Kathua, is a town and Municipal Council in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, near its southern border with Punjab and Himachal Pradesh. The city is also the gateway to the state and a big industrial town with army presence.Kathua along with its satellite township of Lakhanpur in J&K and the nearby city of Pathankot in Punjab constitute the Kathua-Pathankot twin city urban area. Kathua is the second largest city in Jammu division after Jammu city. Kathua is connected via the public road network with Jammu, Chandigarh, Delhi, Pathankot and Amritsar.Kathua City is divide into 21 Wards having ward councilors.
Kathua district is one of 22 administrative districts that comprise the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. It is surrounded by Jammu to the northwest, the Doda and Udhampur districts to the north, the state of Himachal Pradesh to the east, Punjab to the south, and Pakistan's working boundary to the west. Its terrain is diverse, consisting of rich agricultural areas along the Punjab/Kashmir border, plains sweeping eastward to the foothills of the Himalaya, and the mountainous Pahari region in the east.
Kathua district is divided into 8 blocks: Bani, Barnoti, Basholi, Billawar, Duggan, Ghagwal, Hiranagar, Kathua and Lohai Malhar. It has approximately 512 villages.
The traditional language of Kathua is Dogri. Pahari languages are prevalent in the mountainous area of the east. The principal media of education are English, Hindi, and Urdu.
In an overwhelmingly Muslim state, Kathua, like the Jammu district, is a Hindu Majority district. The total Population was 615,711 at the Census of India 2011; Hinduism was practiced by 87.61%, Muslims 10.42%, Sikhs 1.55% and other (chiefly Christians) 0.42%.
A relatively safe regional pocket, Kathua was spared the decade-long insurrection sparked by the Khalistan separatist movement in Punjab State on the Indian side of Punjab region that ended in the early 1990s, just to its south, and the ongoing insurgency in Kashmir Valley further to the north, beginning in the 1980s.
Administration
Kathua is divided into four subdivisions: Bani, Basohli, Billawar/Badnota, and Hiranagar. These Sub-Divisions are further divided into 11 tehsils:
Kathua
Hiranagar
Billawar
Basohli
Bani
Nagri
Marheen
Dinga Amb
Mahanpur
Lohai Malhar
Ramkote
Politics
Kathua District has five assembly constituencies: Bani, Basohli, Kathua, Billawar and Hiranagar (S.C).
Transportation
Kathua is just 80 km away from Jammu city and 120 km from Katra. Basoli is just 72 km from it. Buses for longer distances and matadors (small buses) for shorter distances are the main sources of transportation in Kathua.Matadors(small buses) run on major roads of the city. They also connect city with nearby villages. The bus journey from Kathua to Jammu is approximately 1.5 hours. Video Coach buses from Kathua to Jammu is available from morning 5:00 am to evening 9:00 pm. There are also railway links to Jammu and Pathankot from Kathua. Kathua Railway station at Gobindsar is just 4 km from city centre. Kathua has two bus stops and one grand ISBT at Islamabad Colony.Kathua is served by nearby Pathankot Airport which is 17 km from the city centre. Vistara Airlines and Alliance Airways have started scheduled flights from 2017.
Higher Education Institutions
The city has a number of government institutions for higher education:-
Government Degree College Kathua, College Road
GMC Kathua
UIET, Janglot
Govt. Polytechnic college, Nagri road
Govt. ITI, Kathua
Kathua campus University of Jammu,Janglot
Govt. Women College
There are also a lot of private colleges for B.Ed, Law and other vocational including Nursing few of them being:-
Sidhi Vinayak School of Nursing
Ashoka Law College
TDS B.Ed college
Rajiv Gandhi College .
School Education
1. Delhi Public School Kathua (DPS Kathua)
2. Kendriya Vidyalaya Kathua
3. Army Public School Janglot
4. St. Xavier's Convent School kathua
5. Rigveda Convent Higher Secondary School Kathua
Notable people
Girdhari Lal Dogra Legislator
Charanjeet Singh
Thakur Baldev Singh
Prominent Places
Asha Purani Mandir
Fort of Jasrota JASROTA TEMPLE
Mata Bala Sundri Temple
Airwan Temple
Peer Chattershah (NAGRI-PAROLE)
Mata Sundrikote Temple
The Dream: Recreation Park
Shiv ji temple , Hatli
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathua
