Divisions of 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

According to size of population at the 2011 Census the Divisions of Bangladesh are ranked:

1. Dhaka (ঢাকা Đhaka)
2. Chittagong (চট্টগ্রাম Chôţţogram)
3. Rajshahi (রাজশাহী Rajshahi)
4. Rangpur (রংপুর Rongpoor)
5. Khulna (খুলনা Khulna)
6. Sylhet (সিলেট Sileţ)
7. Barisal (বরিশাল Borishal)

According to geographical size the Divisions of Bangladesh are ranked:

1. Chittagong (চট্টগ্রাম Chôţţogram)
2. Dhaka (ঢাকা Đhaka)
3. Khulna (খুলনা Khulna)
4. Rajshahi (রাজশাহী Rajshahi)
5. Rangpur (রংপুর Rongpoor)
6. Barisal (বরিশাল Borishal)
7. Sylhet (সিলেট Sileţ)

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.

References

See also

• ISO 3166 codes