to the nation of The Gambia or the US state of Nebraska). This gives it a ranking of 285th in India (out of a total of 640). With 1.6% of the total population of Bihar, Buxar district is ranked 29th in the state by population. The district has a population density of . Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 21.67%. Buxar has a sex ratio of 922 females for every 1,000 males, and a literacy rate of 70.14%. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 14.75% and 1.57% of the population respectively. Languages At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 97.57 of the population in the district spoke Bhojpuri and 1.60% Hindi as their first language. Mythology It is said that Ahilya, the wife of Gautam Rishi restored her human body from that of stone and got salvation by a mere touch of the feet of Lord Rama. This place is now known as Ahirauli, and is situated six kilometers away from Buxar. The Kanwaldah Pokhara, also known as VyaghraSar, is today a tourist destination. It is in this district that sage Vishwamitra's Hermitage was situated. Chaitra Van, the forest where demoness Tadaka lived and was killed by Shri Ram, is also situated in Buxar. Politics |} Divisions Buxar district is divided 11 community development blocks, grouped together into 2 subdivisions based at Buxar and Dumraon. Buxar subdivision Buxar Itarhi Chausa Rajpur Dumraon subdivision Dumraon Nawanagar Brahmapur Kesath Chakki Chaugain Simri Of these, the most populous is Buxar and the least populous is Kesath. There are 1,133 villages and 142 gram panchayats in Buxar district. The district contains the following towns: Economy Buxar district is mainly agricultural. Major crops include rice (especially winter rice), wheat, barley, and pulses, the most important of which is gram. Arhar, khesari, and masur are other pulses grown in Buxar. Other important crops include oil seed and sugar cane. Industry and commerce are mainly concentrated in the cities of Buxar and Dumraon, which both have soap and furniture manufacturers as well as the main wholesale markets in the district. Notable people Bismillah Khan (Bharat Ratna) Gupteshwar Pandey (IPS) Ananda Prasad Harihar Singh, Former Chief Minister of Bihar and Bhojpuri Poet Lallan Prasad Singh (IAS) Ravindra Kishore Sinha Vimlanand Saraswati See also List of villages in Buxar district References External links Official website Patna division Districts of Bihar