Situated on the southern bank of the mighty Brahamputra river in Kamrup district of Assam, Guwahati is a fast growing premier city .It is the gateway to the North eastern states of India and a principal centre of socio-cultural, political, industrial and trade and commerce of the entire region. Dispur, the capital of Assam is a part of Guwahati. A reference of Guwahati has been mentioned in the Kalikapuran and Mahabharata. A copper plate inscription of Balavarman II, a king of Kamrupa distinctly states that "Naraka lived in the city named Pragjotishpur within Kamrup and that the city was full of areca nut trees wrapped by pan creepers". Hence, this city subsequently got the name Guwahati. The word `Guwa' in Assamese means areca nut and 'Hat' means market. The mighty river Brahmaputra passes through Guwahati and atop Nilachal Hills, 8 km. from the city centre lays the famous Shakti temple of Goddess Kamakhya, one of the 51 Sakti peeths in the country.

General Information

Area : 216.79 sq. km

Population :584342(1991 census)

Altitude : 54 metres

Climate : Summer : Maximum 38 degrees C Minimum 20 degrees C

Winter : Maximum 30 degrees C Minimum 10 degrees C

Clothing : Summer : April to October - Cotton

Winter : November to March - Woollen

Language : Assamese, Hindi and English

STD CODE/AREA CODE: 0361

Access and Communication :

• Air : The Lokpriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport, Guwahati is well connected by air with New Delhi, KoIkata, Mumbai and Chennai. Indian Airlines, Jet Airways, Sahara Airlines operate regular flights to Guwahati and some other towns like Dibrugarh, Tezpur, Jorhat, Silchar, Agartala and Imphal.
• Rail : Guwahati is well connected by train with Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai, Jodhpur, Puri, Okha, Bangalore, Kochi, Thiruvanthapuram etc. Other important towns in the state are also well connected by train from Guwahati.
• Road : A network of roads connects Guwahati with all important cities in the neighbouring states and major cities in the country. Some of the road distances to important places in kilometre is as follows:

Road Distances from Guwahati (in kilometers)

Agartala - 597	Dimapur - 280	Nagaon - 120
Aizawl - 538	Gangtok - 624	Orang - 140
Bagdogra - 523	Haflong - 355	Sivasagar - 369
Bhalukpung - 250	ltanagar - 420	Silchar - 398
Bomdila - 342	Jorhat - 309	Siliguri - 513
Cherrapunjee - 154	Kolkatta - 1182	Shillong - 100
Darjeeling - 587	Kalimpong - 582	Tawang - 532
Delhi - 2160	Kaziranga - 217	Tezpur - 181
Dibrugarh - 445	Lumding - 221	Tinsukia - 483
Digboi - 514	Mumbai - 3104	Tura - 284