Shantiganj ( bn, শান্তিগঞ্জ, Shantigônj), formerly known as South Sunamganj or Dakshin Sunamganj ( bn, দক্ষিণ সুনামগঞ্জ), is an

upazila An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a ...

of the

Sunamganj District Sunamganj ( bn, সুনামগঞ্জ) is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh within the Sylhet Division. History In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh) ...

Sylhet Division Sylhet Division ( bn, সিলেট বিভাগ) is the northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is bordered by the Indian states of Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura to the north, east and south respectively, and by the Bangladeshi divisions ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

Geography

Shantiganj is located in between 24°49' and 25°10' north latitudes and in between 91°14' and 91°27' east longitudes. It has a total area of . The

Surma River The Surma River ( bn, সুরমা নদী) is a major river in Bangladesh, part of the Surma-Meghna River System. It starts when the Barak River from northeast India divides at the Bangladesh border into the Surma and the Kushiyara rivers. ...

and Kalni River flow through Shantiganj. The Ufa, Karchabarar, Saladia, Behala, Baradal and Basadubi beels are other notable bodies of water in Shantiganj, in addition to the Dekhar

haor A ( bn, হাওর) is a wetland ecosystem in the north eastern part of Bangladesh which physically is a bowl or saucer shaped shallow depression, also known as a backswamp.MK Alam; ''Wave attack in Haor areas of Bangladesh and cement conc ...

. The upazila is bounded by

Chhatak Upazila Chhatak ( bn, ছাতক) is an upazila of the Sunamganj District in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh. It is named after its headquarters, the town of Chhatak. Etymology According to the majority of researchers including Dewan Mohammad Azraf, the ...

and Dowarabazar Upazila to the east,

Derai Upazila Derai ( bn, দিরাই) is an upazila (sub-district) of the Sunamganj District in northeastern Bangladesh, part of the Sylhet Division. History Derai was previously known as Babaganj Bazar. It was home to two influential Hindu residents; ...

and

Jagannathpur Upazila Jagannathpur ( bn, জগন্নাথপুর) is an upazila located in the southeast of the district of Sunamganj and in the middle of the division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. It is bordered by Chhatak and Dakshin Sunamganj to the north, Bish ...

to its south, Jamalganj Upazila to its west, and Sunamganj Sadar Upazila to its north.

History

Shantiganj was first established as an upazila on 6 June 2006 when it was separated from Sunamganj Sadar Upazila and given the name "South Sunamganj".Population & Housing Census 2011
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. On 26 July 2021, Khandker Anwarul Islam announced the renaming of South Sunamganj to "''Shantiganj''".

Demographical Data

Shantiganj has a total population of 183,881, per the 2011 census. There are 8 unions within the upazila, with a total of 107 mauzas and 171 villages. With over 32,000 households, majority (80.6%) of these are ''kancha'' or ''kucha'' houses which are made from mud or clay, while a few are semi or full pucca houses. A small minority of these houses have access to

sanitary Sanitation refers to public health conditions related to clean drinking water and treatment and disposal of human excreta and sewage. Preventing human contact with feces is part of sanitation, as is hand washing with soap. Sanitation systems ...

latrine A latrine is a toilet or an even simpler facility that is used as a toilet within a sanitation system. For example, it can be a communal trench in the earth in a camp to be used as emergency sanitation, a hole in the ground ( pit latrine), or ...

(29.2%), majority have non-sanitary latrine (60.4%) and 10.4% do not have toilet facilities available.

Electricity Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter that has a property of electric charge. Electricity is related to magnetism, both being part of the phenomenon of electromagnetism, as describ ...

within the upazila was available to 38.4% of the population. The population is predominantly Muslim (90.3%) with a small minority of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s (9.7%) and very few following other religions.

Education

The

literacy rate Literacy in its broadest sense describes "particular ways of thinking about and doing reading and writing" with the purpose of understanding or expressing thoughts or ideas in written form in some specific context of use. In other words, huma ...

and school attendance is below average of the Sunamganj District, with 32.3% and 43.8% respectively. There are five

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , pl. , ) is the Arabic word for any type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whether for elementary instruction or higher learning. The word is variously transliterated '' ...

s in the upazila, including Jamia Islamia Haji Akram Ali Dakhil Madrasa and Amaria Islamia Alim Madrasa.

Administration

Shantiganj Upazila is divided into eight

union parishad Union council ( bn, ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, translit=iūniyan pariṣad, translit-std=IAST), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit ...

s: Dargapasha, Joykalash, Paschim Birgaon, Paschim Pagla, Patharia, Purba Birgoan, Purba Pagla, and Shimulbak. The union parishads are subdivided into 102 mauzas and 171 villages.

Chairmen

Economy and tourism

There are 15

haat bazaar Haat or hat, even haat bazaar, is an open-air market that serves as a trading venue for local people in rural areas and towns of Indian subcontinent, especially in India, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan. Haat bazaars are conducted on a regular ba ...

s in Shantiganj. These are: Patharia Bazar, Pagla Bazar, Noakhali Bazar, Ganiganj Bazar, Birgaon Bazar, Taila Bazar, Natun Bangla Bazar, Aktapara Bazar, Damodharatapi Bazar, Chikarkandi Bazar, Muradpur Bazar, Jaikalas Bazar, Thakurbhog Bazar, Shantiganj Bazar and Bhamabhami Bazar. Shantiganj Upazila is home to around 150 mosques, most notable of which is the historic Pagla Jame Mosque.

Notable people

* Muhammad Abdul Mannan, minister, diplomat and bureaucrat * Faruk Rashid Chowdhury, communist *

Humayun Rashid Choudhury Humayun Rasheed Choudhury ( bn, হুমায়ূন রশীদ চৌধুরী; 11 November 1928 – 10 July 2001) was a Bangladeshi career diplomat and Speaker of the Bangladesh National Parliament from 1996 to 2001. He was elected pre ...

, diplomat and politician * Shamsun Nahar Begum, former Member of Parliament

References

{{Upazilas of Sylhet Division Upazilas of Sunamganj District