History

Katihar district, the land of banana, was created on 2nd October 1973 by splitting up the earlier district of Purnea. Katihar is located at 25.53° N 87.58° E. It has an average elevation of 20 meters. The main rivers of the District are mighty Ganga (southern boundary, 25 kilometers from Katihar Town), magnificent Kosi (western boundary, 30 kilometers from Katihar Town) and beautiful Mahananda besides many other small rivers like Kari Kosi (flowing by the side of Katihar town), Kamla etc. The Kosi (Sorrow of Bihar) merges with Ganga at the south-west boundary of Katihar District. This District shares boundary with two states i.e. Jharkhand at the southern side and West Bengal at the eastern side. The Bangladesh lies around 80 km east of Katihar town and Nepal lies around 100 km north of Katihar Town. There is rail connectivity to both the borders from Katihar railway station. Its proximity to the Himalayas in the north, Jharkhand plateu in the south and a multiple of rivers combined with good rainfall gives it a distinct climate which can be termed more or less pleasant during most of the year. The rainy season flood is an annual feature. Headquarters: Area:3,057sqkm Population: Total:1825380 Rural:1653761 Urban:171619.