| Upazila | |
|---|---|
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| Category | Administrative divisions |
| Location | Bangladesh |
| Created |
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| Number | 495 |
| Populations | 596,886–1,634,750 |
| Areas | 572–2,829 km2 |
| Government |
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| Subdivisions |
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Anupazila (Bengali:উপজেলা,romanized: upajēlā,lit. 'sub-district'pronounced:['upodʒela]), formerly calledthana, is anadministrative division in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of adistrict. It can be seen as an analogous to acounty or aborough of Western countries. Rural upazilas are further administratively divided intounion council areas (union parishads).
Bangladesh has 495 upazilas.[1][2][3] The upazilas are the second lowest tier of regional administration in Bangladesh. The administrative structure consists of divisions (8), districts (64), upazilas (495) and union parishads (UPs). This system ofdevolution was introduced by the former military ruler andpresident of Bangladesh,Lt-Gen Hossain Muhammad Ershad, in an attempt to strengthen local government.
Below UPs, villages (gram) andpara exist, but these have no administrative power and elected members. The Local GovernmentOrdinance of 1982 was amended a year later, redesignating and upgrading the existingthanas asupazilas.[4]
Upazilas were formerly known asthana, which literally means police station. Despite the meaning, thanas functioned much as an administrative and geographic region, much as today's upazilas. In 1982, thanas were re-termed to as upazilas with provisions for semi-autonomous local governance. This system was reverted to the thana system in 1992. Later in 1999, geographic regions under administrations of thanas were converted into upazilas.[5] All administrative terms in this level were renamed fromthana toupazila. For instance, thana nirbahi officer (lit. thana executive officer) was renamed upazila nirbahi officer (lit.upazila executive officer).
The wordthana is now used to solely refer topolice stations. Generally, there is one police station for each upazila, but larger administrative units may have more than one police station covering different regions. However, it was complicated again and currently, Upazilas which combinely form "AdministrativeDistricts" are known as Thanas. For example:Panchlaish Thana,Double Mooring Thana underChittagong district.
On 26 July 2021,Khandker Anwarul Islam announced the renaming ofDakshin Sunamganj Upazila to "Shantiganj Upazila" as well as the creation of three new upazilas;Eidgaon Upazila inCox's Bazar District,Madhyanagar Upazila inSunamganj District andDasar Upazila inMadaripur District.[6]
Upazila nirbahi officer (UNO, or upazila executive officer;Bengali:উপজেলা নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা) is a non-elected administrator in anupazila. UNOs are senior assistant secretary of Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) Cadre. They act as executive officer of the upazila under the elected posts.
Eachupazila parishad (or council) has a chairperson calledchairman, avice-chairman and awoman vice-chairman. All three are elected through direct popular election.Union parishad chairmen within the upazila are considered as the members of theporishod. The post of awoman vice-chairman was created to ensure at least one-third woman representation in the all elected posts of the local government.[7]
On 22 January 2010, the first election in 18 years of upazila porishod was held.[8]
| Divisions |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Districts | ||
| Subdistricts | ||
| Local Councils | ||
| Lowest level units | ||
