Divisions of Bangladesh

Rangpur Division Rajshahi Division Khulna Division Barisal Division Chittagong Division Sylhet Division Dhaka DivisionA clickable map of Bangladesh exhibiting its divisions.
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The administration of Bangladesh is divided into seven major regions called divisions (Bengali: বিভাগ bibhag). Each division is named after the major city within its jurisdiction that also serves as the administrative headquarters of that division. Each division is further split into several districts (Bengali: জেলা jela) which are then further sub-divided into Upazilas.


History

Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the country had four divisions: Chittagong Division, Dacca Division, Khulna Division and Rajshahi Division. In 1983, the English spelling of the Dacca Division (along with the name of the capital city) was changed into Dhaka to more closely match the Bengali pronunciation. In 1993, Barisal Division was split off from Khulna Division; in 1998, Sylhet Division was split off from Chittagong Division; and in 2010 (25 January), Rangpur Division was split off from Rajshahi Division, this latest creation consisting of the Rangpur and Dinajpur areas. In terms of area the newly formed Rangpur Division ranked fifth followed by Barisal and Sylhet division.[1] In 2015 there started process to create three more divisions.

Overview of divisions

The following table outlines some key statistics about the seven divisions of Bangladesh as found in the 2011 Population and Housing Census conducted by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Division Bengali Population [2] Area (km2)[2] Population density
2011 (people/km2)[2] 		Sex ratio (males
per 100 females)[2]
1991 2001 2011 (census)
Barisal Division বরিশাল 7,462,643 8,173,718 8,325,666 13,225.20 613 96.8
Chittagong Division চট্টগ্রাম 20,522,908 24,290,384 28,423,019 33,908.55 831 96.1
Dhaka Division ঢাকা 32,665,975 39,044,716 47,424,418 31,177.74 1,502 103.9
Khulna Division খুলনা 12,688,383 14,705,223 15,687,759 22,284.22 699 100
Rajshahi Division রাজশাহী 14,212,065 16,354,723 18,484,858 18,153.08 1,007 100.4
Rangpur Division রংপুর 11,997,979 13,847,150 15,787,758 16,184.99 960 99.8
Sylhet Division সিলেট 6,765,039 7,939,343 9,910,219 12,635.22 779 99.1
Totals 07 106,314,992 124,355,263 149,772,364 147,569.06 964

Proposed divisions

Three more divisions have been proposed to ease down administrative work load due to population increase:[3][4][5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Divisions of Bangladesh". Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "2011 Population & Housing Census: Preliminary Results" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  3. ↑ "3 new divisions to be formed". Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  4. ↑ "ময়মনসিংহ বিভাগ গঠনে কাজ শুরুর নির্দেশ প্রধানমন্ত্রীর". Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  5. ↑ "Mymensingh to become new division". Retrieved 26 January 2015.
  6. ↑ Historical Dictionary of the Bengalis. Scarecrow Press. Retrieved 2015-01-26.