Naogaon Sadar Upazila

Naogaon Sadar Upazila (naogaon district) area 275.72 sq km, located in between 24°43' and 24°55' north latitudes and in between 88°47' and 89°01' east longitudes. It is bounded by badalgachhi and mahadebpur upazilas on the north, raninagar and manda upazilas on the south, adamdighi and akkelpur upazilas on the east, Mahadebpur and Manda upazilas on the west.

Population Total 405148; male 204505, female 200643; Muslim 373011, Hindu 31011, Buddhist 2, Christian 189 and others 935. Indigenous community such as santal belongs to this upazila.

Water bodies Main rivers: little jamuna, Tulsi Ganga; Dighali Beel and Gatia Beel are notable. Administration Naogaon Thana was formed in 1810 and it was turned into an upazila in 1984.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	12	205	211	150549	254599	1469	65.1	46.5

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
37.08	9	62	150549	4060	65.1

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Kirtipur 73	4474	9222	9129	51.2
Chandipur 43	3682	13397	13842	47.4
Tilakpur 94	5725	15686	16297	48.7
Dubalhati 51	7351	9767	9661	42.4
Baktiarpur 13	4288	9077	9116	53.1
Barshail 21	3665	9698	9746	44.6
Balihar 14	5815	8974	9043	40.9
Boalia 29	1863	9153	9183	52.9
Sekherpur 87	8446	9666	9468	40.4
Sailgachhi 36	3136	6654	6711	47.7
Hapania 58	4619	13053	12987	44.5
Hashaighari 65	5918	12832	12237	44.3

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Dubalhati Rajbari, Balihar Rajbari, Sailgachhi Rajbari, Kashimpur Zamindarbari, Kumaigari three domed Mosque and Balubhara Temple.

Historical events Mass people of Naogaon had been involved in indigo resistance movement (1859-60) against the zamindars protesting enhancement of land rent in 1883 and the movement was led by peasant leader Astan Mollah.

War of Liberation During the war of liberation the headquarters of Wing 7 of EPR was at Naogaon. On April 22 1971, the Pakistan army captured 125 young boys from Sultanpur, Par Naogaon, Dhopapara, Ukil Para and Hat Naogaon and after killing, threw their bodies into the river from the Lord Lytton Bridge. The Pakistan army killed 17 people of village Mohanpur on 23 April 1971 and 13 villagers of Fatehpur Garebari Hat on 25 April 1971. Freedom fighters had encounters with Pak army at Jamalganj, Ranahar, Par Boalia and some other places of the upazila. Mass graves have been discovered at 5 places (Boalia, Par Naogaon, Bihari Colony, Malshan, Kanthaltali) of the upazila; a memorial sculpture was built near the Naogaon bridge.

For details: see নওগাঁ সদর উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৫।

Religious institutions Mosque 312, temple 92, church 2. Noted religious institutions: Naogaon Ganja Society Mosque, Matherghat Temple, Padari Shaheb Church.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 53.5%; male 57.1%, female 49.8%.

Educational institutions college 8, primary school 153, kindergarten 11, madrasa 8. Noted educational institutions: Naogaon Government College (1962), Naogaon Government BMC Mahila College (1972), Balihar College (1994), Dubalhati Raja Haranath High School (1864), Nagar Kusumba Multilateral High School (1882), Naogaon High School (1884), Bhimpur Multilateral High School (1901), Naogaon PM Girls' High School (1909), Chak Athitha High School (1914), Chakla High School (1914), Kirtipur Multilateral High School' (1921), Naogaon Central Girls' High School (1926), Paharpur GM High School (1936), Ilshabari High School (1963), Fatehpur High School (1968), Naogaon Zila School (1917), Janakallayan Model High School (1980), Islamia Madrasa (1921), Namazgar Gausul Azam Kamil Madrasa (1951), Naogaon Islamia Fazil Madrasa (1962).

Newspapers and periodicals Daily: Joybangla, Ishtehar, Alokbarta; weekly:' Bangabani, Barendra Batra, Naba Barta, Banglar Kantha, Desher Bani, Banka Chand, Nabayug, Ei Shomoy; fortnightly: Surya Mukhi; monthly: Nabadiganta. Besides, every year the district administration publishes an annual magazine on the occasion of the birth anniversary of rabindranath tagore on 25 Baishakh.

Cultural organisations Library 26, club 2, cinema hall 3, theatre stage 3, theatre group 5, music group 7, stadium 1, playground 82, women's organisation 2.

Main sources of income Agriculture 48.18%, non-agricultural labourer 3.52%, commerce 17.15%, transport and communication 7.41%, service 9.33%, construction 1.91%, religious service 0.14%, rent and remittance 0.57% and others 11.79%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 53.25%, landless 46.75%.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, potato, onion, garlic, pulse, mustard, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Opium, aus paddy, sesame, linseed, kaun.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, litchi, papaya.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries This upazila has a number of fisheries, dairies and poultries.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 212 km, semi-pucca 7 km, mud road 325 km; waterway 40 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, bullock cart, horse carriage.'

Noted manufactories Rice mill, cold storage, welding factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, weaving, blacksmith, potteries, wood work, embroidery.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 22, fairs 8, most noted of which are Kirtipur Hat, Paharpur Hat, Shibpur Hat, Tentulia Hat, Battali Hat, Balihar Rath Mela, Shibpur Lakshmi Puja Mela, Kashimpur Mela.

Main exports Paddy, wheat, potato, mustard oil.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 64.5% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 92.7%, tap 3.3% and others 4.0%.

Sanitation 49.2% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 31.6% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 19.2% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 1, maternity and child welfare centre 1, union health and family planning centre 12, rural health centre 1, clinic 32.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are asa, brac, proshika, caritas.

[Md. Moklesur Rahman]

References Bangladesh Population Census 2001 and 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics; Cultural survey report of Naogaon Sadar Upazila 2007.