District
Solan
| Headquarters | Solan |
|---|---|
| Division | Shimla |
| Formed | 1 September 1972 |
| Area | 1,936 km² |
| Population (2011) | 5,80,320 |
| Density (2011) | 300 per km² |
| Literacy (2011) | 83.68 % |
| Sex ratio (2011) | 880 |
Created on 1 September 1972 out of parts of the dissolved Mahasu district and Shimla, together with the Nalagarh area that had come from Punjab in 1966. It assembles the old states of Baghat (capital Solan), Baghal (Arki), Hindur (Nalagarh), Kunihar and Mahlog.
Solan is the state's industrial engine: the Baddi–Barotiwala–Nalagarh (BBN) belt is one of Asia's largest pharmaceutical manufacturing clusters, and the district reports the state's highest urban share and lowest sex ratio outside Kinnaur.
- Arki fort and its wall paintings — the Arki sub-school of Pahari painting.
- Shoolini Devi temple, after whom Solan is named; the Shoolini fair.
- Subathu — the first British cantonment in the hills (1815), seat of the Political Agent.
- Kasauli — Central Research Institute (1905), and the starting point of the 1857 rising in the hills.
- Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni.
- Mushroom cultivation — Solan is called the 'Mushroom City of India'; also the tomato belt.