Noakhali District General Information
[Overall Information of Noakhali District]
- Area and Location:
Noakhali district is an administrative region of Chittagong Division located in the southeastern part of Bangladesh. The total area of Noakhali district is 4202.70 square kilometers. Noakhali district is located in the southeastern part of Bangladesh between 22007′ and 23008′ north latitude and 90053′ and 91027′ east longitude. The distance of this district from the capital Dhaka is about 171 kilometers and from the Chittagong divisional headquarters is about 136 kilometers. Chittagong district and Feni district are located to the east of this district, Comilla district to the north, Lakshmipur district and Bhola district to the west and the Bay of Bengal to the south.
- History
2.1) Establishment:
Present Noakhali district was earlier a larger region consisting of Feni, Lakshmipur and Noakhali districts, which is still known as Greater Noakhali. In 1772, the Governor General of the East India Company, Warren Hastings, made the first attempt to introduce a modern district administration system in this country. He divided the entire Bangladesh into 19 districts and appointed a collector in each district. One of these 19 districts was Kalinda. This district was formed mainly from the Noakhali region. But in 1773, the district system was withdrawn and the districts were made offices under the province by introducing the province system. In 1787, the district administration system was reintroduced and this time the entire Bangladesh was divided into 14 districts. Among these 14, there was a district named Bhulua in the Noakhali region. Later, in 1792, a new district named Tripura was created and Bhulua was included in it. At that time, Bhulua pargana included Shahbazpur, Hatia, the mainland of Noakhali, Laxmipur, Feni, some parts of Tripura, Sandwip and Mirsarai of Chittagong. Until the establishment of an independent district named Bhulua in 1821, this area was included in Tripura district. In 1868, Bhulua district was renamed Noakhali district.
2.2) Naming:
The ancient name of Noakhali district was Bhulua. The original name of Noakhali Sadar Thana was Sudharam. According to historians, once the northeastern part of Bhulua was badly flooded by the Dakatia River flowing from the hills of Tripura and there was extensive damage to the cropland. As a way to get rid of this situation, a huge canal was dug in 1660, which diverted the flow of water from the Dakatia River to Ramganj, Sonaimuri and Chaumuhani towards the Meghna and Feni rivers. This huge new canal was called Noa (new) canal in the regional language of Noakhali, as a result of which the region was changed to Noakhali in the mouth of the people and started to be known as Noakhali.
2.3) General History:
The active participation of the people of Noakhali in the Wahabi movement in 1830 and the Khilafat movement in 1920 is one of the events in the history of Noakhali. In 1946, Hindu-Muslim communal riots were organized in various parts of the Indian subcontinent. In the wake of this, tragic persecution and genocide began against the Hindu community of Noakhali, which is known as the Noakhali riots. At that time, Mahatma Gandhi visited Noakhali district to see the situation after the riots on the ground. Currently, there is an ashram named after Gandhiji at a place called Joyag in Sonaimuri upazila, which is known as Gandhi Ashram. Noakhali district was being administered as a large district under Chittagong division with the subdivisions of Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Feni. In 1984, when all the subdivisions were converted into districts as per the government decision, Lakshmipur and Feni districts were separated. Noakhali district was reorganized with only the Noakhali subdivision. At that time, there were six upazilas in this district. Later, three more upazilas were created. Although some parts of Hatia Upazila are connected to the mainland of the district, the larger part (main Hatia) is an isolated island upazila surrounded by the Meghna River on all sides.
2.4) Noakhali City:
Noakhali is the only district in Bangladesh that does not have a city in its own name. The district city of Noakhali is known as Maijdi. When the upazila headquarters was submerged in the Meghna in 1948, it was moved 8 kilometers north and in 1950, the district headquarters was temporarily shifted to Maijdi. This city was newly built under the plans of the British. When the city of Noakhali was falling apart, the old city’s broken offices and courts were brought here in the open field of Maijdi Mouza and established here, and in 1953, the old city areas of Kalitara, Sonapur and Maijdi, along with some mouzas of Kadir Hanif Union, were declared as Noakhali Municipal Area in a gazette notification. A huge pond covering about sixteen acres was cut in the heart of the city. It is popularly known as Bara Dighi. A circular brick road was built around that dighi. All the government offices were built in the shape of bungalows around that road. This dighi was mainly used as a water reservoir of the city, and water was supplied to various government offices, courts and residential areas by installing pumps in the dighi. Even after the city of Maijdi was shifted, the issue of officially recognizing Maijdi as the headquarters of Noakhali district remained controversial for almost a decade. Finally, in 1962, Maijdi was officially recognized as the permanent headquarters of Noakhali district. Chaumuhani is another busy city and commercial center of Noakhali, which was once famous for its printing and publishing business.
- Administrative Areas:
Noakhali district consists of 9 upazilas, 9 thanas, 8 municipalities, 93 unions, 882 mouzas, 967 villages and 6 parliamentary constituencies.
3.1) Upazilas: ) Upazila: There are a total of 9 upazilas in Noakhali district. The upazilas are-
| Sl. No. | Upazila | Area sq. km. | Administrative Thana | Area Covered |
| 1. | Kabirhat | 189.94 | Kabirhat | Municipality (1): Kabirhat
Unions (7): Narottampur, Sundalpur, Dhansiri, Ghoshbag, Chaprashirhat, Dhanshalik and Batiya |
| 2. | Companiganj | 305.33 | Companiganj | Municipality (1): Basurhat
Unions (8): Sirajpur, Char Parbati, Char Hazari, Charkankara, Char Fakira, Rampur, Muchapur and Char Elahi |
| 3. | Chatkhil | 133.89 | Chatkhil | Chatkhil Municipality (1): Chatkhil
Unions (9): Sahapur, Ramnarayanpur, Parkot, Badalkot, Mohammadpur, Panchgaon, Hatpukuria Ghatlabagh, Noakhla and Khilpara |
| 4. | Noakhali Sadar | 552.46 | Noakhali Sadar | Sudharam Municipality (1): Noakhali
Unions (13): Charmatua, Dadpur, Noannai, Kadirhanif, Binodpur, Noakhali, Dharmapur, Eojbalia, Kaladrap, Ashwadia, Niajpur, Purba Char Matua and Andarchar. |
| 5. | Begumganj | 426.05 | Begumganj | Begumganj Municipality (1): Chaumuhani
Unions (16): Amanulyapur, Gopalpur, Jirtali, Alaiyarpur, Chayani, Rajganj, Eklashpur, Begumganj, Mirwarishpur, Narottampur, Durgapur, Qutubpur, Rasulpur, Hajipur, Sharifpur and Kadirpur. |
| 6. | Subarnachar | 329.26 | Subarnachar | Subarnachar Unions (8): Char Jabbar, Char Bata, Char Clark, Char Wapda, Char Jubli, Char Amanulya, Purba Char Bata and Mohammadpur. |
| 7. | Senbagh | 155.83 | Senbagh | Senbagh Municipality (1): Senbagh
Unions (9): Chhatarpaiya, Kesharpar, Dumurua, Kadra, Arjuntala, Kabilpur, Mohammadpur, Bijbagh and Nabipur. |
| 8. | Sonaimuri | 170.42 | Sonaimuri | Sonaimuri Municipality (1): Sonaimuri
Unions (10): Joyag, Nadna, Chashirhat, Bargaon, Ambernagar, Nateshwar, Bajra, Sonapur, Deoti and Amishapara. |
| 9 | Hatia | 1508.23 | Hatia | Hatia Municipality (1): Hatia
Unions (11): Harani, Chanandi, Sukhchar, Nalchira, Char Ishwar (excluding Bhasanchar), Charking, Tamaraddi, Sonadia, Burirchar, Jahajmara and Nijhumdwip. |
| Bhasanchar | Bhasanchar Union (part of 1): Bhasanchar of Char Ishwar Union | |||
3.1) Administrative structure (brief):
| Creation of Noakhali district: | 1821 AD |
| Geographical location | 220 06/ to 220 17/ North latitude and 900 38/ to 910 35/ East longitude. |
| Area | 4202.70 sq km |
| Population | 33,70,251 |
| Population density | 801.93 persons per sq km |
| Total families | 5,04,552 |
| Number of parliamentary seats:
|
06 |
| Upazila | 09 |
| Total number of voters | 16,32,761 (Male: 7,79,907, Female: 8,52,854) |
| Police stations | 09; Investigation Centers – 02, Outposts – 08 |
| Unions | 91 |
| Mouzas | 946 |
| Villages | 786 |
| Union Land Offices | 65 |
| Municipalities | 08 (Basurhat, Kabirhat, Senbag, Chaumuhani, Noakhali, Chatkhil, Sonaimuri, Hatia) |
| Education Rate | 69.50% |
- Population:
According to the 2011 statistics, the total population of Noakhali district is 33,70,251. Out of which, 16,10,444 are males and 17,59,807 are females. The ratio of males to females is 92:100. The population density per square kilometer is 843 and the birth rate is 1.83%. The population of the main city, Maijdi, is 74,585; out of which 51.50% are males and 48.50% are females. The population density here is 5915/square kilometer. According to religion, 95.42% of the total population of this district is Muslim, 4.52% Hindu and 0.06% Buddhist and followers of other religions.
- Education system:
| University | 01; Public University (Noakhali University of Science and Technology) |
| Medical College | 01; (Noakhali Abdul Malek Ukil Government Medical College) |
| Textile Engineering College | 01 |
| Police Training Center | 01 |
| Colleges | 35 Government-08 Private-27 |
| Secondary Schools | 287 Government-12 Private-275 |
| Primary Schools | 1243 Government-776 Private-329 |
| Satellite-62 Community-76 | |
| Madrasa: | 161 Senior-30 Dakhil and Alim-131 |
| Agricultural Training Center: | 02 TT College-01 Law College-01 |
| Technical Institutions: | 05 (Youth Training 02, PTI-01, Technical School and College-02) |
Notable educational institutions are:
| Noakhali Government College | Noakhali District School |
| Noakhali Government Women’s College | Noakhali Government Girls’ High School |
| Begumganj Textile Engineering College | Noakhali Technical Training Center |
- Health System:
| General Hospital: | 01 |
| Medical Training Center | 01 |
| Upazila Health Complex: | 07 |
| School Health Clinic | 02 |
| Electro-Medical Workshop | 01 |
| Service Institute | 01 |
- Economy:
The economy of Noakhali district is mainly based on agriculture. About 40% of the regional GDP comes from the agricultural sector and 80% of the people of the district are associated with this profession. Among agriculture, the largest number of people are mainly involved in fish farming and fishing. Around 60-70% of the labor force is involved in boat building and repair, fishing, processing, transportation, dry fish production, and net repair throughout the year. Being a lowland region, a lot of fish farming is done in this district, which plays a huge role in the economy of this region. Crop production is basically done once a year. During the winter season, various crops are cultivated throughout the district, especially in the vast char areas of the south. In addition, cattle, buffalo, goat and sheep farming has become widespread in the vast char areas and islands.
Noakhali district has not developed much in terms of industries, but many people from Noakhali district have earned a reputation as established businessmen in the country. They have established large industries in different parts of the country. The people of Noakhali mainly travel extensively within the country and abroad for work. A large number of people from the district are working in various countries of the world including the Middle East, Europe. Noakhali district occupies an important place among the top remittance sending districts of Bangladesh.
Among the sources of income in other sectors of the district’s total income, non-agricultural labor contributes 3.43%, industry 0.84%, trade 14.74%, transport sector 3.83%, employment 16.11%, construction sector 1.49%, remittance 7.97% and others contribute 10.58%.
- Communication system:
The main communication road in Noakhali district is Dhaka-Noakhali highway and Chittagong-Noakhali highway. All types of vehicles can be used for communication. In addition, there is a rail communication system in this district.
- Religious places of worship:
There are 4159 mosques, 497 Eidgahs, 239 temples, 2 monasteries and 1 Catholic Christian church in Noakhali district.
- Climate and nature:
The average maximum temperature throughout the year is 34.3 degrees Celsius and the average minimum temperature is 14.4 degrees Celsius. The average annual rainfall is 3302 millimeters.
- Rivers:
The main river of Noakhali district is Meghna. Other notable rivers include Dakatia and Chhota Feni rivers.
- Natural disasters:
Since 1790, Noakhali district has been hit by various natural disasters such as cyclones, floods, tornadoes, cyclones, etc. The terrible cyclone of 1970 killed about 1 million people, many of whom were from Noakhali district.
- Places to visit:
| Nijhum Island | Maijdi Court Building Dighi |
| Nijhum Island National Park | Shaheed Bhulu Stadium |
| Bajra Shahi Mosque | Police Training Center, Noakhali |
| Bir Shrestha Shaheed Mohammad Ruhul Amin Library and Memorial Museum, Sonaimuri | Noakhali Public Library, Maijdi |
| Gandhi Ashram | Mangrove Forest, Char Jabbar |
| Mahatma Gandhi Museum | Thakur Ramchandra Dev’s Tomb Ashram, Chaumuhani |
| Muchapur Closer | Kalyandi Zamindar House |
| Chairmanghat | Kalyandi Public Durga Temple |
| Swarna Dwip | Eyakub Ali Bepari Jame Mosque, Sonapur |
| Orange Queen’s Dighi | Ramzan Mia Jame Mosque |
| Noakhali District Jame Mosque | Fakir Chudu Miji (Rah.) Sahib’s Dargah, Maijdi |
- Miscellaneous:
| Land Area: | 7,65,129 acres (Agricultural-4,98,581 acres, Non-Agricultural-2,66,548 acres) |
| Working NGOs: | 50 |
| Average Annual Rainfall: | 270 inches |
| Coastal Area: | 50 km |
| Coastal Embankment: | 346.98 km |
| Cyclone Shelters: | 210 Cattle Shelters – 37 |
| Coastal Forests: | 1,18,899.36 hectares |
| Orphanages: | 63 Growth Centers – 30 |
| Number of Tube wells: | 1,21,783 |
| Bank Branches: | 135 |
| Hats/Markets: | 238 |
| Places of Interest: | 1. Bir Shrestha Ruhul Amin Memorial Museum |