Bharuch district

Bharuch (also known as Broach) in, is a district in the southern part of the  on the west coast of   of Gujarat with a size and population comparable to that of Greater. The outlets into the  through its lands and that shipping artery  gave inland access to the kingdoms and empires located in the central and northern parts of the sub-continent of India.

History
The city of and its surrounds--today's district -- has been settled far back into antiquity and was a major shipping building center and  in the important   routes to points West, perhaps as far back as the days of the Pharaohs, which utilized the regular and predictable  winds or s. Many goods from the  (The famed  and Silk trade) were trans-shipped there for the annual monsoon winds making it a terminus for several key land-sea  and Bharuch was definitely known to the Greeks, the various s and in the  and other Western centers of civilization right on through the end of the an.

With the advent of the, the presence of deep draft sea going shipping it began a long slow decline in importance as it was a bit too far north to be convenient to shipping not wielded to keeping within sight of shore.

Geography and demographics
Administratively, it contains the s (administrative subdistricts similar to a boro or township) of, , , , , and Vagra.
 * Area : 9,308
 * Population : 1,370,656

It also contains the city of. The district was 25.72% urban as of 2001.