Natore District
Natore district is a district of Rajshahi Division located in northern Bangladesh. It borders the metropolitan city of Rajshahi, and used to be part of Rajshahi district. Etymology. In 1845, Natore Mahakuma was established. The Natore Municipality was established in 1869. History. Natore was the District Headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769 to 1825. Administrative Natore subdivision was established in 1825 under Rajshahi district, on the eve of the shifting of the headquarters. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, a battle was fought between the Pakistani army and the freedom fighters of Mukti Bahini on March 29. About  40 members of the Pakistani army including Major Aslam and Captain Ishaq were killed. On 5 May 1971 Pakistani Army killed 42 employees of North Bengal Sugar Mills (Lalpur) including the general manager of the mill, Lieutenant Anwarul Azim. They were killed near a pond in the mill campus. The pond is now known as Shaheed Sagar, and there is a memorial beside the pond. Geography. Most parts of Natore district are plain land. Chalan Beel, the largest beel in Bangladesh, is in part of Natore district. Natore District is . It is bordered by Naogaon and Bogra districts to the  north, Pabna and Kushtia districts to the south, Pabna and Sirajganj districts to the east, and Rajshahi district to the west. The road distance from Natore to Dhaka is 220 kilometres. Lalpur is the lowest Average annual rainfall area of Bangladesh. Demographics. According to the 2011 Bangladesh census, Natore District had a population of 1,706,673, of which 854,183 were males and 852,490 females. Rural population was 1,478,665 (86.64%) while the urban population was 228,008 (13.36%). Natore district had a literacy rate of 49.59% for the population 7 years and above: 51.90% for males and 47.29% for females. Muslims make up  90.22% of the population, while Hindus are 6.08% of the population,Christians 3.01%. The ethnic population is 11,912, mainly Santals and Oraons. Economy. The economy of Natore is based on agriculture. There are 2 sugar mills in Natore; North Bengal Sugar Mills Limited and Natore Sugar Mills Limited. They are the enterprises of the Bangladesh Sugar & Food Industries Corporation. Pran Agro Ltd., Ekdala, Natore Sadar (2005) is a private food manufacturing plant of Pran-RFL Group. Jamuna Distillery Limited (1995) is another private industry of Jamuna Group. The distillery produces industrial alcohol, and is situated near Natore Sugar Mills Limited . Hats, bazaars and fairs. The total number of hats and bazaars are 152. There are 13 fairs. Tebaria Hat, (which is situated 3 km from Natore town) is a traditional hat which sits every Sunday. Tebaria is one of the biggest hats of Natore and Bangladesh. Points of interest. Tourist attractions in Natore include Rani Bhabanir Rajbari, the palace of Rani Bhabani of Natore. It is a historical palace, situated in the Bongojol area nearby Natore zero (Madrasamore/old bus stand). There is a college and schools named after Rani Bhobani. Chalan Beel is a large natural wetland. During the  monsoon, the area of the Bil increases and touches four upazilas (sub-districts) of the district. The picnic parties come to Cholon Bil every season. Uttara Gonobhaban (formerly known as Dighapotia Rajbari) is the former residence of the kings of Natore. Today it is the official residence of the Prime Minister in North Bengal. Administrative structure. Upazilas. Natore was the district headquarters of Rajshahi from 1769–1825. At the eve of that replacement, Natore was declared as a Subdivision. That event made Natore the first Subdivision of Bangladesh. Natore was established as a district in 1984. There are seven upazilas in  the district: Pourasavas. There are eight pourasavas in Natore district, 4 of them being the seat of "upazilas" (sub-districts). They are: Natore town. The town has a population of 120,000; male population percentage is 51.57%, female population percentage is 48.43%. The density of population is 4,825. Chalkbuddhnath, Station bajar, Borgasa, Alaipur, Kanaikhali, Nichabazar, Lalbazar, Madrasamor, Bongojal are the most populated areas of Natore Town. The mayor is Uma Choudhury. Administration. The Deputy Commissioner is Mohammad Shamim Ahmed . The Superintendent of Police is Liton Kumar Shaha and the Administrator of Zila Porishod is Advocate Sajedur Rahman Khan Chowdhury. Natore District