Narayanganj District

Narayanganj নারায়ণগঞ্জ জেলা
District
Location of Narayanganj in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 23.60°N 90.50°ECoordinates: 23.60°N 90.50°E
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Dhaka Division
Area
• Total	759.57 km2 (293.27 sq mi)
Population (2011)
• Total	2,897,000
• Density	3,800/km2 (9,900/sq mi)
Literacy rate
• Total	39.84%
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
• Summer (DST)	BDST (UTC+7)
Postal code	1400
Website	Banglapedia Article

Narayanganj District (Bengali: নারায়ণগঞ্জ জেলা Naraeongônj Jela) is a district in central Bangladesh, part of the Dhaka Division. The main city of the district is Narayanganj. It is near the capital city of Dhaka. The river port of Narayanganj is one of the oldest in Bangladesh.^[1] It is also a center of business and industry, especially the jute trade and processing plants, and the textile sector of the country. It is nicknamed the Dundee of Bangladesh due to the presence of lots of jute mills. Dundee was the first industrialised Juteopolis in the world.

Contents

• 1 History
• 2 Administrative area
• 3 Administration
• 4 Subdistricts
• 5 Economy
• 6 Religion
• 7 Places of interest
• 8 Flora and fauna
  • 8.1 Flora
  • 8.2 Fauna
    • 8.2.1 Mammals
    • 8.2.2 Birds
    • 8.2.3 Fish
• 9 See also
• 10 External links
• 11 References

History

Named after Bicon Lal Pandey, who was usually known as Benur Thakur or Lakhsmi Narayan Thakur^{[clarification needed]}
Pandey leased the area from the British East India Company in 1766 after the Battle of Plassey
Post office established in 1866
Narayanganj municipality officially founded on 8 September 1876
Dhaka-Narayanganj telegraph service set up in 1877 telegraph service.
Telephony introduced by The Bank of Bengal in 1882.
Narayanganj became a zila on 15 February 1984. Before that is was a subdivision of Dhaka. It grew in importance in the seventeenth and eighteenth century, due to the influx of the Portuguese and the English. The first to develop was the west bank of Shitalakshya. Narayanganj only became important in the nineteenth century, when the Rally Brothers started a company exporting jute to the west in 1830, aided by a company from Assam. By 1908, 18 European companies, and two Indian companies were trading in jute from Calcutta.
From 1947, with the formation of Pakistan, the economy transformed from being mainly a jute market to jute production.^[2]
This followed establishment of a number of mills in and around Narayanganj that gave the local economy a great boost.

Administrative area

Narayanganj Zila consists of five upazilas, 47 unions and 827 mauzas. Out of the five upazilas Rupganj is the largest with an area of 247.97 km². which is 32.65% of the total area of the zila. Bandar is the smallest with an area of 55.84 km². Sharing 7.34% of the total area of the zila. All the upazilas have more or less similar characteristics.

Administration

Administrator of Zila Porishod: Abdul Hai ^[3]
Deputy Commissioner (DC): Monaj Kanti Boral [1]

Subdistricts

• Araihazar Upazila, 183.5 km²., total unios 12, Mauzas 184
• Sonargaon Upazila, 171.66, km²., total unions 11, Mauzas 352
• Bandar, 55.84, km²., total unions 5, Mauzas 90
• Naryanganj Sadar Upazila, 100.75, km²., total unions 10, Mauzas 55
• Rupganj Upazila, 247.97, km²., total unions 9, Mauzas 146
• Siddirgonj Upazila,

Economy

This section requires expansion. (January 2007)

The district is pioneer in merchandising yarn and dying items. Cottage industry like weaving is abounds in this district. International trading, Import and export business, shipyard brickfield, etc. create employment opportunities to the people which facilitate additional income to the household population.Small and medium industries of cotton are increasing day by day which fills the employment aids of peoples. The rural economy of Narayanganj is agriculture.

Religion

Religion in Narayanganj District
Religion			Percent
Islam			84%
Hinduism			12.5%
Christianity			2.5%
Buddhism			0.5%

The district of Narayanganj consists 3078 mosques, 269 temples, ten churches and four Buddhist temples.

Places of interest

The ancient city of Sonargaon was the capital of Isa Khan, a medieval ruler of Bengal. Sonargaon is also famous for producing muslin, a delicate and fine cloth made from cotton. The Dhaka-Narayanganj-Demra (DND) embankment surrounds Narayanganj district and protects it from flooding.

• The Bangladesh Engineering and Ship Building Corporation at Sonakanda on the east bank of the Shitalakshya River: established 1925.

Flora and fauna

This section requires expansion. (March 2008)

Flora

Almost the whole of Narayanganj district lies on the meander flood plain. Most of this area is now flooded only by rain-water. Only minor areas near the Lakhya. Old Brahmaputra, Meghan,shitalakha and Dhaleswari river are affected by river water and receive fresh silt deposits. A wide variety of soils occurs in this district.

Fauna

Mammals

Mammals that are commonly see in the district are Indian Pipistrelle (Pipistrellus coromandra)

Birds

the common birds of the district include Doel, Salik, Crow, Duck, Grimorium Verum, Babui, King fisheer,

Fish

In the river, canal, beels, and ponds there are various kinds of fish, but because of water pollution it is very hard to see fish in the river.