Gadchiroli is an administrative district in Maharashtra, India. The town of Gadchiroli is the administrative headquarters of the district.

Gadchiroli District is situated in the southeastern corner of Maharashtra, and is bounded by Chandrapur District to the west, Gondia District to the north, Chhatisgarh state to the east, and Andhra Pradesh state to the south and southwest. Gadchiroli District was created on August 26, 1982 by the separation of Gadchiroli and Sironcha tehsils from Chandrapur District.

The district is currently a part of the Red Corridor.

Geography

The main river basin of the district is the Godavari, which flows west to east and forms the southern boundary of the district. The major tributaries of the Godavari are the Indravati and the Pranhita, which is in turn formed by the confluence of the Wainganga and the Wardha near Chaprala village of Chamorshi Taluka.
Dhanora, Etapalli, Aheri and Sironcha talukas in the eastern part of the district are covered by forest. Hills are found in Bhamragad, Tipagad, Palasgad and Surjagad area.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Gadchiroli district has a population of about 1,071,800, roughly equal to the nation of Cyprus or the US state of Rhode Island. This gives it a ranking of 424th in India (out of a total of 640). The district has a population density of 74 inhabitants per square kilometre (190 /sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 10.46%. Gadchiroli has a sex ratio of 975 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 70.55%.

Scheduled caste and scheduled tribe population in the district is about 1,08,800 and 3,71,700. The tribal community population that resides in the district is 38.3%. Seven languages are spoken in the district, namely, Gondi, Madiya, Marathi, Hindi, Telugu, Bengali, and Chattisgadi.

Economy

The district is categoried as a tribal and undeveloped district and most of the land is covered with forest and hills. Forests cover more than 79.36% of the geographical area of the district. This district is famous for bamboo and Tendu leaves. Paddy is the main agricultural product of the district. The agriculture products of the district are sorghum, Linseed, pigeonpea (Tur), and wheat. The Main profession of the people is farming.
There is no large scale Industry in the district except the paper mill at Ashti in Chamorshi Taluka, and the paper pulp factory at Desaiganj. There are many rice mills in the district. The Tussar silk worm centre is in Armori Taluka. Only, 18.5 kilometers of railway lines pass through the district.

The district is well known for Naxalite activities; Naxalites from the People's Liberation Guerrilla Army have taken shelter in the dense forests and hills of this district.

In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named Gadchiroli one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is one of the twelve districts in Maharashtra currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).

Divisions
The district is divided into three sub-divisions, Gadchiroli, Aheri and Desaiganj which are further divided into 12 talukas. Each sub-division has four talukas. Gadchiroli sub-division consist’s Gadchiroli, Dhanora, Chamorshi and Mulchera talukas, Aheri sub-division consists Aheri, Sironcha, Etapalli and Bhamragad talukas and Desaiganj (Wadsa) sub-division consists Wadsa, Armori, Kurkheda and Korchi talukas. There are 467 Gram Panchayats and 1688 Revenue Villages. The district has 12 Panchayat Samitis. Only two municipalities, Gadchiroli and Wadsa (Desaiganj) exist in the district.

Presently, after the delimitation of the constituencies in 2008, the district has three Vidhan Sabha (legislative assembly) constituencies, Gadchiroli, Armori and Aheri. All of these are part of the newly carved Gadchiroli-Chimur Lok Sabha constituency.