**Porbandar district **is one of the 33 districts of Gujarat state in western India. The district covers an area of 2,316 km2. It had a population of 5.85,449 of which 48.77% were urban as of the 2011 census. This district was carved out of Junagadh district. It lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Porbandar city is the administrative headquarters of this district. This district is surrounded by Jamnagar district and Devboomi Dwarka to the north, Junagadh district and Rajkot district to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west and south. As of 2011 it is the second least-populous district of Gujarat (out of 33), after Dang.

History

Porbandar is the birthplace of Mahatma Gandhi. Porbandar is also mentioned in the Mahabharata as the native place of Krishna's childhood friend Sudama. As per the mythological reference in Sudama Charitra of Skand Puran of Shrimad Bhagvad, the present Porbandar city was named after Goddess Porav, and was located along the river banks of Asmavati.

Administration

Porbandar district has three talukas: Porbandar-Chhaya, Ranavav, and Kutiyana.

Economy

Agriculture

The major crops produced in Porbander district are cotton, groundnut, bajra, gram, wheat, tal and jowar.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Porbandar district has a population of 585,449, roughly equal to the nation of Solomon Islands or the US state of Wyoming. This gives it a ranking of 529th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 255 PD/sqkm. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 9.17%. Porbandar has a sex ratio of 947 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 76.63%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 8.85% and 2.23% of the population respectively. Hindus are 93.90% while Muslims are 5.73% of the population. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 96.76% of the population in the district spoke Gujarati and 1.21% Hindi as their first language.

Politics

Transportation

Notable personalities

Localities