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PHYSICAL FEATURES AND NATURAL
RESOURCES |
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[The sections on ' Geography' have been contributed
by Prof. C. D. Deshpande, Deputy Director of Education, Government
of Maharashtra.]
SITUATION.
THE DISTRICT OF KOLHAPUR [Kolhapur is a district
newly formed after the merger of Kolhapur and other Indian
States with the State of Bombay. It consists of 956 villages of the
former Kolhapur State, five villages of the former Kurundwad State,
one tillage of the former Miraj Senior State and seven villages that
were formerly in the Belgaum district.] lies between 15° and 17°
north latitude and 73° and 74° east longitude. It has an area of
3,188.4 square miles [The area figure of the district supplied to
the Census authorities by the Surveyor General of India was 2,756.3
square miles. The area figure given by the Census authorities were
obtained by them from the District Inspector of Land Records or from
Local Records.] and a population of 13,08,060 according to the 1951
Census. It is bounded on the north by the district of South Satara;
on the west by the district of Ratnagiri; and on the south and the
east by the Belgaum district of Mysore State. For administrative
purposes the district is divided into two prants, Northern and
Southern. [From 1st November 1950, consequent on the Reorganisation
of States, the Chandgad taluka of Belgaum district, with an area of
394 square miles and a population of 80,513, was merged with the
Southern Division of Kolhapur District as a separate taluka of the
Division.] Each of these prants is sub-divided into four talukas and
two petas (or mahals). The average area of a taluka or peta works
out to 265.7 square miles comprising 91 villages on an average
(including towns) and a population of 1,09,005.
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