 886 females for every 1000 males, lower than the state average of 908; while the child sex ratio is 852, lower than the state average of 899. The district has a literacy rate of 84%, higher than the state average of 67.68%. 51.08% of the population lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes made up 18.12% of the population.[11]
According to the 2011 census, the district ranked 6th in terms of population density[14] in Uttar Pradesh. The district had an average literacy rate of 83.96%, higher than the national average of 78.8% and the state average of 67.36%.[15][16][17] 16.66% of the population was under 6 years of age.[18] The percentage of Muslim population over 36% (one of the largest among the cities of India).[19]
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 86.55% of the population of the district spoke Hindi, 12.43% Urdu and 0.47% Punjabi as their first language.[20]
Area-Based
Religion
Hindus are the majority community in the district, although Muslims are a significant minority. There are small numbers of Sikhs, Jains and Christians in the district. There were 1987 Meerut communal riots and 2014 Meerut riots.
^Sylvia Vatuk (1972). Kinship and Urbanization: White Collar Migrants in North India. University of California Press. p. 2. ISBN 9780520020641.
^ a b"Chapter 3 – Findings: Metro Cities of India" (PDF). Central Pollution Control Board. p. 63. Archived from the original (pdf) on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
^ a b"Consultancy Services for preparation of the City Development Plan(CDP) for Meerut in the state of Uttar Pradesh under JNNURM" (PDF). Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India. August 2006. p. 209. Archived from the original (pdf) on 31 October 2012. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
^ a b c"DISTRICT MEERUT DETAILS". meerut.nic.in. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
^"VOTER LIST 2017 ELECTION". meerut.nic.in. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
^US Directorate of Intelligence. "Country Comparison:Population". Archived from the original on 13 June 2007. Retrieved 1 October 2011. Panama 3,460,462 July 2011 est.
^"2010 Resident Population Data". U. S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on 19 October 2013. Retrieved 30 September 2011. Connecticut 3,574,097
^"Ranking of districts by population density". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011.
^ a b c d e"Census-2001: Literacy Rates by sex for State and Districts". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
^"CENSUS-2001". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2011.
^Census of India 2001
^ a b c"Population in the age group 0-6, number of literates and literacy rate for state and districts". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011.
^ a b"Basic data sheet, District Meerut, Uttar Pradesh. Census of India 2001" (pdf).
^"Census of India Website : Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India". www.censusindia.gov.in. Retrieved 15 June 2017.
^Basant Lal Bhatia (1992). Existence of Cooperation & Consumers-cooperatives. Sarup & Sons. pp. 21–22. ISBN 9788185431178. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
^ a b"Sex Ratio since 1901 for state and districts". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 24 December 2001. Retrieved 17 October 2013.
^Jagdish Kumar Pundir (1998). Banking, Bureaucracy, and Social Networks: Scheduled Castes in the Process of Development. Sarup & Sons. p. 50. ISBN 9788176250245.
^"Percentage decadal variation in population since 1901 for state and districts". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2013.
^"Census-2001: Ranking of Districts by population size in 1991 and 2001". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
^"Population distribution, percentage decadal growth, sex ratio and Population Density". Government of Uttar Pradesh. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 8 April 2011.
^[1] Archived 28 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Census of India.