Barisal District

This article is about the district. For the city, see Barisal.

Barisal বরিশাল
District
Barisal Town Hall Barisal Town Hall
Location of Barisal in Bangladesh Location of Barisal in Bangladesh
Coordinates:
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Barisal Division
Bakerganj District	1760
Area
• Total	2,784.52 km2 (1,075.11 sq mi)
	Census 2011
Population (2011)
• Total	2,324,310
• Density	830/km2 (2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
Postal code	8200

Barisal (Bengali: বরিশাল) is a district in south-central Bangladesh, formerly called Bakerganj district, established in 1797. Its headquarters are in the city of Barisal, which is also the headquarters of Barisal Division.

Geography and climate

Latitude: 22.75, Longitude: 90.36, Altitude: 4.

The maximum annual average temperature is 35.1 °C, minimum 12.1 °C; annual rainfall is 1955 mm.

History of Barisal

Barisal District is a district in southern Bangladesh and is also the headquarter of Barisal Division.

Formerly the district was called Bakerganj which was established as a district in 1797. It was a municipality from 1876 to 2002 and upgraded to Barisal City Corporation in 2002. Barisal was declared a division on 1 January 1993. Barisal district consists of one city corporation, five municipalities, 66 wards, 111 mahallas, 10 upazilas, 86 union parishads, 1147 mouzas and 1175 villages.

Demographics

Barisal District had a population of 2,324,310 at the 2011 Census (provisional).

Economy

Barisal's economic is mostly based on farming and fishing.

Transport

Barisal is served by the Barisal Airport which is located just outside the city. It has frequent flight services to Dhaka via Biman Bangladesh Airlines and GMG Airlines.

Education

Notable educational institutions in Barisal include Sher-e-Bangla Medical College, University of Barisal, Barisal Cadet College, Govt. B M College, Govt. Barisal College, Govt. Hatem Ali College, Govt. Woman's College, Barisal Polytechnic College, Govt. Fazlul Huq College, Barisal Technical School and College, A. Karim Ideal College,Ideal Cadet School & College etc.

Subdivisions

Barisal District is divided into the following Upazilas (formerly called Thanas):

1. Agailjhara Upazila
2. Babuganj Upazila
3. Bakerganj Upazila
4. Banaripara Upazila
5. Barisal Sadar Upazila
6. Gaurnadi Upazila
7. Hizla Upazila
8. Mehendiganj Upazila
9. Muladi Upazila
10. Wazirpur Upazila

Culture and places of interest

12 km out of Barisal City is the Durga Sagar, an area of about 2,500 hectares, the largest pond or dighi of southern Bangladesh. It is located at Babuganj Upazila, about 11 km away from Barisal town. Locally it is known as Madhabpasha Dighi. Initially there were four pucca ghats each having 15m width. Due to a lack of proper maintenance, jungles gradually surrounded the dighi. However, in 1975, government renovated it to some extent. There are coconut trees around the dighi which together with the dighi are bounded by brick-walls. Presently, Barisal Development Board is looking after it. This is one of the main place of residence for the migrant birds that comes in winter.

Near Durga Sagar there are the ancient ruins of the palace of a local landlord of the British colonial era (called zamindar in Bengali). It is only a 15 minutes ride on a rickshaw from Durga Sagar.

The Bangabandhu Uddan (former Bell's Park) is a place inside Barisal City, right on the banks of the Kirtonkhola (or Kirton Khola) river. South of Barisal city there is a beach town, Kuakata. There are several hotels and motels in Kuakata. This is where the Marma live. Southeast, over the Kirtonkhola, Shahid Abdur Rab Serniabat Bridge was inaugurated in 2011.

Media

Print media:

• Prothom Alo (National)
• The Daily Kaler kantho (National)
• Daily Samakal (National)
• Dainik News (National)

Telecommunications:

• Teletalk, Airtel, BTCL, Bangla Link, Citycell, Grameen Phone, Robi etc.

Notable personalities

• A. K. Fazlul Huq politician, Chief Minister of undivided Bengal & Governor of erstwhile East Pakistan
• Abdul Gaffar Choudhury, journalist, who wrote Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano to mark the Bengali Language Movement.
• Abdur Rahman Biswas, politician, President of Bangladesh
• Mahanambrata Brahmachari, Hindu saint
• Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah, founder editor of The Daily Ittefaq
• Jibanananda Das, Bengali poet
• Kusumkumari Das, poet and mother of Jibanananda Das
• Aswini Kumar Dutta, founder of BM College
• Shamsuddin Abul Kalam, Bangladeshi novelist
• Sufia Kamal, poet of Bangladesh
• Altaf Mahmud, music director & lyrician, who composed Amar Bhaier Rokte Rangano
• Aroj Ali Matubbar, philosopher
• Kamini Roy, poet