Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila

Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila (cox's bazar district) area 118.80 sq km, located in between 21°24' and 21°36' north latitudes and in between 91°59' and 92°08' east longitudes. It is bounded by chakaria upazila on the north, bay of bengal and ramu upazila on the south, Ramu upazila on the east, maheshkhali upazila, Maheshkhali channel and Bay of Bengal on the west.

Population Total 338760; male 180934, female 157826; Muslim 308132, Hindu 24282, Buddhist 5764, Christian 93 and others 489.

Water bodies Main river: bakkhali.

Administration Cox's Bazar Thana was established in 1854 and it was turn into a town committee in 1959. The town committee was again replaced by municipality in 1972. It was turned into an upazila in 1983. The municipality was elevated to B-grade from C-grade in 1989.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	5	8	82	167477	171283	2852	54.68 (2001)	44.1

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
6.85 (2001)	12	95	167477	7579 (2001)	55.7

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Khurushkul 59	5848	21524	19740	42.0
Chaufaldandi 22	3635	14447	14349	41.1
Jhilwanja 47	7695	21243	21079	52.7
Patali Machhuakhali 71	6723	18107	18413	41.3
Bharuakhali 20	3787	11334	11047	46.0

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Cox's Bazar Buddhist Pagoda, Agvamedha Buddhist Keyang, single-domed mosque in Jhilwanja union (twelfth century).

War of Liberation During the war of liberation in 1971, the Pak-soldiers killed a number of people including the veteran lawyer Jnanendralal Chowdhury at a place behind the old rest house in the town. They also killed two Freedom Fighters by gunshot at Badar Mokam area. A memorial monument was built behind the old rest house of the town in the memory of those who died in the War of Liberation.

For details: see Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation Bangla Version, Vol. 2), Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila.

Religious institutions Mosque 296, temple 21, pagoda 17, church 5, tomb 5. Noted religious institutions: Cox's Bazar Central Jami Masjid, Badar Mokam Jami Masjid, Bara Bazar Jami Masjid, Idgaon Bazar Central Jami Mosque, Cox's Bazar Kalibari Mandir, Cox's Bazar Saraswati-bari Mandir, tombs of Shah Alauddin, Maulana Nurul Haque (Dula Fakir), Petan Shah, Kalu Shah, Mozaher Shah.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 44.6%; male 53.6%, female 50.9%. Noted educational institutions: Cox's Bazar Government College (1962), Cox's Bazar Government High School (1874), Idgaon Ideal High School (1928), Maizpara Government Primary School (1930), Cox's Bazar Hasemiah Alia Madrasa (1952).

Newspapers and periodicals Daily: Saikat, Cox's Bazar, Ajker Desh-bidesh, Dainandin, Maer Desh; weekly: Swadesh Bani; defunct: Daily Himchhari, Daily Bakkhali, Weekly Cox's Bazar, Weekly Cox's Bazar Barta, Weekly Sagar-bani, Weekly Sagar-kantha.

Cultural organisations Club 21, library 2, literary society 1, women's organisation 2, theatre group 1, cinema hall 3, playground 10.

Tourist spots and special attractions The longest sea beach of the world is located at Cox's Bazar. The green surroundings with the mangrove forests on the beach is also notable. Most of the areas of the upazila are covered with hills and tilas. There are different types of valuable trees including Shal, Mehogani, Garjan, Rubber and rare orchid in the hill areas. Besides, the rudder station is located on the hill top adjacent to the Circuit House. Since Cox's Bazar is a great tourist resort various establishments have developed here including six big hotels of which a three star hotel has been established on government initiatives, 30 medium size and 50 semi-medium size hotels, Jhenuk Market and the Burmese Market where luxury goods coming from China, Burma, Thailand through the border.

Main sources of income Agriculture 34.01%, non-agricultural labourer 5.97%, commerce 23.82%, transport and communication 2.94%, service 10.07%, construction 2.11%, religious service 0.30%, rent and remittance 4.95% and others 15.83%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 31.68%, landless 68.32%; agricultural landowner: urban 36.27% and rural 29.88%.

Main crops Paddy, potato, betel leaf, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Sweet potato, sugarcane, kaun, arahar.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, papaya, banana, pineapple, betel nut.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 250, dairy 24, poultry 197, shrimp cultivation 226, shrimp hatchery 20.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 155 km, semi-pucca 50 km, mud road 831 km; waterway 1395 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin.

Noted manufactories Garments industry, fish processing industry, fish feed mill, salt mill, ice factory, flour mill, rice mill, saw mill, printing press, welding factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, blacksmith, weaving, potteries, conch industry, wood work, bamboo work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 8, fairs 3, most noted of which are Bangla Bazar, Time Bazar, Chaufaldandi Bazar, Idgaon Bazar, Balikhela Mela and Baishakhi Mela.

Main exports Betel leaf, betel nut, jackfruit, banana, papaya, pineapple, timber, frozen shrimp, dry fish.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 54.0% dwellings have access to electricity.

Natural resources Zircon, ilmenite, kyanite, rutile, magnetite, monazite.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 88.2%, tap 8.1% and others 3.7%.

Sanitation 61.9% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 31.5% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 6.6% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 1, upazila health complex 1, maternity centre 1, TB clinic 1, family planning centre 1.

NGO activities Gana Swasthya Kendra, brac, caritas, asa, Ananda, proshika, Bangla-German Sampriti, World Vision, MSF (Holand). [Badiul Alam]

References Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; Cultural survey report of Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila 2007.