Brahmapur or Berhampur (IPA: /brmhpur/) is a municipal corporation located on the eastern coastline of Ganjam district of the Indian state of Odisha in East India, about 169 kilometres (105 mi) south of the state capital Bhubaneshwar and 255 kilometres (158 mi) north of Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh. It is one of the oldest and largest cities of Odisha. Nicknamed "The Silk City", it is famous for its silk saris, temples and unique culture. The population of the city is 355,823 as of the 2011 Census of India (provisional) without agglomeration (without including the extended portion of the city),[2] making it the fourth most populous urban city in Odisha state[2] and 126th in India. Berhampur is the oldest city of Ganjam District in the State of Odisha. It is mainly a trading centre for Southern Odisha having its influence over eight districts. The city was declared as a Municipality in the year 1867. It is known as the first municipality of odisha.The city with population of 210418 in 1991 & 307792 in 2001.It has been declared as a Class-I Town Category as per 2001 Census. Berhampur City is famous for its widespread human resources in extremely important and decision making positions all over the globe. The trading volume is also growing day by day. Berhampur is famous for its rich culture.The name Berhampur is an anglicized form of the word Brahmapura which etymologically means "The Abode of Brahma, the Creator". There have been several demands to change the English spelling of city's official name to "Brahmapur". In the 1990s, the Indian Railways accepted the city's Odia name "Brahmapur" for all its official purposes after which the railway station is known as Brahmapur railway station. However, the Odisha State government has not taken any steps to change the city's name in English. In the official records, the city has two names: "Berhampur" in English, and "Brahmapur" in Odia. As per the 2011 Census of India (provisional), the population of Brahmapur is 355,823 (the actual population is much higher than this), of which 185,584 are males and 170,239 are females. The effective literacy rate of Brahmapur is 90.04%, higher than the national average of 74.04%. Male and female literacy rates are 93.83% and 85.92%, respectively. 8.2% of the population are children aged 06 years. The adult and child sex ratios are 917 and 898 females per 1000 males, respectively.[2] Berhampur has a large number of Telugu speaking residents. Nearly 40 percent of the total population of 3.55 lakh people in Berhampur speak Telugu.[1]
