| Ratnagiri | |
| Settlement Type: | City |
| Pushpin Map: | India Maharashtra#India |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Coordinates: | 16.9944°N 73.3°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Type2: | Region |
| Subdivision Type3: | District |
| Subdivision Name1: | Maharashtra |
| Subdivision Name2: | Konkan Division |
| Subdivision Name3: | Ratnagiri |
| Government Type: | Municipal council |
| Governing Body: | Ratnagiri Municipal council |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Rank: | City |
| Elevation M: | 11 |
| Population Total: | 3,27,120 |
| Population As Of: | 2018 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Demonym: | Ratnagirikar, Ratnakar, Girikar |
| Demographics Type1: | Languages |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Official |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +5:30 |
| Postal Code Type: | PIN |
| Postal Code: | 415612, 415639 |
| Area Code: | 02352 |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone code |
| Iso Code: | IN-MH |
| Registration Plate: | MH-08 |
| Demographics1 Info1: | Marathi |
Ratnagiri (IAST:Ratnāgirī ; [ɾət̪n̪aːɡiɾiː]) is a port city on the Arabian Sea coast in Ratnagiri District[2] in southwestern Maharashtra, India. The district is part of Konkan division of Maharashtra. The city is known for the Hapus or Alphonso mangoes. Ratnagiri is the birthplace of Indian independence activist Lokmanya Tilak. Thibaw, the last king of Burma, alongside his consort Supayalat and two infant daughters were exiled to a two-storied brick mansion in Ratnagiri.[3] The building is now known as Thibaw Palace. This place has many villages like Karla, Rajiwada, Mirkarwada, etc.
Ratnagiri is located at .[4] It has an average elevation of 11 meters (36 feet). The Sahyadri mountains border Ratnagiri to the east.
Road
Ratnagiri is well connected to the other parts of the state and country by National Highways & State Highways. National Highways NH 66 (Panvel – Edapally), NH 166 (Ratnagiri – Nagpur) and Coastal Highway (Rewas – Reddy) pass through the city. MSRTC operates bus services to Mumbai, Thane, Vasai, Nala Sopara, Kalyan, Bhiwandi, Pune, Panaji, Nanded, Latur, Tuljapur, Akkalkot, Ambajogai, Beed, Kolhapur, Gargoti, Gadhinglaj, Nrushimhawadi, Ichalkaranji, Sangli, Miraj, Tasgaon, Jat, Islampur, Satara, Belgaum, Hubli, Bijapur and other major towns of the state. North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation also operates buses from Belgaum, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Indi, Muddebihal, Sindgi, Athani, Jevargi and Talikota. A number of private buses regularly ply for Mumbai and Pune and a few for Kolhapur, Bijapur.
Railways
Ratnagiri is a major Railhead on Konkan Railway route. Ratnagiri is also one of the two divisions of Konkan Railway Corporation. The city is well connected to Mumbai, New Delhi, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Dehradun, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Surat, Bhuj, Indore, Jabalpur, Patna, Nagpur, Pune, Margao, Mangalore, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kanyakumari, Coimbatore and other major towns of the country. Every train passing through the city halts here. Connectivity to western Maharashtra is proposed through Vaibhavwadi Road – Kolhapur route.
M. Devender Singh (IAS:MH2011) has joined as Collector and District Magistrate, Ratnagiri on 01-10-2022 after the Previous Collector and District Magistrate B.N Patil got Transferred.[5]
Ratnagiri Municipality:
The Ratnagiri Municipality was established in 1876.[6] The Office of the President of the Council was occupied by Mr. Pradeep Salvi of the Shivsena, before it got dismissed due to the completion of the Term. Currently the Office of the Council President remains vacant with the Administrator and the Chief Officer being in-charge of the Municipal Administration.
Ratnagiri (Vidhan Sabha constituency)
Uday Samant (Shiv Sena), The Incumbent Cabinet Minister of Industries Uday Samant Government of Maharashtra represents Ratnagiri constituency in State Assembly since 2004, and has been appointed as the Guardian Minister of Ratnagiri.[7]
Ratnagiri–Sindhudurg (Lok Sabha constituency)
Vinayak Raut (Shiv Sena) represents Ratnagiri-Sindhudurg constituency in Lok Sabha, lower house of the parliament since 2014.
The Maharashtra Government under the Department of Fisheries established the Marine Biological Research Station (MBRS) in 1958 at Ratnagiri, which is presently attached with Dr. Balasaheb Sawant Konkan Krishi Vidyapeeth, Dapoli, Dist.: Ratnagiri. The research station has a 10 hectare area as field facility including a three storied building at the main campus, a well equipped aquarium and museum, a modernised brackish water fish farm, a Mechanized Fishing and Research Vessel, Seed Production facilities and various laboratories at its disposal.
The Marine Biological Research Station, Ratnagiri is one of the premier institutes, especially in the South Konkan Coastal Fisheries Zone, having a mandate for development of fish production technologies, transferring the technologies to fish culturists, entrepreneurs and the industry, and generating professionally trained manpower in fish culture.[20]
A 3D Planetarium was inaugurated by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on December 16 at Ratnagiri. It was built at a cost of Rs 11 crore 58 lakh.
This planetarium is the first active 3D planetarium in Maharashtra and fifth nationally.
Ratnagiri was an administrative capital under the Sultanate of Bijapur. A fort built by the Bijapur Sultanate, reconstructed by the Maratha king Shivaji in 1670 is located on a headland near the harbour. In 1731 Ratnagiri came under the control of the Kingdom of Satara, and in 1818 it was annexed to British India.
Ratnagiri is the birthplace of Indian freedom fighter Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak. He was born on 23 July 1856 after which he moved to Pune with his family when he was 10 years old.
In 1886, King Thibaw of Burma was sent to Ratnagiri after he was deposed and his country annexed by the British Empire. Along with his pregnant wife, his junior queen, and his two young daughters, he would live out the rest of his life in Ratnagiri, as a prisoner of the British Crown. Ratnagiri was chosen for its remote location, some 3,000 miles from Thibaw's former royal seat of Mandalay, accessible only by sea for parts of the year and far from any territory of any rival European power.[21]
Ratnagiri was also the place of confinement for Vinayak Damodar Savarkar from 1921 to 1935, initially in jail and subsequently under local confinement.