Ayodhya district (previously known as Faizabad district) is one of the 75 districts in the northern Indianstate of Uttar Pradesh. The city of Ayodhya is its administrative headquarters.[1][3] The district occupies an area of 2,522 square kilometres (974 sq mi),[1] and had a population of 2,470,996 in the 2011 census.[1][2] Ayodhya district shares its borders with 6 districts of Uttar Pradesh. It is bordered by Gonda and Basti districts on the northern side, Amethi and Sultanpur districts on the south, and Ambedkar Nagar and Barabanki districts share the border on the east and west.
The official name of the district was changed from Faizabad to Ayodhya in November 2018.[4]
According to the 2011 Indian census, the district had a population of 2,470,996, of which males were 1,259,628 and females were 1,211,368. Population in the age group of 0–6 years was 360,082. This gave it a ranking of 178th in India (out of a total of 640).[7] The district had a population density of 1,054 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,730/sq mi). Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was 18.16%. The district had a sex ratio of 961 females for every 1000 males. The total number of literates in the district were 1,450,901, which constitutes 58.7% of the population. The effective literacy rate of 7+ population was 70.63%. 13.77% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes made up 22.46% of the population.[7]