[1] Lakhimpur Kheri district is a part of Lucknow division, with a total area of 7,680 square kilometres (2,970 sq mi).

[1] The national government designated Lakhimpur Kheri as a Minority Concentrated District on the basis of 2001 census data, which identifies it as requiring urgent aid to improve living standards and amenities.

[4] They are home to many rare and endangered species including 65+ Tigers, leopards, swamp deer, hispid hares and Bengal florican Etymologically Lakhimpur was known as Luxmipur.

The early history of Lakhimpur Kheri district is obscure, but it has many ancient ruins, and several places are associated with episodes in the Mahabharata.

[8] The village of Balmiar-Barkhar, near Muhamdi, is popularly identified as the capital of the ancient Virata Kingdom, although this is more commonly located in Rajasthan.

[8] Kundalpur, near Khairigarh, is said to be where Krishna carried off Rukmini, and Kheri itself is held to be where Kshemakarna performed the sacrifice to drive out the Nagas.

)[8] One of the earliest known finds in the district is a stone horse of the 4th-century king Samudra Gupta (the fragmentary inscription mentions his name), which formerly stood in a heavily forested area near Khairigarh and has since been moved to the Lucknow Museum.

[citation needed] As in much of Awadh, coins of the 9th-century king Bhoja Deva of Kannauj are commonly found in Lakhimpur Kheri district.

[8] The earliest Rajput clan known in the area are the Bachhil, who are described as rulers in an inscription at Dewal (in Pilibhit district) dated to 992 CE.

[8] Khairigarh was one of several forts constructed along the northern frontier, on the north bank of the Sarju, in order to protect the lowlands against incursions from Doti and Nepal.

[8] It included the later parganas of Muhamdi, Magdapur, Atwa Piparia, Pasgawan (which has the namesake village of Barwar), and Aurangabad, as well as Ahmadnagar and Pindarwa in modern Hardoi district.

[8] Barwar-Anjana remained a single territorial unit until the time of Ibadullah Khan, who ruled as Raja of Muhamdi in the early 1700s.

[8] It included the later parganas of Haidarabad, Bhur, and Kukra Mailani, although its boundaries were never clearly defined, and it was ruled by the Ahbans.

[8] Finally, the later pargana of Kasta formed part of the large mahal of Nimkhar, which was mostly based in present-day Sitapur district.

[8] Muqtadi Khan, the great-grandson of the original grantee, was "entrusted with the management of Barwar" after the death of the former Bachhil ruler there.

[citation needed] Under the Nawabs of Awadh, the old system of sarkars and mahals remained in use until the reign of Asaf-ud-Daula, who replaced them with chaklas.

[8] In the year 1801, when Rohilkhand was ceded to the British, part of this district was included in the cession, but after the Anglo–Nepalese War of 1814-1816 it was restored to Oudh.

On the annexation of Oudh in 1856 the west of the present area was formed into a district called Mohammadi and the east into Mallanpur, which also included part of Sitapur.

By the end of 1858 British officials regained the control and the headquarters of the single district then formed were moved to Lakhlmpur shortly afterwards.

[citation needed] The district is within the Terai lowlands at the base of the Himalayas, with several rivers and lush green vegetation.

The 258.80 kilometres (160.81 mi) long feeder channel of SSP takes off from the right bank of Sharda Barrage with discharge of 650 m3/s.

SSP provides protective canal irrigation for cultivable area of 2 m ha to lakhs of farmers in 150 development blocks of 16 districts in eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Its swamps and lakes are particularly attractive to water birds, including varieties that migrate here from the Himalayas to spend the winter months.

According to the 2011 census Lakhimpur Kheri District has a population of 4,021,243[21] roughly equal to the nation of Liberia[22] or the US state of Oregon.

[33][34] The processing unit is intended to have a capacity of 100,000 tonnes per annum and produce TMT (thermo mechanically treated) bars from input material sourced from SAIL's integrated steel plants.

Zafar Naqvi raised questions about "Lucknow Pilibhit gauge conversion" on 08-Dec-2011 in the parliament with Ministry of Railway[37] and took this up.

The Railway Development Corporation Limited (RDCL) has been assigned to carry out the broad gauge conversion within the stipulated time frame.

Sai Temple (Sikatiha Colony), Sharda Barrage and Deer Park are other major attractions of Lakhimpur.

Radio service available in Lakhimpur is FM Rainbow Kheri, it was inaugurated on 14 December 2013 by Zafar Ali Naqvi, Member of Parliament.

Calls from the city of Lakhimpur to neighbouring districts including the rest of the area in the Uttar Pradesh and "Uttarakhand telecom circle" are considered to be local.