Geography
Balasore district is located in the northeast of the state of Orissa and lies between 21° 3' to 21° 59' north latitude and 86° 20' to 87° 29' east longitude. The average altitude of the district is 19.08 metre. The district has a total area of 3634 km2. It is bounded by Midnapore district of West Bengal in its North, the Bay of Bengal in the east, Bhadrak district in the South and Mayurbhanj and Keonjhar districts on its western side.
Balasore is also known " The city of Land on Sea Shore" or " City of Sand"
Broadly the district can be divided into three geographical regions, namely, the Coastal belt, the inner alluvial plain and the North-Western hills. The coastal belt is about 81 km wide and shaped like a strip. In this region, sand dunes are noticed along the coast with some ridges. This region is mostly flooded with brackish water of estuarine rivers which is unsuitable for cultivation. Presently this area is utilized for coconut and betel cultivation. Shrimp culture and salt manufacturing units are also developing in this area recently. The second contiguous geographical region is deltaic alluvial plain. It is a wide stretch of highly fertile and irrigated land. This area is highly populous and devoid of any jungle. The third region, north-western hilly region covers most of Nilagiri Sub-division. It is mostly hilly terrain and vegetated with tropical semi-ever green forests. The Hills of Nilagiri has the highest peak of 543 metre above the sea level. The scheduled tribes of the district are mostly seen in this region of valuable forest resources and stone quarries.
Balasore, the coastal district of Orissa is crisscrossed with perennial and estuarine rivers because of its proximity to the sea. Two important rivers of Orissa, namely :- Budhabalanga and Subarnarekha pass through this district from west to east before surging into the Bay of Bengal. The irrigation system in Balasore district is very much widespread.
The soil of Balasore district is mostly alluvial laterite. The soil of Central region is mostly clay, clay loam and sandy loam which is very fertile for paddy and other farm produces. Nilagiri Sub-division is mostly gravelly and lateritic soil, which is less fertile. A small strip of saline soil is also seen along the extreme coastal part of the district.
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