north-east, Hoshiarpur district in the south-east, Kapurthala district in the south, Amritsar district in the south-west and Pakistan in the north-west. Government and politics Politics Tehsil Sub Tehsils (Total : 7) C.D. Blocks (Total : 11) Municipal Corporation (Nagar Nigam) Municipal Councils Villages Demographics Population According to the 2011 census Gurdaspur district has a population of 2,298,323, roughly equal to the nation of Latvia or the US state of New Mexico. This gives it a ranking of 196th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 9.3%. Gurdaspur has a sex ratio of 895 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 79.95%. After the separation of the Pathankot tehsil into a separate district in 2011, the residual district has a population of 1,621,725 of which 1,260,572 were rural and 361,153 were urban. Scheduled Castes have a population of 373,544 (23.03%) of the population. Punjabi is the predominant language, spoken by 98.27% of the population. Religion Sikhism is the largest religion in the residual district with 950,016 (58.58%), while Hinduism is the second-largest with 476,095 (29.36%). Christians are the third-largest community with 169,295 (10.44%), the highest share of Christians in the state, and Muslims 13,350 (0.82%). Before Partition, undivided Gurdaspur district had a slight Muslim majority with a large Hindu minority and smaller Sikh and Christian populations. The area which now forms the current district had a Muslim majority and a large Sikh minority, with smaller Hindu and Christian populations. Historical Notable people Dev Anand - Indian actor Premchand Dogra - Bodybuilder, Mr. Universe, Mr. India Capt. Gurbachan Singh Salaria - Param Vir Chakra awardee, posthumous Chetan Anand - director Vijay Anand - director Vinod Khanna - Indian actor Shiv Kumar Batalvi - Punjabi writer Dilbagh Singh - Air Chief Marshal Dinesh Khanna - Badminton player Romesh Sharma - Indian Actor and producer Jasbir Jassi - Bhangra singer Lt. Navdeep Singh - Ashoka Chakra awardee, posthumous Guru Randhawa - Punjabi singer Preet Harpal - Punjabi singer and actor Ashwani Kumar - Former Union Minister Robert Masih Nahar - Spanish senator Shivil Kaushik - cricketer Teja Singh Akarpuri - Jathedar of Akal Takht Iqbal Bahu - Pakistani Sufi singer Ishfaq Ahmad - Pakistani nuclear physicist Alla Rakha - Tabla player Nek Chand Saini - Indian artist and creator of the Rock Garden