Khagrachhari District

Khagrachhari
খাগড়াছড়ি
District
Nickname(s): প্রাকৃতিক সৌন্দর্যের রাণী (The Queen of Natural Beauty)

Location of Khagrachhari in Bangladesh
Coordinates: BD 23°02′30″N 91°59′40″E / 23.0417°N 91.9944°E / 23.0417; 91.9944Coordinates: BD 23°02′30″N 91°59′40″E / 23.0417°N 91.9944°E / 23.0417; 91.9944
Country  Bangladesh
Division Chittagong Division
Area
  Total 2,749.16 km2 (1,061.46 sq mi)
Population (2011 census)
  Total 613,917
  Density 220/km2 (580/sq mi)
Time zone BST (UTC+6)
Postal code 4400
Tribal women near Ful Biju Chengi River, Khagrachhori. Photo:Biplob Rahman

Khagrachhari (Bengali: খাগড়াছড়িBengali pronunciation: [khagrat͡ɕʰori/khagrat͡sʰori]) is a district in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division[1] and the Chittagong Hill Tracts.[2] Its local name is "Chengmi". Khagrachhari is also known as Phalang Htaung (ဖလံေထာင္) or the Mong Circle (of the rest of the three hill districts Rangamati is the Chakma Circle (သက္ေထာင္) and Bandarban (ဗိုလ္မင္းေထာင္) is the Bohmong Circle). Khagrachhari town is the home town of the Mong Chief (currently King, or Raja, Saching Prue Chowdhury ဗိုလ္မင္း သာစိန္ျဖဴ) who is the head of the Arakanese descendants living in the circle. It also is the administrative headquarters of Khagrachhari district. Khagrachhari Local Govt. Council was established on 6 March 1989 to uphold the political, social, cultural, educational and economic right and to expedite the process of socio-economic development of all residents of Khagrachhari Hill District. According to Peace Accord this council was renamed as “Khagrachari Hill District Council (KHDC)” by the Act-10 of 1998. Now this council has been regarded as the main focal point of administration as well as development activities of the district.[3]

Geography

Khagrachhari is a valley. It has three river namely Chengi, Kasalong and Maini. Chengi is the longest river in Khagrachhari. Most of the areas of Khagrachhari are hilly areas. The main ethnic groups living in the district are Tripuras, Chakmas, Bengalis and Marmas.

Subdivisions

Upazilas under this district are:

  1. Dighinala Upazila
  2. Khagrachhari Upazila
  3. Lakshmichhari Upazila
  4. Mahalchhari Upazila
  5. Manikchhari Upazila
  6. Matiranga Upazila
  7. Panchhari Upazila
  8. Ramgarh Upazila
  9. Guimara Upazila

Administration

Deputy Commissioner (DC): Muhammad Wahiduzzaman

Chairman of Hill District Council: Mr. Kongjari Chowdhury

Mong king: Chai Hla Prue Chowdhury

Economy

Most of the people lives on Jhum cultivation.There are also people of various profession like Teacher, Farmer, Businessmen etc.

NGO in Khagrachhari:UNDP, Parbatya Bouddha Mission (PBM), established in 1983,a non profit organization, is working for the socio-economic, educational and cultural development of the poor people in the Khagrachhari Hill District of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) of Bangladesh.[4]

Education

Khagrachhari Govt. College, established in 1975. The college is now situated on 8.5 acres of land in a beautiful natural environment near the entrance gate of Khagrachhari town beside the main road of the hilly district.[5] Khagrachhri Cantonmet public school and college was established in 2006.Despite being a new institution it has become a renowned one for the students of Khagrachhari. Khagrachhari govt girls high school established in 1985. It is a renowned school for girls in Khagrachhari. It has high qualified teaching staff. The school is now situated on 4 acres of land in beautiful natural environment.

Religious composition (1991)

Muslim - 34.45%, Buddhist - 48.51%, Hindu - 16.69%, Christian - 0.27% and Others - 0.08. Religious institutions 2472 mosques, 937 Buddhist (656 pagodas, 281 temples), 170 temples and 4 churches.[6]

Member of ninth Parliament

Khagrachhari Seat 298: Jatindra Laal Tripura [from Awami League][7][8] Before Jatindra Laal Tripura, Wadud Bhuiyan was the Member of Parliament of Khagrachhari Seat 298. He was also the Chairman of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Development Board at that period. Wadud Bhuiyan was two times MP.

See also

References

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