Dinajpur District Information

Posted In: Rangpur, by on May, 14 2011. 12 Comments

Dinajpur is a district in Northern Bangladesh and now within Rangpur division . It is a very ancient land and once it was once a part of the ancient state of Pundravardhana. Dinajpur district was established in 1786. At the time of Partition of Bengal in 1947, greater part of Dinajpur district was in in west Bengal and its name is West Dinajpur district.
Its previous name was Ghoraghat district. Thakurgaon and Panchagarh Sub-divisions of this district were turned into independent districts in 1984.now the Sub-districts or Upazilas are Birampur Upazila, Birganj, Biral Upazila, Bochaganj Upazila, Chirirbandar Upazila, Phulbari Upazila, Ghoraghat Upazila, Hakimpur Upazila,

Boundary: This district is bounded by Thakurgaon and Panchagarh districts in the north, Gaibandha and Joypurhat districts in the south, Nilphamari and Rangpur districts in the east, and the state of West Bengal, India in the west.

Area: 3,437.98 km2.

Weather: Annual average highest temperature 33.5 °C and lowest 10.5 °C; annual rainfall 2,536mm.

Main rivers: Dhepa, Punarbhaba, Kanchan and Atrai.

Main occupation: Agriculture 42.85%

Main crops: Paddy, wheat, vegetables etc. ‘Katharivog’ rice of this district is the best rice in Bangladesh. This district is also famous for wheat production.

Population: 2,617,942 (According to the census of 2001 and Bangladesh Statistical Beauro). Male 51.12%, female 48.88%.

Religion: Muslim 76.65%, Hindu 20.58%, Christian 0.80%, Buddhist 0.11% and other 1.86%.

Ethnic groups: Santal and Oraon.

Literacy rate: 60%; male 34.7% female 19.5%.
Places of interest: There are many historical places and also modern structure with very beautiful places.
Historical places are
• Sitakot Bihar (the oldest Badya Bihar in the world)
• Kantajew Temple
• Nayabad Mosque
• Aowkora Mosque(echoing)
• Dinajpur Rajbari
• Ramsagar
• Ghughudanga Zomidar Gate
• Sukhsagar
• Matasagar
• The tombs of Chehel Gazi and Gor-e-Shahid Moydan
• Sitar Kuthuri
• Habra Zamindar Bari
• Gour Gabindha
• Baraduari
• Shingha Darwaza (Lion Gate)
Modern remarkable structures are
• Swapnopuri amusement park
• K. T Complex
• Nowpara Ideal Village
• Rudrapur Dipshikha School
• Hili Land Port
• Dinajpur Museum

Specialty of the district:
Dinajpur is famous for rice production. ‘Katharivog’ rice is the best produced rice in Bangladesh.. The liches(fruit) of Dinajpur is the best of Bangladesh. Dinajpur is also famous for its Mangoes. “Kosba” is called the matrix of mango.
Dinajpur is highly rich with natural resources like coal. The coal of Boropukuria Coal Mine is empowering a 250MW power generation plant. More sites are discovered to have coal. Asia Energy PLC is a new company, without any history of previous mining experience, quoted in the London Alternative Investment Market, set up to exploit open cast coal mining opportunities in the Phulbari region of Dinajpur.
Historical specialty: Devkot was an ancient city which was the administrative centre of Kotivarsha Vishaya , was capital of Lakhnauti is located 11 miles south of Dinajpur town. It was a part of the wider administrative unit of Pundravardhana Bhukti, which had Mahasthangarh as its capital in the period of Chandras, Varmans and Senas.
An ancient engraved stone, believed to be from the Gupta era, was recovered from the bank of a pond near Sura Masjid at Ghoraghat Upazila in Dinajpur in October 8.
The British administrative control in Dinajpur was established in 1786 and that time it became a district.
People of the district took part in the Tebhaga Movement .people also had significant contribution in the War of Liberation of 1971.

Major educational institutes:
Tenth educational board of Bangladesh has been established in Dinajpur in 2007. From 2009 S.S.C. (Secondary School Certificate) and H.S.C. (Higher Secondary School Certificate) exams have been started to be taken. In S.S.C. exam for the first time it stood 2nd in the country in the G.P.A. 5 list.
Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University [7] is a public university of Bangladesh is situated at 10 km away from Dinajpur main town. It serves as the premier institution of science and technology in northern part of the country.
There is a govt. medical college here, which is one of the 17 govt. funded medical colleges in Bangladesh. It is a Government medical college and admits 150 students into the 5 year MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) degree program. Now a modern technology based hospital will be opened soon.
There are 2 government colleges in the Dinajpur town. One is for female student and another is for both male and female students. Dinajpur Govt. College is for both male and female, which was previously known as Surendranath College. Both colleges are under national university.
It also has a poly-technical institution.
Dinajpur also has got the second BKSP (Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan) in Bangladesh.

Dinajpur town:
Dinajpur is a very old town with a long history. Devkot which rotated as capital of Lakhnauti was located 11 miles south of Dinajpur town. The British administrative control in Dinajpur was established in 1786.Dinajpur municipal town consists of 12 wards and 80 mahallas. The area of the municipality is 20.6 sq km and its population is 157343; male 51.29%, female 48.71%. The literacy rate among the town people is 56.5%. in the town there is a government medical college. There are 2 government colleges in the Dinajpur town. One is for female student and another is for both male and female students. Dinajpur Govt. College is for both male and female, which was previously known as Surendranath College. Dinajpur town is also carrying the symbol of libaration war. There are 4 Mass killing sites and 7 mass graves.

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