Amreli district


Amreli district is one of the 33 administrative districts of the state of Gujarat in western India. The district headquarters are located at Amreli. The district occupies an area of 7,397 km2 and has a population of 1,514,190 of which 22.45% were urban.

Etymology

Amreli district name derives its name from the town of Amreli, which is the headquarters of the district. It is believed that during the year 534 AD, Amreli existed as a city named Anumanji. After that it was renamed Amlik and then to Amravati. The ancient Sanskrit name of Amreli was Amarvalli.

History

Initially, Amreli was a small village with an ancient history, and part of various kingdoms and empires established in the area. It shot into prominence, turning from village to town, when the Marathas began acquiring territory and establishing their reign over the region in 1780s. Besides levying taxes on the other rulers of the Kathiawar Peninsula, the Gaekwads also acquired their own territory and chose Amreli as the headquarters for their "Kathewad Pranth", which included Dwarka mandal. Vithalrao Devaji was appointed the Diwan, and during this period, Amreli grew and prospered. Vithalrao Devaji converted much of the adjoining forest land into farm land to realise revenue and also built the Nagnath Mahadev temple. Later in 1886, under the Gaikwad regime, compulsory and free education policy was adopted in Amreli for the first time. From the 18th century to 1959, Dwarika and Okhamandal was part of Gaikwad - Amreli state but after 1959, those two cities were merged with Jamnagar district.
During the British Raj, the Maratha Gaekwad dynasty organised its Baroda State into four administrative prants, namely Baroda itself, Kadi, Navsari and Amreli, the smallest.
After independence the district became the part of Bombay State and a separate district in Gujarat State after the bifurcation of Bombay State.

Geography

Amreli has a variety of soils such as medium black, loamy, sandy, rocky inferior and saline.

Politics

Economy

Amreli district is industrially backward area. There are some small industries like oil mills spread over the district.
The economy depends upon agriculture. Agro-based industries are also well developed in the district. Mainly groundnut, cotton, sesame, bajri, wheat, and grams are grown therein. Fishery is an important sector in Rajula and Jafrabad talukas.
The district has 4 industrial estates under the GIDC, two of which are in Babra. District has 4822 Small Scale Industries and 5 Medium Scale Industries in which Rs.4947.35 lakh is invested. 16,640 employments are generated through this industrial centres. Pipavav, Jafrabad and Victor ports are situated in the coastal district.

Gems

Gem cutting and polishing industries are located in Babra, while Savar Kundla taluka is famous for its manual weighing scales and electronic weighing machines across the country. Gold plating units exist in Bagasara city. The diamond trading industry is also well developed. There is a small gem cutting industry located in Dhari.

Mining

is famous for rajula stones which are famous worldwide.

Ginning

is famous for Ginning industry with more than 50 ginning and pressing factories.

Talukas

The district comprises 11 talukas.
In 2021 and 2025, Saurashtra experienced heavy rainfall across various regions. In 2021, Amreli district saw intense downpours, with Bagasara receiving 74mm of rainfall and Lilia receiving 168 mm, leading to rescue operations in low-lying areas. On 23rd May and 17th June 2025, heavy rain again affected Amreli, with Kunkavav Vadia recording 189 mm and Bagasara also witnessing significant rainfall. Several nearby regions faced waterlogging and disruption due to the intense showers.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Amreli district has a population of 1,514,190, roughly equal to the nation of Gabon or the US state of Hawaii. This gives it a ranking of 329th in India. The district has a population density of. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 8.59%. Amreli has a sex ratio of 964 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 74.49%. 386,635 lived in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 8.78% and 0.48% of the population respectively.
Hindus are 93.15% while Muslims are 6.55% of the population.

Language

At the time of the 2011 census, 99.00% of the population spoke Gujarati and 0.66% Hindi as their first language.

Cities and towns

The population development of the cities and towns in Amreli.
NameStatusPopulation
Census
1991-03-01		Population
Census
2001-03-01		Population
Census
2011-03-01
AmreliMunicipality with Outgrowth67,82795,307117,967
BabraMunicipality...19,07125,270
BagasaraMunicipality28,38931,79634,521
ChalalaMunicipality16,19316,91516,721
DamnagarMunicipality13,94616,71916,614
JafrabadMunicipality17,55325,08627,167
LathiMunicipality16,55820,96621,173
LiliaCensus Town...9,90210,359
RajulaMunicipality26,57132,39538,489
SavarkundlaMunicipality64,81573,77478,354

Notable people