Districts of Bangladesh

The divisions of Bangladesh are further divided into districts or zilas (Bengali: জেলা).^[1] The headquarters of a district is called the district seat (Bengali: জেলা সদর, romanized: zila sadar). There are 64 districts in Bangladesh. The districts are further subdivided into 495 subdistricts or upazilas.^[2]

History

Before independence, Bangladesh (then known as East Pakistan) had 19 districts.

English spelling change

In April 2018, the government changed the English spelling of five districts to avoid inconsistencies in the Bengali and English spellings and to make them consistent with the Bengali pronunciation. The spellings have been changed from Bogra to Bogura, Barisal to Barishal, Jessore to Jashore, Chittagong to Chattogram and Comilla to Cumilla.^[3]

Administration

Deputy commissioner

A Deputy Commissioner (DC), popularly abbreviated to 'DC,' serves as the executive head of the district. Individuals appointed to the role are selected by the government from the Deputy Secretary BCS Administration Cadre.

District councils

A district council (or zila parishad) is a local government body at the district level.^[4] The Bengali word parishad means council and zila parishad translates to district council.

The functions of a district council include the construction and maintenance of roads and bridges. They are also responsible for building hospitals, dispensaries, schools, and other educational institutions. In addition, district councils oversee health facilities and sanitation projects, as well as the installation of tube wells for drinking water. They also manage rest houses and coordinate activities among the Union Parishads within the district.

Timeline of creation

1666

Chittagong district.^[5]

1769

Rangpur District.^[6]

1772

Sylhet District.^[7]

Dhaka District.

Rajshahi District.^[8]

1781

Jessore District.^[9]

1786

Dinajpur District.^[10]

1787

Mymensingh District.^[11]

1790

Comilla District.^[12]

1797

Bakerganj District (now Barisal District).^[13]

1815

Faridpur District.^[14]

1821

1832

Pabna District.^[17]

1860

Hill Tracts district is split from Chittagong district.^[5]

1882

Khulna District is split from Jessore district .^[18]

1947

Kushtia District is established Because of the Partition of Bengal in 1947 before that it is a part of Nadia District.^[19]

1969

Tangail District is split from Mymensingh district.^[11]
Patuakhali district is split from Barisal district.^[20]

1971

Dhaka Division: Dhaka district, Faridpur district, Mymensingh district, Tangail district
Chittagong Division: Hill Tracts district, Chittagong district, Comilla district, Noakhali district, Sylhet district.
Rajshahi Division: Bogra district, Dinajpur district, Rajshahi district, Rangpur district, Pabna district.
Khulna Division: Barisal district, Jessore district, Khulna district, Kushtia district, Patuakhali district

1984

Magura district was split from Jessore district.
Brahmanbaria and Chandpur districts were split from Comilla district.^[21]
Sirajganj district was split from Pabna district.^[22]
Sherpur district was split from Jamalpur district.
Netrokona and Kishoreganj districts were split from Mymensingh district.^[11]
Lakshmipur and Feni districts were split from Noakhali district.^[23]^[24]
Sunamganj, Habiganj and Maulvibazar districts were split from Sylhet district.^[7]
Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts were split from Dinajpur district.^[10]

Jhenaidah and Narail split from Jessore district.
Cox's Bazar district was split from Chittagong district.^[25]
Satkhira and Bagerhat districts were split from Khulna District.
Meherpur and Chuadanga districts were split from Kustia District.
Prirojpur and Jhalokati District were spilt from Barisal district.
Bhola and Barguna District were spilt from Patuakhali district.

List of districts

Division	District	Established	Area (km²)^[26]	Population (2022)^[27]	Density (/km²)^[27]
Barisal	Barguna	1984	1,831	1,010,530	552
	Barishal	1797	2,785	2,570,450	923
	Bhola	1984	3,403	1,932,514	568
	Jhalokati	1984	707	661,161	935
	Patuakhali	1969	3,221	1,727,254	536
	Pirojpur	1984	1,278	1,198,193	938
Chittagong	Bandarban	1981	4,479	481,109	107
	Brahmanbaria	1984	1,881	3,306,559	1,758
	Chandpur	1984	1,645	2,635,748	1,602
	Chittagong	1666	5,283	9,169,464	1,736
	Comilla	1790	3,146	6,212,216	1,974
	Cox's Bazar	1984	2,492	2,823,265	1,133
	Feni	1984	990	1,648,896	1,665
	Khagrachhari	1983	2,749	714,119	260
	Lakshmipur	1984	1,440	1,938,111	1,346
	Noakhali	1821	3,686	3,625,252	984
	Rangamati	1983	6,116	647,587	106
Dhaka	Dhaka	1772	1,464	14,734,025	10,067
	Faridpur	1815	2,053	2,162,876	1,054
	Gazipur	1984	1,806	5,263,474	2,914
	Gopalganj	1984	1,469	1,295,053	882
	Kishoreganj	1984	2,689	3,267,630	1,215
	Madaripur	1984	1,125	1,293,027	1,149
	Manikganj	1984	1,384	1,558,024	1,126
	Munshiganj	1984	1,004	1,625,418	1,618
	Narayanganj	1984	684	3,909,138	5,712
	Narsingdi	1984	1,150	2,584,452	2,247
	Rajbari	1984	1,092	1,189,821	1,089
	Shariatpur	1984	1,174	1,294,561	1,103
	Tangail	1969	3,414	4,037,608	1,183
Khulna	Bagerhat	1984	3,959	1,613,079	407
	Chuadanga	1984	1,174	1,234,066	1,051
	Jashore	1781	2,607	3,076,849	1,181
	Jhenaidah	1984	1,965	1,771,304	902
	Khulna	1882	4,394	2,613,385	595
	Kushtia	1947	1,609	2,149,692	1,336
	Magura	1984	1,039	1,033,115	994
	Meherpur	1984	742	705,356	951
	Narail	1984	968	788,673	815
	Satkhira	1984	3,817	2,196,581	574
Mymensingh	Jamalpur	1978	2,115	2,499,737	1,182
	Mymensingh	1787	4,395	5,899,052	1,342
	Netrokona	1984	2,794	2,324,856	832
	Sherpur	1984	1,365	1,501,853	1,101
Rajshahi	Bogura	1821	2,899	3,734,300	1,288
	Joypurhat	1983	1,012	956,430	945
	Naogaon	1984	3,436	2,784,598	811
	Natore	1984	1,900	1,859,921	979
	Chapai Nawabganj	1984	1,703	1,835,527	1,078
	Pabna	1832	2,376	2,909,622	1,225
	Rajshahi	1772	2,425	2,915,013	1,202
	Sirajganj	1984	2,402	3,357,708	1,398
Rangpur	Dinajpur	1786	3,444	3,315,238	963
	Gaibandha	1984	2,115	2,562,232	1,212
	Kurigram	1984	2,245	2,329,161	1,037
	Lalmonirhat	1984	1,247	1,428,406	1,145
	Nilphamari	1984	1,547	2,092,567	1,353
	Panchagarh	1984	1,405	1,179,843	840
	Rangpur	1772	2,401	3,169,615	1,320
	Thakurgaon	1984	1,781	1,533,894	861
Sylhet	Habiganj	1984	2,637	2,358,886	895
	Moulvibazar	1984	2,799	2,123,445	759
	Sunamganj	1984	3,747	2,695,495	719
	Sylhet	1782	3,452	3,857,037	1,117
Total			147,556	164,924,071	82,892

References

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^ Kamal Siddiqui. "Local Government". In Sirajul Islam (ed.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh. Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 6 November 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
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^ খান, শামসুজ্জামান (2014). আব্দুল জলিল, মুহম্মদ (ed.). বাংলাদেশ লোকজ সংস্কৃতি গ্রন্থমালা : রংপুর. বাংলা একাডেমি.
^ ^a ^b Hossain, Ashfaq (2012). "Sylhet District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 25 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Mahbubar Rahman, Md. (2012). "Rajshahi District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 21 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
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^ ^a ^b Hossain, Ashfaq (2012). "Dinajpur District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c এক নজরে জেলা [District at a Glance]. Mymensingh District (in Bengali). Archived from the original on 19 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2019.
^ Siddiqi, Mamun (2012). "Comilla District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 8 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Saiful Islam, KAM (2012). "Barisal District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 30 August 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Reza, Masud (2012). "Faridpur District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 24 November 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Lipi, Jahanara (2012). "Noakhali District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Nazmul Haq, Md (2012). "Bogra District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Shariful Alam, Md (2012). "Pabna District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 29 June 2020. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ Mallik, Sandipak (2012). "Khulna District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 11 April 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ "Kushtia District". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ Jerin, Iffat (2012). "Patuakhali District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 5 June 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ "Brahmanbaria District". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ "Sirajganj District". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 30 August 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ "Lakshmipur District". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 21 January 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ "Feni District". Banglapedia. Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved 10 April 2021.
^ Siddiqi, Mahibbullah (2012). "Cox's_Bazar District". In Sirajul Islam; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. Archived from the original on 15 May 2019. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
^ "Table 3.2.3: Area, Number of Household, Enumerated Population and Density with Rank by Division and Zila, 2011" (PDF). bbs.gov.bd. Population and Housing Census 2011 National Report - Volume 1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 2011. pp. 27–28. Archived (PDF) from the original on 4 April 2022. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
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