Nawabganj Sadar Upazila

Nawabganj Sadar Upazila (nawabganj district) area 451.78 sq km, located in between 24°25' and 24°43' north latitudes and in between 88°05' and 88°26' east longitudes. It is bounded by nachole and shibganj (Nawabganj) upazilas on the north, west bengal state of India on the south, tanore and godagari upazilas on the east, Shibganj upazila on the west.

Population Total 530592; male 254629, female 275963; Muslim 507483, Hindu 20644, Buddhist 3, Christian 1239 and others 1223. Indigenous communities such as oraon, santal, Mahali, Murari, Pahan belong to this upazila.

Water bodies Main rivers: padma, mahananda, Pagla; Goaha Beel is notable.

Administration Nawabganj Thana was formed in 1899 and it was turned into an upazila in1984.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	14	150	203	180731	349861	1174	60.8	38.4

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
32.90	15	82	180731	5493	60.8

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Alatuli 17	9043	8458	8162	22.2
Islampur 39	5676	13258	14339	24.1
Gobratala 33	8729	13734	14259	44.7
Char Anupnagar 20	5591	5804	6030	42.3
Char Bagdanga 22	8631	9917	10989	20.8
Jhilim 44	14958	12936	13258	44.4
Debinagar 27	8466	13616	14511	32.9
Narayanpur 67	10778	8490	8636	24.6
Baragharia 19	1791	11533	12543	50.1
Balidanga 18	10038	17823	19147	50.2
Maharajpur 55	2214	12546	14385	44.2
Ranihati 83	2423	15040	17055	47.2
Shahjahanpur 89	7511	10291	11729	25.9
Sundarpur 94	7673	15171	16201	39.6

Source Bangladesh Population Census 2011, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

Archaeological heritage and relics Chanpai Jami Mosque (reign of Alauddin Hussain Shah) at Gobratala, Majhpara Gombuz Mosque, ancient mosque at Maharajpur, Jora Math at Hujrapur, Ramchandrapur Neel Kuthi.

War of Liberation On 14 August 1971, the freedom fighters of the upazila had an encounter with Pak army carried out simultaneously from three sides on the location of the enemies at Haripur bridge, Nawanganj town and Amnura. The encounter became known as the “Battle of Chapainawabganj Sadar Thana”. There had been another encounter between Pak army and the freedom fighters at Mirerchar. Bir Srestha mahiuddin jahangir was killed in the direct encounter between the freedom fighters and the Pak army at Rehaichar of the Nawabganj Town on 14 December 1971. A memorial monument (at Nawabganj Government College premises) and two martyrs’ memorials (at the main gate of Bangladesh Rifles and at Nawabganj Municipality compound) had been built; a bridge was named after Bir Srestha Mahiuddin Jahangir Bridge (1993).

For details: see চাঁপাইনবাবগঞ্জ সদর উপজেলা, বাংলাদেশ মুক্তিযুদ্ধ জ্ঞানকোষ (Encyclopedia of Bangladesh War of Liberation), বাংলাদেশ এশিয়াটিক সোসাইটি, ঢাকা ২০২০, খণ্ড ৩।

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 46.3%; male 44.8%, female 47.7%. Educational institutions: college 3, secondary school 60, primary school 204, madrasa 44. Noted educational institutions: Nawabganj Government College (1955), Government Mohila College (1969), Harimohan Government High School (1895), Nawabganj High School (1935), Chandlai Government Primary School (1919), Nawabganj Alia Madrasa (1964).

Newspapers and periodicals Weekly: Gaur Sangbad, Sheemantar Kagaj, Chapai Sangbad, Mahananda; periodical: Protik.

Cultural organisations Library 5, club 94, shishu academy 1, theatre stage 2, cinema hall 4, playground 20, children's organisations 4, shilpakala academy 1.

Main sources of income Agriculture 44.97%, non-agricultural labourer 4.94%, industry 1.43%, commerce 18.40%, transport and communication 2.94%, service 7.11%, construction 6.30%, religious service' 0.25%, rent and remittance 1.73% and others 11.93%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 40.38%, landless 59.62%; agricultural landowner: urban 35.28% and rural 43.10%.'

Main crops Paddy, black gram, wheat, sugarcane, betel leaf, onion, garlic, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Koda, china, shama, kaun.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, litchi, papaya.

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

Communication facilities Pucca road 382.48 km, semi-pucca road 61.66 km, mud road 487.24 km; railway 16 km; waterway 23.91 km.

Extinct or nearly extinct traditional transport Palanquin, horse carriage.

Noted manufactories Flourmill, automatic rice mill, ice factory, cement factory, cooker factory, welding factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, blacksmith, potteries, weaving, bamboo and wood work, nakshi kantha. Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 5, fairs 3, most noted of which are Battala Hat, Notun Hat, Maharajpur Hat, Ramchandrapur Hat, Gobratala and Maharajpur Eid Mela, Sarjan Mela and Barghoria Durgapur Mela.

'Main exports Betel leaf, onion, garlic, flour, vegetables.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 56.0% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 81.6%, tap 14.7% and others 3.7%. The presence of arsenic has been detected in 4595 shallow tube-well water of the upazila.

Sanitation 47.8% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 40.1% of dwelling households use non-sanitary latrines; 12.1% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 2, mother and child welfare centre 1, diabetic association 1, nursing training centre 1, satellite clinic 6, civil surgeon office 1, clinic 2.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, CARE, asa, CCDB, proshika, IDE (DASCO), Samaj Unnayan Karmasangstha, Prayash, Kolyani Mohila Sangstha, Swanirvar Artho-Samajik Unnyan Sangstha. [Abdul Manik Pulak]

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