International Referred Research Journal,June,2011,ISSN-0975-3486, RNI: RAJBIL 2009/30097, VOL-II *ISSUE 21 R E S E A R C H A N A L Y S I S A N D E V A L U A T I O N 82 Introduction : Now a days, tourism is a rapidly developing economic activity. Economic importance of tourism is increasing day by day. However, protection & conser- vation of tourist centers are essential for tourism de- velopment [Shinde S.B. 2006]. In Sangli District, various tourist places are situated, such as Historical, Geographical, Religious & Cultural. All places are unevenly distributed all over the district. The study of tourist centre’s distribu- tion is essential for future planning. Hypothesis : 1] In Sangli District, there are variety of tourist cen- tres are found. 2] The spacing of tourist centre’s pat- tern is random. Objectives : 1] To study the distribution & classification of tourist centres. 2] To study the spacing of tourist centres. Research Paper—Geography June, 2011 Spatial Distribution of Tourist Centres in Sangli District, Maharashtra State. * S.M. Kamble ** Dr. R.S. Shikalgar *** S.K. Naik, * Head, Dept. of Geography, A.C.S. College, Palus. ** Head, Dept. of Geography, Elphinstone College, Mumbai *** Head Dept. of Geography, Kakasaheb Chavan Mahavidyalaya, Talmavale. Sr.No. Tahsil Geographical Historical Religious Cultural Total 1 Palus Audumbar 1 2 Kadegaon Sagreshwar Kadepur 2 3 Miraj Miraj Fort Dandoba Mirasaheb- 3 Darga 4 K.Mahankal Arewadi 1 5 Khanapur Banurgarh Dargoba, 3 Renavi 6 Atpadi Shukkac- 1 harya 7 Tasgaon Aravade 1 8 Jat Jat 1 9 Walwa Bahuddurwadi- Narsinghpur, 4 Fort, Mach- Ramling bet indragarh 10 Shirala Chandoli Prachitgrah Shirala 3 Total 2 5 9 4 20 Methodology : For the paper, data is collected from primary & secondary sources. To study of distribution & clas- sification of tourist centres, primary data is collected through participatory field visit of tourist centres & secondary data from reference books, journals, maga- zines, maps, gazetteers & news papers etc. To study spacing, the Nearest Neighbour Analysis Method has been used. Study Region : Sangli district is one of the southern districts of Maharashtra & is a part of the deccan plateau. It lies between 160 45| & 170 33| North latitude & 730 42| & 750 40| East longitude. The area of the District is 8572 sq. km & its population is 2820575 [census 2011]. Distribution & Classification of Tourist Centres : In Sangli District 20 tourist centres are situ- ated. Out of these, religious [09], Historical [05], Cul- tural [04] & Geographical [02] tourist centres are found. Tourist Centres in Sangli District : Table No. 1 Source: Compiled by authour. Spacing of tourist centres : The spacing is a transformation of an idea of distance which is fundamentally linear. Spacing, be- cause of its area dimension, is inherently more geo- graphical. It is immediately the regional socio-eco- nomic attributes [Bansal S.C.]. Spacing of tourist centres in Sangli District : Map No. 1 A measurement of spacing between the tour- ist centres in Sangli district is done with the help of nearest neighbour analysis method. The concept of nearest neighbour analysis as the measure of spatial distribution of tourist centres is based on the measure- ment of actual straight line distance between two near- est neighbour tourist centres & camparison these dis-