Barak Valley
Barak Valley
Bôrak Upôtyôka (Bengali) | |
|---|---|
Clockwise from top: Nazirpatty, Silchar city; Silchar Airport, NIT Silchar, Sribhumi city, Goldighi Mall, Silchar railway station | |
| Etymology: The name "Barak" has derived from the Dimasa words 'Bra' and 'Kro'. Bra means bifurcation and Kro upper means portion/stream. | |
| Nicknames: "Valley of Peace", "Surma Valley", "Cachar Plains", "Srihatta" | |
The Barak Valley division in orange colour | |
| Country | India |
| Region | North Eastern Region (NER) |
| State | Assam |
| Capital and largest city | Silchar 24°49′00″N 92°47′50″E / 24.81667°N 92.79722°E |
| Districts | |
| Government | |
| • Lok Sabha constituencies | 2 |
| • Vidhan Sabha constituencies | 15 |
| Area | |
• Total | 6,922 km2 (2,673 sq mi) |
| Population (2025) | |
• Total | 4,490,000 |
| • Density | 649/km2 (1,680/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Barakbashi |
| Language | |
| • Official | Bengali |
| • Official script | Bengali-Assamese script |
| • Additional official | Manipuri |
| GDP | |
| • Total (2025-26) | $9.6 billion (nominial) $40.43 billion (PPP) |
| • Per capita | $2,138 (nominial) $9,004 (PPP) |
| Time zone | UTC+5:30 (Indian Standard Time) |
| HDI (2023) | 0.675 (Medium) |
| Literacy rate (2024) | 90% |
Barak Valley is the southernmost region and administrative division of the Indian state of Assam. It is named after the Barak River, whose watershed roughly forms its northern border. The Barak valley consists of three administrative districts of Assam: Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi. The main and largest city is Silchar, which seats the headquarter of Cachar district and also serves as administrative divisional office of Barak valley division. The valley is bordered by Mizoram and Tripura to the south, Bangladesh and Meghalaya to the west and Manipur to the east respectively. Once North Cachar Hills was a part of Cachar district which became a subdivision in 1951 and eventually a separate district. On 1 July 1983, Karimganj district was curved out from the eponymous subdivision of Cachar district. In 1989, the subdivision of Hailakandi was upgraded into Hailakandi district.