Rajshahi Division

Rajshahi Division (Bengali: রাজশাহী বিভাগ) is one of the eight first-level administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It has an area of 18,174.4 square kilometres (7,017.2 sq mi)[3] and a population at the 2022 Census of 20,353,119.[4] Rajshahi Division consists of 8 districts, 70 Upazilas (the next lower administrative tier) and 1,092 Unions (the lowest administrative tier).

Rajshahi Division
রাজশাহী বিভাগ
Division
Map of Rajshahi Division
Map of Rajshahi Division
Districts within Rajshahi Division.
Districts within Rajshahi Division.
Coordinates: 25°00′N 89°00′E
Country Bangladesh
Established1829
CapitalRajshahi
Largest CityBogra (City-Proper)
Government
 • Divisional CommissionerG S M Jafarullah[1]
 • Parliamentary constituencyJatiya Sangsad (39 seats)
Area
 • Total18,174.4 km2 (7,017.2 sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+6 (BST)
ISO 3166 codeBD-E
HDI (2017)0.602[2]
medium
Notable sport teamsRajshahi Kings, Rajshahi Division
Websiterajshahidiv.gov.bd

The region has historically been dominated by various feudal Rajas, Maharajas and Zamindars.[5] Formerly comprising 16 districts, a new division (Rangpur Division) was formed with the 8 northern districts of the old Rajshahi Division from early 2010.[3]

Etymology and names

The Rajshahi Division is named after Rajshahi District. Dominated by various feudal Rajas, Maharajas and Zamindars of mixed origins throughout history,[5] the name is a compound of the words Raj and Shahi, both of which can be translated into reign or kingdom. Archaic spellings in the English language also included Rajeshae.

History

Rajshahi Division was created in 1829 by the British Government. It was the largest division in Bengal Province. During partition of Bengal in 1947, the division was partitioned in two halves. The lion eastern half remained as Rajshahi division, while its western half became Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, India. In January 2010 the Rangpur Division split out from Rajshahi division.

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 census, Rajshahi division had a population of 18,484,858. Muslims are 17,248,861 which is 93.31% of the population, while Hindus are 1,081,584 which is 5.85% of the population. Other religions (almost entirely Christianity and indigenous faiths) are only 0.24% of the population and are mainly found among the ethnic minorities.[6]

Districts

Education

The major educational institutes in Rajshahi are:

The University of Rajshahi (established 1953) is the second largest university of Bangladesh with around 50 disciplines and 6 institutes. Rajshahi Collegiate School (established in 1828) is one of the oldest school in the country and Indian sub-continent which became again the best school in Bangladesh in 2018.

Notable residents

References
  1. "List of Divisional Commissioners".
  2. "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  3. Sajahan Miah (2012). "Rajshahi Division". In Sirajul Islam; Miah, Sajahan; Khanam, Mahfuza; Ahmed, Sabbir (eds.). Banglapedia: the National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Online ed.). Dhaka, Bangladesh: Banglapedia Trust, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. ISBN 984-32-0576-6. OCLC 52727562. OL 30677644M. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  4. "Population Census 2011: National Volume-1: Analytical Report" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. p. 199. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  5. Encyclopedia of Bangladesh pp 6
  6. "Population & Housing Census 2011 (Zila Series & Community Series)". Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2021-07-23. See individual Zila files for religion and population information
  7. "Home". rgcc.ac.bd.
  8. একজন যোদ্ধার গল্প [The story of a warrior]. The Daily Ittefaq (in Bengali). 6 April 2017.
  9. "Oversee mosque construction to check recurrence of N'ganj-like incident: PM". UNB. 6 September 2016.
  10. Akter, Bayazid (2012). "Beg, MA". In Islam, Sirajul; Jamal, Ahmed A. (eds.). Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh (Second ed.). Asiatic Society of Bangladesh.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Rajshahi Division.
  • E-Rajshahi, An online portal for information and government services managed by Rajshahi City Corporation
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