Divisions of Bangladesh

Divisions are the first-level administrative divisions in Bangladesh. As of 2023, there are eight divisions of Bangladesh, each named after the major city within its jurisdiction that also serves as the administrative seat of that division. Each division is divided into several districts which are further subdivided into upazilas, then union councils.

Divisions of Bangladesh
বাংলাদেশের বিভাগ
Bangladesher bibhag
A clickable map of Bangladesh exhibiting its divisions.
A clickable map of Bangladesh exhibiting its divisions.
CategoryUnitary state
LocationPeople's Republic of Bangladesh
Number8
PopulationsHighest: 39,675,000 (Dhaka)
Lowest: 8,331,000 (Barisal)
AreasLargest: 33,908.55 km2 (13,092.16 sq mi) (Chittagong)
Smallest: 10,584.06 km2 (4,086.53 sq mi) (Mymensingh)
Government
Subdivisions
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History

Following the independence of Bangladesh in 1971, the country had four divisions: Chittagong Division, Dacca Division, Khulna Division, and Rajshahi Division. In 1982, the English spelling of the Dacca Division (along with the name of the capital city) was changed into Dhaka Division to more closely match the Bengali pronunciation.

In 1993, Barisal Division was split off from Khulna Division, and in 1995, Sylhet Division was split off from Chittagong Division. On 25 January 2010, Rangpur Division was split off from Rajshahi Division.[1] On 14 September 2015, Mymensingh Division was split off from Dhaka Division and added as the eighth division. In 2015, the process started to create two more divisions: Comilla Division and Faridpur Division.[2] In October 2021, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the formation of two new divisions, Meghna and Padma, named after the eponymous rivers,[3] in the places of Comilla and Faridpur Divisions.

Divisional Commissioner

Divisional Commissioner is the administrative head of a division. Divisional Commissioner is appointed by the government from an Additional Secretary level officer of Bangladesh Civil Service (B.C.S.) Administration Cadre. The role of a Divisional Commissioner's office is to act as the supervisory head of all the government offices (except the central government offices) situated in the division. A Divisional Commissioner is given the direct responsibility of supervising the revenue and development administration of a division. The Divisional Commissioner is assisted by the several Additional Divisional Commissioners, Senior Assistant Commissioners and other bureaucratic officials.[4][5][6][7]

List of divisions

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

DivisionISO codesCapitalEst.SubdivisionsArea (km2)[8]Population (2022)[8]Density (people/
km2) (2022)[8]
DistrictsUpazilasUnion Councils
Barisal DivisionBD-ABarisal199364135213,225.209,100,102688
Chittagong DivisionBD-BChittagong18291110394933,908.5533,202,326979
Dhaka DivisionBD-CDhaka1829138988520,593.7444,215,1072,147
Khulna DivisionBD-DKhulna1960105957122,284.2217,416,645782
Mymensingh DivisionBD-HMymensingh201543535110,584.0612,225,4981,155
Rajshahi DivisionBD-ERajshahi182986756518,153.0820,353,1191,121
Rangpur DivisionBD-FRangpur201085853516,184.9917,610,9561,088
Sylhet DivisionBD-GSylhet199644133812,635.2211,034,863873
BangladeshBDDhaka1971644934,546147,569165,158,6161,119

Proposed divisions

Two more divisions have been proposed to ease down administrative work load due to increase in population:[2][9]

Their formation has been confirmed in October 2021 by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.[3]

See also

References
  1. "Divisions of Bangladesh". Statoids. Retrieved 17 January 2014.
  2. "3 new divisions to be formed". The Independent. Dhaka. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  3. "PM Hasina: New divisions will be named Padma, Meghna". Dhaka Tribune. 21 October 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  4. "List of Divisional Commissioners".
  5. "Divisional And District Commissioners Are Important For A Prosperous Bangladesh: PM". Archived from the original on 11 November 2017. Retrieved 28 May 2017.
  6. "List of Additional Divisional Commissioners".
  7. "New divisional commissioner joins". The Independent. Dhaka.
  8. "2022 Population & Housing Census: Preliminary Results" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 January 2013. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  9. "Mymensingh to become new division". The Daily Star. Archived from the original on 15 February 2015. Retrieved 26 January 2015.
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