PHYSICAL FEATURES AND NATURAL RESOURCES

SITUATION

 [The sections on geography (pp. 1-21) are contributed by Shri C. D. Deshpande, Chairman, S. S. C. Board, Maharashtra State, Poona.]

THE DISTRICT OF RATNAGIRI (15° 36' N and 18° 5' N, 73° 5' E and 74° 36' E). has an area of 5,020.9 square miles and a population of 17,11,964. Administratively, it consists of 15 sub-divisions [To the new district of Ratnagiri are now added the territories of the former Sawantwadi State; and there have been some adjustments in sub-divisional boundaries also.] (the details of area, population and major land use of these divisions are given in the Appendix to this section on page 12. Geographically, it is the southern most district of the Maharashtra State, with considerable variations in relief and climate, and in social and economic environment in its different parts. The district has a north-south length of about 300 miles, from its northern boundary near the village of Mhapral to its southern most point near Dodamarg in the former Sawantwadi State. It has an average east-west extension of about 40 miles, except in its extremities which taper to join the coast-line, its maximum width being from the Ratnagiri port, due east, to the border across the Amba Ghat in the Sahyadris.

TOP