Mongla Upazila

Mongla Upazila (bagerhat district) area 1461.20 sq km, located in between 21°49' and 22°33' north latitudes and in between 89°32' and 89°44' east longitudes. It is bounded by rampal upazila on the north, bay of bengal on the south, morrelganj and sarankhola upazilas on the east, dacope upazila on the west.

Population Total 136588; male 71492, female 65096; Muslim 102298, Hindu 29426, Buddhist 21, Christian 4837 and others 6.

Water bodies Main rivers: pasur, Mongla, Bhola, Bangra, Chandpai.

Administration Mongla Thana was formed on 19 September 1976 and it was turned into an upazila on 14 September 1983.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	6	28	83	39837	96751	93	64.1	54.3

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
19.40	9	13	39837	2012	64.1

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Chandpi 23	5077	8770	8892	53.2
Chila 29	7452	8845	8762	49.9
Burirdanga 27	7143	7810	7501	65.8
Mithakhali 59	8506	8557	8582	56.5
Sundarban 89	8782	8352	8482	52.0
Suniltala 83	3819	4293	4539	47.5

Source  Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

War of Liberation On 14 August 1971 the freedom fighters destroyed two ships carrying supplies, specially food, arms and ammunitions, for the Pak army, one at Joymoni and other at Laudoba by mine explosions. The naval commando operation on the river Poshur is a notable event in the history of the War of Liberation of Bangladesh. 20 enemy ships were drowned in 4 operations of the naval commando force of the freedom fighters.

For details: see মংলা উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৭।

Religious institutions Mosque 170, temple 29, church 11, tomb 2. Noted religious institutions: Mecher Shah' Jami Mosque, Haribhajan Thakur Mandir, St Paul's Church.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 57.2%; male 58.9%, female 55.3%. Educational institutions: college 4, secondary school 28, primary school 64, madrasa 297. Noted educational institutions: Mongla College (1981), Digraj Degree College (1988), Mongla Port' School and College (1987), Tatibunia' Secondary School (1927), St Pauls High School (1954), Burirdanga Secondary School (1961), Chalna Bandar High School (1962), Yunus Ali Collegiate School (1985), Chalna Bandar Senior Madrasa (1960), Adarsha Islami Academy (1991).

Newspapers and periodicals Daily: Sundarban; weekly: Mongla, Dakshin Barta.

Cultural organisations Library 5, theatre group 14, cinema hall 2, auditorium 1, playground 7.

Tourists spots' mongla port (second Sea Port of Bangladesh), Karamjal and Hiron Points of the sundarbans, Sundarban Museum (2006) and St Paul's Church.

Main sources of income Agriculture 36.31%, non-agricultural labourer 17.02%, industry 0.80%, commerce 18.85%, transport and communication 2.48%, service 10.65%, construction 1.36%, religious service 0.24%, rent and remittance 0.27% and others 12.02%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 41.12%, landless 58.88%; agricultural landowner: urban 31.55% and rural 46.97%.'

Main crops Paddy.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Sugarcane.

Main fruits Mango, blackberry, lemon, palm, papaya, betel nut.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Fishery 761, poultry 60.

Communication facilities Pucca road 46 km, semi-pucca road 146 km, mud road 249 km; waterway 70 km.

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

Noted manufactories Rice mill 6, cement factory 2, LP gas plant 1, ice factory 10.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, potteries, jute industry, wood work, cane work, nakshi kantha.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 20, fair 1, most noted of which are Mongla Port Bazar, Digraj Hat, Chater Hat and Tayeb Bari Mela at Chandpi.

Main exports Shrimp, crab.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 44.9% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 4.4%, tap 6.7% and others 88.9%.

Sanitation 81.3% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 14.7% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 4.0% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, hospital 3, union and family welfare centre 6, community clinic 10.

Natural disasters Many people and animals were victims of the cyclones of 29 December 1988 and 5 November 2007. These cyclones also caused heavy damages to settlements and other properties of the upazila.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa, caritas, World Vision. [Moshfequr Rahman]

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