The population of Sylhet Division is about 10 million. Followers of different religions are: Muslim 81.16%, Hindu 17.80%, Christian 0.06%, Buddhist 0.02% and others 0.96%.
In the late 18th century, the British East India Company became interested in Sylhet. They saw it as an area of strategic importance in the war against Burma. Sylhet gradually fell under British control and administration. It was governed as a part of Bengal. After the British administrative reorganization of India, Sylhet became a part of Assam. It remained a part of Assam for the rest of the era of British rule.
In 1947, after a referendum, almost all of Sylhet as a district became a part of East Bengal at the time and remained so after Bangladeshi independence. The Karimganj subdivision became part of the new Indian state of Assam. The referendum was held on 3 July 1947. There were a total of 546,815 votes cast on 239 polling stations. A majority of 43.8 per cent voted in favour of East Bengal. There were protests about false votes, but the referendum was acknowledged during India's independence on 18 July 1947. In 1971, Sylhet became part of the newly formed country of Bangladesh.
Barguna District
Barguna is a district in South-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Barisal Division. It has a total area of 1831.31 km². It is bordered on the north by the districts of Jhalokati, Barisal, Pirojpur and Patuakhali. In the east, it borders Patuakhali District. On the south, Barguna is bounded by Patuakhali District, the Bay of Bengal. On the western side, it borders Pirojpur and Bagerhat districts. Important rivers of Barguna district include the Payra river, Bishkhali river and the Baleshwar river.
Barguna is divided into 6 upazilas:
There are a total of 38 union parishads (union councils), 238 mouzas and 560 villages in these five upazilas. Barguna also has four municipalities containing 44 wards and 49 mahallas.
The largest city in the district is Barguna Town. It has a total area of 15.57 km² and is divided into 9 wards and 19 mohallas.
As of 2007, Barguna District has a population of 902,465, females constitute a majority of the population with a percentage of 50.12% while males constitute 49.88%. 91.01% of the people are Muslim, 8.69% Hindu, 0.04% Christian, 0.24% Buddhist, and 0.02% other.
Barisal District
Barisal is a district in southern Bangladesh. It is also the headquarters of Barisal Division.
Barisal was a semi-independent area in the Mughal period. Later it came under the control of British India. After British rule it was part of East Bengal (later East Pakistan) and finally, Bangladesh.
Barisal District is divided into the following Upazilas (formerly called Thanas):
Bhola District
Bhola () is a district in south-western Bangladesh. It is in the Barisal Division. It is also the largest offshore island region in Bangladesh, with an area of 3403.48 km². It is bordered by Lakshmipur and Barisal districts to the north. Bay of Bengal is to the south; Lakshmipur and Noakhali districts, Meghna (lower) river and Shahbazpur Channel are to the east. Patuakhali district and Tentulia river are to the west.
Bhola district comprises the following upazilas:
Jhalokati District
Jhalokati or Jhalokathi () is a district in South-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Barisal Division.
The district is administratively subdivided into 4 upazilas, these are:
Patuakhali District
Patuakhali is a district in South-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Barisal Division. This district is called "SagorKonna", which means daughter of sea. It is watered by the Bay of Bengal.
There are 6 Upazilas/Thanas in this district. They are:
Agriculture is the profession of the most of the people. Fishing is also a prominent profession of this district. Thousands of boats go into the deep sea to fish and come back with tons of fish. Paddy, Jute, and different types of vegetables are the main product of agriculture sector.
Pirojpur District
Pirojpur () is a district in South-western Bangladesh. It is a part of the Barisal Division. Most of the land is low lying and the soil is fertile. There are small forests. The Pirojpur municipality was established in 1985. Nesarabad is famous for business centres and also for the Sundori tree (a kind of mangrove tree) that grows there.
Pirojpur district is divided into units, also known as "Thana"s : Pirojpur Sadar, Nesarabad, Mothbaria, Bhandaria, Zianagar, Nazirpur, Kawkhali. The subdivision of Pirojpur was created in 1866.
Divisions of Bangladesh
Bangladesh consists of a number of administrative areas called divisions ("bibhag"), each named after its respective capital.
Each division is further split into districts ("zila") which are then further sub-divided into Upazilas.
Following the Independence of Bangladesh of Bangladesh in 1971, the country inherited the four divisions of former East Pakistan:
In 1983, the English spelling of the Dacca division (along with the name of the capital city) was changed to Dhaka to more closely match the Bangla pronunciation.
In 1993, Barisal division was off from Khulna. Barisal (Bengali: বরিশাল) is one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. Located in the south-central part of the country, it has an area of 13,644.85 km2 (5,268.31 sq mi), and a population of 8,325,666 at the 2011 Census. It is bounded by Dhaka Division on the north, the Bay of Bengal on the south, Chittagong Division on the east and Khulna Division on the west. The administrative capital, Barisal city, lies in the Ganges (Padma) River delta on an offshoot of the Arial Khan River (Kirtonkhola). Barisal division is criss-crossed by numerous rivers that earned it the nickname 'Dhan-Nodi-Khal, Ei tine Borishal' (rice, river and canal built Barisal).
Sylhet Division (Bengali: সিলেট) also known as Greater Sylhet or Sylhet region, is the northeastern division of Bangladesh, named after its main city, Sylhet. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south, respectively; and by the Bangladeshi divisions of Chittagong to the southwest, Dhaka and Mymensingh to the west.
Rangpur Division (Bengali: রংপুর) became Bangladesh's seventh division on January 25, 2010. Before that, it was the northern 8 districts of the Rajshahi Division. The Rangpur division has eight districts: Rangpur, Dinajpur, Kurigram, Gaibandha, Nilphamari, Panchagarh, Thakurgaon, and Lalmonirhat. There are 58 subdistricts under these eight districts. Rangpur is the northernmost division of Bangladesh. There were 15,665,000 people at the 2011 Census. The major cities of this new division are Rangpur and Dinajpur.
On 12 January 2015 prime minister Sheikh Hasina declared the establishment of a new Mymensingh Division (Bengali: ময়মনসিংহ). The intention was that this would carve six districts (those comprising the original Mymensingh district of 1787) out of the Dhaka Division. However, while four of the districts were eager about the establishment of new division, people of Tangail and Kishorgonj Districts wanted to remain part of Dhaka Division. On 14 September 2015 Mymensingh was officially announced as a division consisting of four districts. It has an area of 10,485 km² and a population of 11,370,000 as of the 2011 census.
Districts of Bangladesh
There are 64 Districts of Bangladesh known as zilas (Bengali: জেলা "jela" - district). The districts are further subdivided into 493 sub-districts, or upazila (উপজেলা "upojela").
These 64 districts make up the eight divisions of Bangladesh, the districts are listed below in alphabetical order by division. The official English name of each district is followed by the official Bengali name (in brackets).
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