Narathiwat province

Statistics
Capital:	Narathiwat[?]
Area:	4,475.0 km² Ranked 50th
Inhabitants:	690,001 (2001) Ranked 33rd
Pop. density:	154 inh./km² Ranked 21st
ISO 3166-2:	TH-96
Map

Narathiwat (Thai นราธิวาส) is one of the southern provinces (changwat) of Thailand. Neighboring provinces are (from west clockwise) Yala and Pattani. To the south it borders Malaysia.

The name Narathiwat means The residence of good people.

Table of contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 Symbols 4 Administrative divisions 5 External links

Geography

The province is located on the shore of the Gulf of Thailand on the Malay Peninsula.

Demographics

Narathiwat is one of the four Thai provinces which have a muslim majority, 82% are muslim and only 17.9% are buddhist. Also 80.4% speak the Malay language. There are some separatist movements in the province, from which terrorist attacks occasionally erupt.

Symbols

The provincial seal shows a sailing boat with a white elephant on the sail. The white elephant is a royal symbol of Thailand, and is it put on the seal to commemmorate the animal called Phra Sri Nararat Rajakarini that was caught here and given to the king. The provincial symbol is the longkong fruit (Lansium domesticum[?]), the provincial tree is the Chengal (Neobalanocarpus heimii[?]) and the provincial flower is Odontadenia macrantha[?].

Administrative divisions

Amphoe (districts)
Mueang Narathiwat Tak Bai Bacho Yi-ngo Ra-ngae Rueso Si Sakhon	Waeng Sukhirin Su-ngai Kolok Su-ngai Padi Chanae Cho-airong

External links

• Province page from the Tourist Authority of Thailand (http://www.tat.or.th/province/south/nara/index.htm)
• Golden Jubilee Network province guide (http://kanchanapisek.or.th/cgi-bin/kp8/oncc/province.cgi?prov=s5)