GHAZIPUR, a town and district of British India, in the Benares division of the United Provinces. The town stands on the left bank of the Ganges, 44 m. E. of Benares. It is the head quarters of the dwindling opium department, where all the opium grown under licence from Government used to be collected and manufactured. There are also scent distilleries, using the produce of the rose-gardens in the vicinity. Pop. (1 c.31) 27,498.
The district of Ghazipur has an area of 1,302 sq.m. It forms part of the great alluvial plain of the Ganges, which divides it into two unequal portions. The northern tract lies between the Gumti and the Gogra, whose confluences with the main stream mark its eastern and western limits respectively. The southern tract is a much smaller strip of country, enclosed between the Karamnasa and the great river itself. In 1931 the population was 824,971. Sugar refining is the chief industry, and provides the principal article of export.