Begusarai is a city as well as a municipality situated in the Begusarai district in the state of Bihar in India. There are a total of thirty-seven districts in the state of Bihar and the Begusarai district is one of them. The city of Begusarai is the administrative headquarters of this district. The district, included under the Darbhanga division, got its district status in the year 1972. It is believed that the name originated from word Begumsarai Begum means queen and Sarai means inn . The name changed to Begusarai with passage of time.
There are five subdivisions of the district. These are Manjhaul, Begusarai, Ballia, Bakhari and Teghara. Paddy, wheat, urad, gram, masur, mater, mustard, macca, tisi, sunflower, red chilies, tobacco, potato, oilseeds and jute are some of the crops grown here. The rivers flowing through the district are Ganga, Bainty, Burhi, Gandak, Balan, Baya and Chandrabhaga. The district has a total population of 2342989.
Begusarai located at 25.42° N and 86.13° E is 41 metres (134 feet) above sea level. The 2001 India census records a population of 93,378. During that census, males were counted to be 53% of the population and females 47%. Regarding literacy, 59% of the males and 41% of the females are literate. The town`s overall literacy rate is 65%, while the whole country records an average of 59.5%.. 15% of the population comprises children less than 6 years of age.