Birampur Upazila

Birampur Upazila (dinajpur district) area 212.88 sq km, located in between 25°18' and 25°29' north latitudes and in between 88°50' and 89°05' east longitudes. It is bounded by phulbari and nawabganj (dinajpur) upazilas on the north, hakimpur upazila and west bengal (India) on the south, Nawabganj and Hakimpur upazilas on the east, West Bengal (India) and Phulbari upazila on the west.

Population Total 170806; male 86393, female 84413; Muslim 153029, Hindu 10308, Buddhist 2, Christian 4879 and others 2588.

Water bodies Main river: jamuna; Asholar Beel, Chengar Beel, Bogghar Beel and Katuar Beel are notable.

Administration Birampur Thana was formed on 17 June 1981 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983. Birampur Paurasabha was formed in 1995.

Upazila
Municipality	Union	Mouza	Village	Population		Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
				Urban	Rural		Urban	Rural
1	7	150	169	47539	123267	802	53.3 (2001)	48.7

Municipality
Area (sq km)	Ward	Mahalla	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
26.35 (2001)	9	26	45334	1318 (2001)	59.7

Upazila Town
Area (sq km)	Mouza	Population	Density (per sq km)	Literacy rate (%)
5 (2001)	2	2205	411 (2001)	50.6

Union
Name of union and GO code	Area (acre)	Population		Literacy rate (%)
		Male	Female
Katla 59	4075	8915	8591	48.6
Khanpur 71	9124	9288	9030	45.1
Jotbani 47	8984	12363	12077	50.8
Deor 35	7960	11329	11320	49.1
Pali Prayagpur 83	2741	4638	4596	50.4
Benail 11	9071	9682	9405	47.8
Mukundapur 23	3850	7199	7039	49.6

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

Archaeological heritage and relics Baneshwar Shiva Mandir.

War of Liberation On 20 April 1971 the Pak army killed a few hundred innocent people at Charar Hat of Birampur. During the war of liberation 7 Pakistani soldiers and 16 freedom fighters were killed in a direct encounter at Ketra Hat. On 4 December the general public of the upazila attacked a military vehicle at Beparitola and killed a number of Pak soldiers.

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

Religious institutions Mosque 308, temple 15, church 3, tomb 4.

Literacy rate and educational institutions Average literacy 51.6%; male 54.1%, female 49.2%. Educational institutions: college 5, textile institute 1, secondary school 38, primary school 162, madrasa 28. Noted educational institutions: Birampur Degree College (1964), Birampur Mahila Degree College (1989), Birampur Technical and Management College (2001), Ekair Mangalpur High School (1930), Birampur Pilot High School (1945), Shibpur High School (1951), Birampur Government Girl's High School (1971), Ideal High School (1998), Kochgram Government Primary School, Bijul Darul Huda Kamil Madrasa (1958), Mukundapur Senior Madrasa (1974).

Newspapers and periodicals Weekly: Birampur Barta, Biram.

Cultural organisations Library 1, club 7, cinema hall 7.

Main sources of income Agriculture 68.37%, non-agricultural labourer 2.92%, industry 0.86%, commerce 13.08%, transport and communication 2.64%, service 5.1%, construction 0.67%, religious service 0.16%, rent and remittance 0.17% and others 6.03%.

Ownership of agricultural land Landowner 57.24%, landless 42.76%; agricultural landowner: urban 44.34% and rural 61.34%.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, corn, jute, potato, vegetables.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Mustard, sugarcane and sesame.

Main fruits Mango, banana, jackfruit, blackberry.

Fisheries, dairies and poultries Poultry 17, dairy 13.

Communication facilities Pucca road 90 km, semi-pucca road 100 km, mud road 245 km; railway 11 km.

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

Noted manufactories Rice mill, husking mill, saw mill, flour mill, ice factory, bidi factory.

Cottage industries Goldsmith, blacksmith, potteries, wood work, bamboo and cane work.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 17, fairs 2, most noted of which are Birampur, Katla and Ketra hats and Katla Mela.

Main exports Paddy, rice.

Access to electricity All the wards and unions of the upazila are under rural electrification net-work. However 42.4% of the dwelling households have access to electricity.

Sources of drinking water Tube-well 96.6%, tap 0.9% and others 2.5%.

Sanitation 58.8% of dwelling households of the upazila use sanitary latrines and 28.7% of dwelling houses use non-sanitary latrines; 12.5% of households do not have latrine facilities.

Health centres Hospital 3, upazila health complex 1, union health and family planning centre 4, clinic 2.'

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa. [Shamsuzzaman]

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