Dhenkanal district is one of the 30 districts of the state of Odisha in Eastern India. Geography Dhenkanal district is one of the centrally located districts in Odisha. It lies between Longitude: 85° 58' to 86° 2' East and Latitude: 20° 29' to 21° 11' North. The nearest airport is Biju Patnaik Airport located at a distance of 52.12 Km. It is bordered by Kendujhar and Angul districts to the north, Jajpur district to the east, Cuttack district to the south and Angul district to the west. The district comprises mainly plains, however there are several discontinuous hill ranges in the district and along its southern border. The Brahmani River is the main river of the district. Demographics According to the 2011 census Dhenkanal district has a population of 1,192,811, roughly equal to the nation of Timor-Leste or the US state of Rhode Island. This gives it a ranking of 400th 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 11.82%. Dhenkanal has a sex ratio of 947 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 79.41%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes made up 19.62% and 13.59% of the population respectively. At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 96.17% of the population in the district spoke Odia, 1.24% Munda, 0.91% Santali and 0.48% Juang as their first language. Education Dhenkanal is home to the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, the only institute in Odisha for the study of journalism and mass communication. Other colleges and schools, universities, and institutes include: Jawahar Navodaya vidyalaya, Sarang, dhenkanal Synergy Institute of Engineering & Technology Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology Dhenkanal College Dhenkanal Law College Politics Vidhan sabha constituencies Dhenkanal has four Vidhan sabha constituencies within the Dhenkanal parliamentary (Lok Sabha) constituency. The elected MLAs from Dhenkanal district are: Notable people Nandini Satpathy Kamakhya Prasad Singh Deo Suparno Satpathy Devendra Satpathy Tathagata Satpathy Kalpana Dash See also Dhirapatana Karamul References External links 1948 establishments in India Districts of Odisha