Cuttack, the second largest city of Odisha and its former capital, is located at the apex of the Mahanadi River delta at an altitude of 118 feet above the sea level. The city is strategically located between the Mahanadi River and one of its tributaries, the Kathajodi river. The other tributaries of Mahanadi that flow through the city are Kuakhai and Birupa. The British had built a number of docks in the city to serve as warehouses for goods moving across the Mahanadi and other canals in Orissa and the Central Provinces right up to Raipur. Today, Cuttack is the Judicial Capital of the state with Odiya as the native, most widely spoken language. The population of Cuttack is 6,00,000 and according to the 2011 census, the population of the entire district is 2.6 million out of which about 13 percent are in the working age bracket. About 41 percent of the working segment is engaged in agricultural activities, 8 percent in the household industry, with the remaining 51 percent engaged in trading and the manufacturing industry to include steel, power, automobile, alloys and fireclays. Large segments are also engaged in traditional industries of textiles and handicrafts. Cuttack is one of the largest hubs for textiles in eastern India and is famous for its silver filigree work, earning the title as the silver city of India. The name Cuttack is derived from Katak which means Fort after the Barabati Fort around which the city was originally developed.
