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]

Districts of Bangladesh
Category	Administrative divisions
Location	Bangladesh
Created	1972
Number	64
Populations	164,924,071
Areas	1,48,393 km2
Government	Deputy commissioner (Administrator) Zila Parishad (Council)
Subdivisions	Upaliza councils (495)

History

Main article: East Pakistan § Administrative geography

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

Main article: District Councils of Bangladesh

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

• Noakhali District^[15]
• Bogra district^[16]

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^[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
• Joypurhat district was split from Bogra District^[26]

List of districts

Division	District	Established	Area (km2)[27]	Population (2022)[28]	Density (/km2)[28]	No. of Upazila [2]
Barisal	Barguna	1984	1,831	1,010,530	552	6
	Barishal	1797	2,785	2,570,450	923	10
	Bhola	1984	3,403	1,932,514	568	7
	Jhalokati	1984	707	661,161	935	4
	Patuakhali	1969	3,221	1,727,254	536	8
	Pirojpur	1984	1,278	1,198,193	938	7
Chittagong	Bandarban	1981	4,479	481,109	107	7
	Brahmanbaria	1984	1,881	3,306,559	1,758	9
	Chandpur	1984	1,645	2,635,748	1,602	8
	Chittagong	1666	5,283	9,169,464	1,736	15
	Comilla	1790	3,146	6,212,216	1,974	17
	Cox's Bazar	1984	2,492	2,823,265	1,133	9
	Feni	1984	990	1,648,896	1,665	6
	Khagrachhari	1983	2,749	714,119	260	9
	Lakshmipur	1984	1,440	1,938,111	1,346	5
	Noakhali	1821	3,686	3,625,252	984	9
	Rangamati	1860	6,116	647,587	106	10
Dhaka	Dhaka	1772	1,464	14,734,025	10,067	5
	Faridpur	1815	2,053	2,162,876	1,054	9
	Gazipur	1984	1,806	5,263,474	2,914	5
	Gopalganj	1984	1,469	1,295,053	882	5
	Kishoreganj	1984	2,689	3,267,630	1,215	13
	Madaripur	1984	1,125	1,293,027	1,149	5
	Manikganj	1984	1,384	1,558,024	1,126	7
	Munshiganj	1984	1,004	1,625,418	1,618	6
	Narayanganj	1984	684	3,909,138	5,712	5
	Narsingdi	1984	1,150	2,584,452	2,247	6
	Rajbari	1984	1,092	1,189,821	1,089	5
	Shariatpur	1984	1,174	1,294,561	1,103	6
	Tangail	1969	3,414	4,037,608	1,183	12
Khulna	Bagerhat	1984	3,959	1,613,079	407	9
	Chuadanga	1984	1,174	1,234,066	1,051	4
	Jashore	1781	2,607	3,076,849	1,181	8
	Jhenaidah	1984	1,965	1,771,304	902	6
	Khulna	1882	4,394	2,613,385	595	9
	Kushtia	1947	1,609	2,149,692	1,336	6
	Magura	1984	1,039	1,033,115	994	4
	Meherpur	1984	742	705,356	951	3
	Narail	1984	968	788,673	815	3
	Satkhira	1984	3,817	2,196,581	574	7
Mymensingh	Jamalpur	1978	2,115	2,499,737	1,182	7
	Mymensingh	1787	4,395	5,899,052	1,342	13
	Netrokona	1984	2,794	2,324,856	832	10
	Sherpur	1984	1,365	1,501,853	1,101	5
Rajshahi	Bogura	1821	2,899	3,734,300	1,288	12
	Joypurhat	1983	1,012	956,430	945	5
	Naogaon	1984	3,436	2,784,598	811	11
	Natore	1984	1,900	1,859,921	979	7
	Chapai Nawabganj	1984	1,703	1,835,527	1,078	5
	Pabna	1832	2,376	2,909,622	1,225	9
	Rajshahi	1772	2,425	2,915,013	1,202	9
	Sirajganj	1984	2,402	3,357,708	1,398	9
Rangpur	Dinajpur	1786	3,444	3,315,238	963	13
	Gaibandha	1984	2,115	2,562,232	1,212	7
	Kurigram	1984	2,245	2,329,161	1,037	9
	Lalmonirhat	1984	1,247	1,428,406	1,145	5
	Nilphamari	1984	1,547	2,092,567	1,353	6
	Panchagarh	1984	1,405	1,179,843	840	5
	Rangpur	1772	2,401	3,169,615	1,320	8
	Thakurgaon	1984	1,781	1,533,894	861	5
Sylhet	Habiganj	1984	2,637	2,358,886	895	9
	Moulvibazar	1984	2,799	2,123,445	759	7
	Sunamganj	1984	3,747	2,695,495	719	12
	Sylhet	1782	3,452	3,857,037	1,117	13
Total			147,556	164,924,071	82,892	495

See also

• Divisions of Bangladesh
• Upazilas of Bangladesh
• Villages of Bangladesh
• Administrative geography of Bangladesh