Divisions of Bangladesh

Bangladesh

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Bangladesh is divided into seven major administrative regions called divisions (Bengali: বিভাগ Bibhag). Each division is named after the major city within its jurisdiction that serves as the administrative capital of that division:

• Barisal (বরিশাল Borishal)
• Chittagong (চট্টগ্রাম Chôţţogram)
• Dhaka (ঢাকা Đhaka)
• Khulna (খুলনা Khulna)
• Rajshahi (রাজশাহী Rajshahi)
• Rangpur (রংপুর Rongpoor)
• Sylhet (সিলেট Sileţ)

Each division is further split into districts (Bengali: জেলা zila) which are then further sub-divided into Upazilas.

Ranking of divisions

The follwoing table oulines 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	Bangla	Population (thousands)			Area (km2)	Population density (people/km2)	Sex ratio (males per 100 females)
		1991	2001	2011
Barisal Division	বরিশাল	7,463	8,174	8,147	13,297	613	96.8
Chittagong Division	চট্টগ্রাম	20,523	24,290	28,079	33,771	831	96.1
Dhaka Division	ঢাকা	32,666	39,045	46,729	311,20	1,502	103.9
Khulna Division	খুলনা	12,688	14,705	15,563	22,272	699	100
Rajshahi Division	রাজশাহী	14,212	16,355	18,329	18,197	1,007	100.4
Rangpur Division	রংপুর	11,998	13,847	15,665	16,317	960	99.8
Sylhet Division	সিলেট	6,765	79,39	9,807	12,596	779	99.1

History

Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the country had four divisions:

• Chittagong (চট্টগ্রাম Chôţţogram)
• Dacca (ঢাকা Đhaka)
• Khulna (খুলনা Khulna)
• Rajshahi (রাজশাহী Rajshahi)

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 and again in 1998, Sylhet division was split off from Chittagong giving rise to the 6 divisions in the country.

In 2010 (25 January), Rangpur division was created consisting of Rangpur and Dinajpur areas which were previously part of Rajshahi Division. In terms of area the newly formed Rangpur Division ranked fifth followed by Barisal and Sylhet division.

See also

• ISO 3166 codes