District factbook / BU-23

Nalanda

Bihar · LGD 209

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2026 · published population estimate

34.02 lakh

UNFPA district projection 1 Mar 2026

Estimated population of Nalanda. Rank 19 of 38 in this projection.

2021 projection32.45 lakh
2026 projection34.02 lakh

0.95% annual pace implied by the model’s 2021–2026 values. This is not measured annual growth.

Estimate, source count and method

The source projects 34,01,972 people for 1 March 2026. It uses a district ratio method with Government of India state projection inputs. This is a published estimate, not a new Census enumeration or a live count.

The 2011 Census counted 28,77,653 people here. Literacy, density, rural/urban shares and sex ratio below still refer to 2011; they have not been relabelled 2026.

Annual model pace = ((2026 projection ÷ 2021 projection)^(1/5) − 1) × 100. Displayed lakh values are rounded; calculations use source integers.

Read this district’s original projection table ↗

CENSUS / 2011

28,77,653

People counted in Nalanda district.
Rank 18 of 38 by population in this source.

Census of India, via Bihar DES 2011
1,222People per km²
64.4%Literacy rate
922Females per 1,000 males

The population is a 2011 Census count, not a present-day projection. Literacy is republished to one decimal. Density is the source’s 2011 figure; it is not calculated using the later map.

Rural · 84.1%
24,19,759
Urban · 15.9%
4,57,894
Literacy, by the source’s male/female categories
Literacy · 2011 · republished rounded rates
CategoryRate
Total64.4%
Male74.9%
Female53.1%

Census literacy refers to the population aged seven and above. The total rate is the source’s published rate, not a simple average of male and female rates. Sex ratio comes from the separate Census-labelled DES chart series.

02 / ECONOMY

Income, in its year.

Bihar DES 2023–24
Gross district domestic product · current prices₹21,651.8 crore

Source value: ₹21,65,176 lakh.

Per-capita income · source label₹63,911

2023–24 · rupees per person

Per-capita income is not GDP per person or a household’s earnings. These are current-price figures for 2023–24. They have not been adjusted for inflation or carried forward to 2026.

03 / FIELDS & PRODUCTS

What is grown.
What is named.

ONE DISTRICT ONE PRODUCT / REVISED 2024 LIST

Potato based Products

Ministry of Food Processing Industries 2024

A PMFME programme designation. It does not mean this is the district’s only product, largest crop, or a geographical indication.

Cereal production

Bihar DES 2024–25
Annual production, metric tonnes · season breakdown not supplied
CropProduction (tonnes)
Rice3,92,926
Wheat3,07,072
Maize26,317
All cereals (includes the rows above)7,26,486

Rice, wheat and maize are components of the cereals total. Do not add the total to those components. The endpoint’s separate “food grain” field is excluded because its period and definition could not be reconciled.

04 / CLIMATE

Rain and warmth.
Different records.

Rainfall and temperature have different reference periods and geographic methods. They are shown separately.

Rainfall normals

India Meteorological Department 1951–2000
995.4 mmAnnual normal · as printed
871 mmJune–September · sum of monthly normals

0–300 mm · zero baseline

Read monthly rainfall values
IMD Table V · PDF page 65 · mm
MonthNormal (mm)
Jan11.5
Feb8.4
Mar8.6
Apr7.7
May26.7
Jun131.4
Jul292.5
Aug252.7
Sep194.4
Oct49.9
Nov5.7
Dec5.9

Historical station-based district normals, using available records within 1951–2000. The publication’s district geography is not asserted to match the 2021 map. This is not a current rainfall forecast.

Temperature at a representative point

NASA POWER · MERRA-2 2001–2020
30.8 °CMarch–May mean
17.4 °CDecember–February mean

0–40 °C · monthly mean temperature at 2 metres

Monthly means, model extremes and sampling point
NASA POWER · 2001–2020 · °C
MonthMeanModel max.Model min.
Jan15.6330.671.77
Feb20.0638.364.7
Mar25.9842.268.98
Apr31.7545.8216.26
May34.5346.920.15
Jun33.8747.522.83
Jul3040.624.48
Aug28.8737.7523.26
Sep27.7734.819.52
Oct25.1334.4511.95
Nov20.5633.58.06
Dec16.4131.251.99

Sampling point 25.20918° N, 85.53694° E, chosen on the source polygon. Grid: MERRA-2 native meteorology grid: 0.5° latitude × 0.625° longitude. Seasonal means use equal month weights. Summer model maximum: 46.9 °C. Winter model minimum: 1.77 °C. These extrema are reanalysis model values for the period, not observed station records.

Inspect the exact NASA response ↗

A coarse grid-cell sample, not a district average. We requested 2001–2020 explicitly and checked each response period; the API’s default uses a different period.

05 / PLACES & HERITAGE

Beyond the number.

2016 · PhotographUphogaphy · CC BY-SA 4.0Resized for this page; original source and reuse terms linked above.

Nalanda Mahavihara

The photograph is full of steps: broad brick stairways, small openings and repeated edges. Nalanda's surviving buildings once belonged to a monastic and scholastic institution. The 23-hectare UNESCO property is one part of that history, not the whole district that now carries its name.

Read the place record

Pawapuri Jal Mandir

The Jal Mandir at Pawapuri stands within a lotus pond in Nalanda district. The temple is dedicated to Mahavira, the twenty-fourth Jain Tirthankara. Jain tradition identifies the site with Mahavira’s cremation, and his Charan Paduka is venerated here. The water setting and that religious association give the shrine its distinct place in the Pawapuri pilgrimage landscape.

Read the place record

Centrally protected monuments

8 entries in the 31 July 2023 district table.

Ministry of Culture · parliamentary reply 31 Jul 2023

That table totals 70 sites for Bihar. A newer March 2026 reply reports 71 statewide, without a district crosswalk. We keep the dated district figures instead of labelling them current.

Read 8 named entries from the NMA/ASI list
  • Ancient moundBargaon · source district: Nalanda
  • Tomb of Malik Ibrahim BayuBihar Sharif · source district: Nalanda
  • Ancient remains known as GarhGhorakatora · source district: Nalanda
  • Statue of BuddhaJagdishpur · source district: Nalanda
  • All mounds, structures and buildings enclosed in the acquired areaNalanda · source district: Nalanda
  • All ancient structures and other monumentsRajgir · source district: Nalanda
  • All ancient structures and all artificial ancient remains which are situated within a distance of half a mile of the said two ancient cities known as old and new RajgrihaRajgir · source district: Nalanda
  • Walls of the two ancient cities known as old and new RajgrihaRajgir · source district: Nalanda

Undated source list; district names retained as printed and may be historical. These names are not a present-day geographical reassignment. NMA source & limitations.

06 / GEOGRAPHY

The lines
on the page.

River lines in this map

No named centreline in this small-scale river source intersects the district shape.

Natural Earth 1:10m dataset

Names reflect a geometric intersection of two approximate map datasets. This is not a complete river inventory; absence here does not mean absence of rivers. “Ganges”, “Ghäghara” and “Sapt” are the source’s labels.

Approximate mapped area · 2021 source
2,125 km²
East–west envelope span
75.2 km

Map-derived area is not the official Census area and is not used as the denominator for population density. The span is not a road distance. Geographic methods.

07 / EVIDENCE

Keep the source
with the fact.

This page combines a 2011 demographic snapshot, 2023–24 income, 2024–25 crop output, a 2024 product list and separate historical climate series. It does not describe one common year.

Male/female population counts, workforce and religion are not available in this edition. Rounded sex ratios are not used to reconstruct counts.

Sources retrieved 25 October 2026. Bihar Unpacked is independent; source attribution does not imply government endorsement. Reuse terms differ between layers.

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