Subarnapur has b e e n figured out o n the political a n d cultural ma p o f O d i s h a s i n c e pre-historic period as an ancient place of human inhabitation. The discovery of a large number of stone tools, rock art of 'Puja Dunguri' near Rampur tahasil and punch-marked coins is a testimony to primitive human settlements in this region available since the 3rd century B.C. Subarnapur (the old name of the town) or modern Subarnapur occupied a place of prime importance during different periods under the rule of various royal families like the Bhanjas, the Somovansis, the Telugu-Cholas, the Kalachuais, the Gangas and the Chouhans. Subaranapur or Subarnapur was recognized as a feudatory s t a t e by the British rulers in 1867. These rulers executed a number of p rogressive reforms in the state for the welfare of their subjects. The feudatory rulers put the administration o n democratic l i n e s in March 1943. Subarnapur kingdom was merged with Odisha province on 1st January, 1948 and became a Sub- Division under Bolangir district. Subsequently Subarnapur b e c a m e a separate district with effect from 1st April, 1993.
The district lies 20o30'N to 21o11'N latitude and 83o27'E to 84o16'E longitude. It spreads over an area of 2337 Sq. KM. and is also known as Second Varanasi of India for its cluster of temples having architectural importance and tantric mystiques. Subarnapur is also famous for handlooms, prawns, terracotta etc. It is bounded on the north by Sambalpur district, on the south and the South–East by Boudh District, on the East by Rairakhol sub–division of Sambalpur District and on the West by Balangir district.
The entire district of Subarnapur lies in the watershed basin of the Mahanadi, taking a semicircular path across Ulunda, Birmaharajpur, Binka and Sonepur blocks. Two out of six blocks viz. Dunguripali and Binka get irrigation from Hirakud Canal System for agriculture which is the most important economic activity in the district. There are three District Agriculture Offices i.e. Sonepur, Birmaharajpur and Dunguripali for execution and supervision of different agricultural programmes.
This district comes under Western Central Table zone comprising two types of agro- climatic situations (1) Irrigated – Binka and Dunguripali. (2) Rainfed – Tarbha, Sonepur, Birmaharajpur and Ulunda. The climatic condition is extreme. Summer is hot and dry. Rainy season is characterized by good rainfall and high degree of humidity. Cold is equally severe in winter. Rain are caused by the southwest monsoon, which breaks in June, reaches its peak in August and retreats in the middle of October.
The temperature shows a wide fluctuation varying between 47° centigrade in summer and below 10° centigrade in winter. The mean maximumtemperature is 43.3° centigrade and mean minimum temperature is 13° centigrade. The annual rainfall of the district is 1418.5 mm in 61.6 days.
Out of 959 revenue villages in 96 Gram Panchayats under 6 blocks of Subarnapur district 797 villages are inhabited having population 610183(Census-2011) . Female and male population in the district is 311312 and 298871 respectively having sex ratio (F:M) is 0.96:1.0. Population Density is 261/Sqr km.Among all blocks of the district Dunguripalli has the highest population density (415/Sqr Km) whereas Ullunda has the lowest (244/Sqr. Km).
Population of SC is 25.60 % whereas ST constitutes about 9.38 % of the total population in the district. Percentage of SC population is highest in Dunguripalli block (18.18 %) and lowest in Sonepur block (12.70%) whereas ST population is highest in Dunguripalli block (27.68 %) and lowest in Birmaharajpur block( 8.63 %)
Average literacy rate of Subarnapur in 2011 is 74.4 %. If things are looked out at gender wise, male and female literacy were 84.40 % and 64.0%respectively. With regards to Sex Ratio in Subarnapur it stood at 960 per 1000 male. The average national sex ratio in India is 940 as per latest reports of Census 2011 Directorate. In 2011 census, child sex ratio is 973 girls per 1000 boys.