Chandrapur city is the centre of governance of Chandrapur district. It has a total population of 3,20,379. Chandrapur was a fort city founded by Khandakya Ballal Sah, a Gond king of the 13th century. The city is situated at the confluence of the Irai and Zarpat rivers. The area around the city is rich in coal seams. Hence, Chandrapur is known as "black gold city".
The highest employment in the district is in the Food and Beverages, Tobacco, Textile, Leather based, Wood based, Print Media and Chemical industries. The district has 66% of the workforce employed in the Agricultural Sector, 32% in the Industrial Sector and the remaining 2% are Household workers.
Chandrapur district is the eastern part of the greater tract known as the Vidarbha, which is famous for various types of minerals like iron coal etc. The district earlier known as Chanda and now Chandrapur is shrouded in mystery. Tradition and legends tell that the name of this place was Lokapura, which was first changed to Indapur and subsequently to Chandrapur.
For administrative purpose the district is divided into 4 sub-divisions viz., Chandrapur, Warora, Brahmapuri and Rajura. Chandrapur sub-division includes Chandrapur, Mul, Ballarpur, Sawali, Pombhurna and Gondpipri tahsils, Warora sub-division includes Warora, Bhadravati, and Chimur tahsils, Brahmapuri sub-division includes Brahmapuri, Sindewahi and Nagbhir tahsils and Rajura sub-division includes Rajura,Korpana and Jiwati tahsils.
The southwest part of the district is mountainous, while the rest of the district has an undulating terrain, with gentle slopes. Geographically, the district can be divided into three regions: the hilly region of Mul – Chimur, the valley region of Wardha - Wainganga and the mountainous region of Chandurgad.
The Wainganga, Wardha, Irai are the major rivers of the district. It has a boarder on North with Nagpur, wardha & bhandara district; Yavatmal and Nanded on the west, Gadchiroli to the East and Adilabad of Andhrapradesh to the south. The total area of the district is 11443 Sq. Kms. which is about 3.5% of the total area of Maharashtra State.
