North Bihar

Towns and Cities

1. Naugachia is a sub division in Bhagalpur district. It is famous for Banana farming; and known as Kelanchal of Bihar.
2. Purnia is the headquarters of Purnia division and Purnia district. It is also the birthplace of former Indian cricketer Kirti Azad.
3. Katihar is the headquarters of Katihar district. Katihar is known for Jute production.
4. Kishanganj is the headquarters of Kishanganj district. It is the easternmost district of Bihar. A part of this district of known as chicken neck region of India.
5. Araria is the headquarters of Araria district. NH 57 connect Araria to other parts of the state.
6. Madhepura is the headquarters of Madhepura district. This district was curved out from Saharsa district. This is a flood-prone district of Kosi region.
7. Supaul is the headquarters of Supaul district. A bridge on kosi region was built in 2012 near Nirmali in Supaul, which linked the two parts of Mithila region.
8. Saharsa is the headquarters of Saharsa district and Kosi division.
9. Khagaria is the headquarters of Khagaria district. Two major rivers of North Bihar Ganga river and the Kosi river flows through the district.
10. Begusarai is the headquarters of Begusarai district. Barauni and Begusarai are the main industrial hub of North Bihar. Barauni is one of the important railway junctions of Bihar.
11. Samastipur is the headquarters of Samastipur district.
12. Darbhanga is the headquarters of Darbhanga district and Darbhanga division. Darbhanga is the cultural capital of bihar as well as The capital of Mithilanchal. It is 2nd largest city in North Bihar with historical importance.The City Is the biggest medical hub Of North Bihar and It is the only city of North Bihar Who is having two Universities In a Single Campus.
13. Madhubani is the headquarters of Madhubani district. Jainagar in Madhubani district connects North Bihar to Janakpurdham in Mithila region of Nepal.
14. Hajipur is the headquarters of Vaishali district, located on northern bank of Ganga river, opposite to Patna on southern bank.
15. Muzaffarpur is the largest city as well as the economic capital of North Bihar. It the headquarters of Muzaffarpur district and Tirhut division. All the important roadways (like NH 27, NH 28, NH 57, NH 77, NH 102) and railways (like Muzaffarpur-Hajipur, Muzaffarpur-Motihari, Muzaffarpur-Sitamarhi, Muzaffarpur-Samastipur) have their junction in the city. This makes Muzaffarpur-the city with best connectivity in North Bihar.
16. Sitamarhi is the headquarters of Sitamarhi district. It has vedic importance as Goddess Sita is believed to be unearthed here.
17. Sheohar is the headquarters of Sheohar district, the smallest district of North Bihar. It was curved out from Sitamarhi District.
18. Motihari is the headquarters of East Champaran district. Mahatma Gandhi had launched non-cooperation movement here. It has been announced to establish a Central University in Motihari. This would be the first nationalized University in North Bihar.
19. Bettiah is the headquarters of West Champaran district. It is the westernmost district of North Bihar and Northernmost district of Bihar state as whole.

Languages

Maithili is the mother tongue of most of the people from North Bihar. Different variances of Maithili is spoken in the region.

Agricultural economy

Agriculture is the main economic activity of the region.

The above industries have generated considerable employment and have also been helpful in establishing a number of small industries including a few cottage industries. The most important item that is manufactured in Muzaffarpur city is railway wagon. While darbhanga is well known for producing quality makhana (grout nut) most of them are exported to other parts of india and dudhia malda variety of mangoes

Rivers and floods

There are several rivers flowing through this region from north to south and merge in the Ganges river. These rivers along with floods bring every year fertile soil to the region. However, sometimes government sponsored floods causes loss of thousands of lives. Major rivers of North Bihar are Mahananda, Gandak, Kosi, Bagmati, Kamala, Balan, Budhi Gandak.

Natural floods

Since beginning of human civilization, rivers have been an important part of humam life. North Bihar has 7 major rivers and several tributaries to them. All these rivers receive water from the Himalaya. This is the reason, these rivers never have shortage of water. Every year, any of these rivers had been bringing valuable floods for the people of North Bihar. Flood waters used to enter the agriculture land, leave their silt, which are quite fertile, and recede to the river. This pattern of humane flood was boon for North Bihar. This made her land extremely fertile. But, natural floods are no more in North Bihar.

Man-made floods

Soon after independence, the Congress Government of Bihar made several attempts to domesticate these rivers. High barriers or Bandhs were made on their both banks. This resulted in inhumane and destructive floods. Bandhs caused deposition of silts in the bottom of rivers, because of which, depth of revers decreased; and so their water holding capacity also decreased. This is the reason these rivers bring more frequent floods now. With flood water, sand comes in force and gets deposited on the land. This way the land of the region in turning barrel. Floods, which was once boon for North Bihar, has now turned to be curse for it.

Kosi Flood 2008

The 2008 Kosi flood was one of the most disastrous floods in the history of North Bihar, an impoverished and densely populated region in India. A breach in the Kosi embankment near the Indo-Nepal border (at Kusha in Nepal) occurred on 18 August 2008. The river changed course and inundated areas which hadn't experienced floods in many decades. The flood affected over 2.3 million people in North Bihar.

The flood killed 250 people and forced nearly 3 million people from their homes in North Bihar. More than 300,000 houses were destroyed and at least 340,000 hectares (840,000 acres) of crops were damaged. Villagers in North Bihar ate raw rice and flour mixed with polluted water. Hunger and disease were widespread. The Supaul district was the worst-hit; surging waters swamped 1,000 square kilometres (247,000 acres) of farmlands, destroying crops.