Amravati is a city in the state of Maharashtra, India. It is the second largest and most populous city of Vidarbha (Eastern region of Maharashtra) after Nagpur. It has a total population of 647,057. It is the administrative headquarters of the Amravati district. It is also the headquarters of the "Amravati Division" which is one of the six divisions of the state. Among the historical landmarks in the city are the temples of Shree Ambadevi, Shri Krishna and Shri Venkateshwara Swamy. The city is famous for Hanuman Vyayam Prasarak Mandal, one of the largest sports complexes in India.
The highest employment in the district is in Agro based, Textile, Metal based, Power and Chemical industries. The district has 70% of the workforce employed in the Agricultural Sector, 28% in the Industrial Sector and the remaining 2% are Household workers.
The ancient name of Amravati is "Audumbaravati", in prakrut, "Umbravati". The variant Amravati is the presently accepted name. It is said that Amravati is named for its ancient Ambadevi temple. A mention of Amravati can be found on a stone inscription on the base of the marble statue of God Adinath (Jain God) Rhishabhnath. The statues date back to the year 1097.
For administrative purposes the district is divided into 6 sub-divisions viz., Amravati, Achalpur, Morshi, Daryapur, Chandur Railway and Dharni. The Amravati sub-division includes Amravati, Bhatkuli and Nandgaon Khandeshwar tahsils, Achalpur sub-division includes Achalpur and Chandurbazar tahsils, Morshi sub-division includes Morshi and Warud tahsils, Daryapur sub-division includes Daryapur and AnjangaonSurji tahsils, Chandur Railway sub-division includes Chandur-Railway, Teosa and DhamangaonRailway tahsils and Dharni sub-division includes Dharni and Chikhaldara tahsils.
The economy in Amravati is mainly dependent on agriculture. Food grains occupy the largest cultivable area, out of which, Sorghum occupies nearly 50%. It is also the main crop of the district occupying 20% of the irrigated land area and is mainly cultivated in the Tivsa, Nandgaon-Kandeshwar, Morshi, Warud and Chandur-Railway talukas. Cotton is an important cash crop in the district as a large part of the planes has black soil suitable for cotton, known as Regur soil or black cotton soil. The district is always among the first three districts in the State in terms of total cultivated area and production of cotton. Red gram, wheat, green chickpea, sugarcane, green chillies, oranges, sweet lime and betel leaves are the other crops grown in the district. Amravati district is also famous for oranges and along with Nagpur, tops the production of oranges in the State.
There are three main rivers: Tapi, Purna and Wardha. The Purna river rises in the southern slopes of Gavilgarh hills and flows southernly &S-E direction till it turns Westward and from a part of the district boundary between Amravati & Akola. Pedhi, Arna, Chandrabhaga and the Shahnur are important tributaries of Purna.
