Sitakunda ( ''Shitakunḍo,'' ) is an

upazila An ''upazila'' ( pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative division in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a borough of Western countries. Rural upazilas ...

Chattogram District Chittagong District (), ( Chatgaiya: Sitang/Chatga), officially Chattogram District, is a district located in south-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Division. Due to its geographical location, Chittagong is classified as a sp ...

Chattogram Division Chittagong Division (), officially Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the southeasternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population according to th ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. It includes one urban settlement, the Sitakunda Town, and 10 unions. Sitakunda is the home of the country's first eco-park, as well as

alternative energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

projects, specifically

wind energy Wind power is the use of wind energy to generate useful work. Historically, wind power was used by sails, windmills and windpumps, but today it is mostly used to generate electricity. This article deals only with wind power for electricity ...

and

geothermal power Geothermal power is electricity generation, electrical power generated from geothermal energy. Technologies in use include dry steam power stations, flash steam power stations and binary cycle power stations. Geothermal electricity generation i ...

. Sitakunda is one of the oldest sites of human habitation in Bangladesh. During much of its history, it was ruled alternatively by various Buddhist rulers of

Myanmar Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and has ...

in the east and Muslims rulers of

Bengal Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...

in the west. For a brief period in the 8th century, it was ruled by the Buddhist

Pala Empire The Pāla Empire was the empire ruled by the Pala dynasty, ("protector" in Sanskrit) a medieval Indian dynasty which ruled the kingdom of Gauda Kingdom, Gauda. The empire was founded with the election of Gopala, Gopāla by the chiefs of Kingdo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. The eastern rulers originated from the Kingdom of Arakan, the

Mrauk U Mrauk U ( ) is a town in northern Rakhine State, Myanmar. It is the capital of Mrauk-U Township, a subregion of the Mrauk-U District. Mrauk U is culturally significant for the local Rakhine people, Rakhine (Arakanese) people and is the location ...

dynasty, Arakanese pirates and the Pagan Kingdom. The western rulers came from the

Sultanate of Bengal The Bengal Sultanate ( Middle Bengali: , Classical Persian: ) was a late medieval sultanate based in the Bengal region in the eastern South Asia between the 14th and 16th century. It was the dominant power of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, ...

and the

Mughal Mughal or Moghul may refer to: Related to the Mughal Empire * Mughal Empire of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries * Mughal dynasty * Mughal emperors * Mughal people, a social group of Central and South Asia * Mughal architecture * Mug ...

province ( Suba) of Bangala. European rule of Sitakunda was heralded by Portuguese privateers in 16th and 17th centuries, who ruled together with the pirates; and the

British Raj The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

in 18th and 19th centuries, who unified Sitakunda into the rest of the Chittagong District. Economic development in Sitakunda is largely driven by the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway and the railway. Though Sitakunda is predominantly an agricultural area, it also has the largest

ship breaking Ship breaking (also known as ship recycling, ship demolition, ship scrapping, ship dismantling, or ship cracking) is a type of ship disposal involving the breaking up of ships either as a source of Interchangeable parts, parts, which can be sol ...

industry in the world. The industry has been accused of neglecting

workers' rights Labor rights or workers' rights are both legal rights and human rights relating to labor relations between workers and employers. These rights are codified in national and international labor and employment law. In general, ...

, especially concerning

work safety Occupational safety and health (OSH) or occupational health and safety (OHS) is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at work (i.e., while performing duties required by one's occupation). OSH is re ...

practices and

child labor Child labour is the exploitation of children through any form of work that interferes with their ability to attend regular school, or is mentally, physically, socially and morally harmful. Such exploitation is prohibited by legislation w ...

. It has also been accused of harming the environment, particularly by causing

soil contamination Soil contamination, soil pollution, or land pollution as a part of land degradation is caused by the presence of xenobiotic (human-made) chemicals or other alteration in the natural soil environment. It is typically caused by industrial activit ...

. Sitakunda's ecosystems are further threatened by deforestation, over-fishing, and groundwater contamination. The upazila is also susceptible to natural hazards such as earthquakes,

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s, and

storm surge A storm surge, storm flood, tidal surge, or storm tide is a coastal flood or tsunami-like phenomenon of rising water commonly associated with low-pressure weather systems, such as cyclones. It is measured as the rise in water level above the ...

s. It lies on one of the most active seismic faults in Bangladesh, the Sitakunda–Teknaf fault. Sitakunda is renowned for its numerous

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

and

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

shrines. It has 280 mosques, 8 ''

mazars Forvis Mazars is an international audit, accounting and consulting business formed in June 2024 by an agreement between Mazars and Forvis. Combined, the firms operate in the US and over 100 other countries, being among the top 10 global audit f ...

'', 49 Hindu temples, 4

ashram An ashram (, ) is a spiritual hermitage or a monastery in Indian religions, not including Buddhism. Etymology The Sanskrit noun is a thematic nominal derivative from the root 'toil' (< Chandranath Temple (a ''

Shakta pitha The Shakta pithas, also called Shakti pithas or Sati pithas (, , ''seats of Shakti''), are significant shrines and pilgrimage destinations in Shaktism, the mother goddess denomination in Hinduism. The shrines are dedicated to various forms of A ...

'' or holy pilgrimage site), Vidarshanaram Vihara (founded by the scholar Prajnalok Mahasthavir), and the Hammadyar Mosque (founded by

Sultan Sultan (; ', ) is a position with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", derived from the verbal noun ', meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be use ...

Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah (, ) was the last Sultan of the Hussain Shahi dynasty of the Bengal Sultanate, reigning from 1533 to 1538 CE. The dynasty was founded by his father, Alauddin Husain Shah, in 1494. History Banglapedia assesses him as a " ...

). The attraction of Sitakunda as a tourist destination is elevated by these pilgrimage sites along with the hill range and the eco-park. Despite its diverse population, the area has gone through episodes of communal strife, including attacks on places of worship. There have been reports of activity by the Islamic militant group Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh since the early 2000s.

History

The legends of the area state the sage

Bhargava Bhargava () or Bhṛguvamsha refers to a Brahmin race or dynasty that is said to have been founded by the legendary Hindu sage Bhrigu. Legend In Hinduism, the Bhargavas are the purohitas, the family priests, of the daityas and the danavas. ...

created a pond (''kunda'') for

Sita Sita (; ), also known as Siya, Jānaki and Maithili, is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. Sita is the consort of Rama, the avatar of god Vishnu, and is regarded as an avatar of goddess Lakshmi. She is t ...

to bathe in when her husband Lord Ramchandra visited during his exile in the forests. Sitakunda derived its name from this incident. Sitakunda has been occupied by humans since the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

era; tools associated with the prehistoric Assam group have been found throughout the area. In 1886, shouldered celts manufactured from

petrified wood Petrified wood (from Ancient Greek meaning 'rock' or 'stone'; literally 'wood turned into stone'), is the name given to a special type of ''fossilized wood'', the fossilized remains of terrestrial plant, terrestrial vegetation. ''Petrifaction ...

were discovered, as reported by Indian archaeologist Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay in his book ''Banglar Itihas'', or ''History of Bengal'', (volume I, 1914). In 1917, British

mineralogist Mineralogy is a subject of geology specializing in the scientific study of the chemistry, crystal structure, and physical (including optical mineralogy, optical) properties of minerals and mineralized artifact (archaeology), artifacts. Specific s ...

Dr. J. Coggin Brown uncovered more prehistoric celts. Large quantities of pebbles have also been found, but archaeologists have not determined whether they were used in the construction of prehistoric tools. During the 6th and 7th centuries CE, the Chittagong region was ruled by the Kingdom of Arakan. In the next century, it was briefly ruled by

Dharmapala A ''dharmapāla'' is a type of wrathful god in Buddhism. The name means "''dharma'' protector" in Sanskrit, and the ''dharmapālas'' are also known as the Defenders of the Justice (Dharma), or the Guardians of the Law. There are two kinds of ...

(reign: 770–810) of the

. The area was conquered in 1340 by Sultan

Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah (, ; reigned: 1338–1349), also known simply as Fakhra, was the founder of an independent sultanate and the Mubarak Shahi Dynasty, comprising modern-day eastern and southeastern Bangladesh. His kingdom was centred in the ...

(reign: 1338–1349) of

Sonargaon Sonargaon (; ; Literary translation, lit. ''Golden Hamlet (place), Hamlet'') is a historic city in central Bangladesh. It corresponds to the Sonargaon Upazila of Narayanganj District in Dhaka Division. Sonargaon is one of the old capitals of ...

, who founded the first dynasty of the Sultanate of Bengal. When Sultan

(reign: 1533–1538) of the last dynasty of the Sultanate of Bengal was defeated in 1538 by

Sher Shah Suri Sher Shah Suri (born Farid al-Din Khan; 1472 or 1486 – 22 May 1545), also known by his title Sultan Adil (), was the ruler of Bihar from 1530 to 1540, and Sultan of Hindustan from 1540 until his death in 1545. He defeated the Mughal Empire, ...

of the

Sur Dynasty The Sur Empire was an empire ruled by the Afghan (ethnonym), Afghan-origin Sur dynasty in North India, northern India for nearly 16 or 18 years, between 1538/1540 and 1556, with Sasaram (in modern-day Bihar) serving as its capital. It was fou ...

, the Arakanese captured the region again. Batsauphyu (reign: 1459–1482) of the

dynasty took advantage of the weakness of Sultan Barbak Shah of Bengal to lead the invasion. In this period, Keyakchu (or ''Chandrajyoti''), a prince of Arakan, established a monastery in Sitakunda. Between 1538 and 1666, Portuguese privateers (known as ''Firinghis'' or ''Harmads'') made inroads into Chittagong and ruled the region in alliance with Arakanese pirates. During those 128 years, the eastern coast of Bengal became a home to pirates of Portuguese and Arakanese origins. For a brief period in 1550, it was taken over by

Pagan Paganism (, later 'civilian') is a term first used in the fourth century by early Christians for people in the Roman Empire who practiced polytheism, or ethnic religions other than Christianity, Judaism, and Samaritanism. In the time of the ...

invaders. In 1666, Mughal commander Bujurg Umed Khan conquered the area. Along with the rest of

, Sitakunda came under the rule of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

after the company's defeat of the

Nawab of Bengal The Nawab of Bengal (, ) was the hereditary ruler of Bengal Subah in Mughal India. In the early 18th-century, the Nawab of Bengal was the ''de facto'' independent ruler of the three regions of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa which constitute the mod ...

at the

Battle of Plassey The Battle of Plassey was a decisive victory of the British East India Company, under the leadership of Robert Clive, over the Nawab of Bengal and his French Indies Company, French allies on 23 June 1757. The victory was made possible by the de ...

in 1757. Rapid growth in the

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

population since then resulted in an exodus of non-Bengali people from Sitakunda and its vicinity to the

Chittagong Hill Tracts The Chittagong Hill Tracts (), often shortened to simply the Hill Tracts and abbreviated to CHT, refers to the three hilly districts within the Chittagong Division in southeastern Bangladesh, bordering India and Myanmar (Burma) in the east: Kh ...

. During the ''Ardhodaya Yog'' movement, a part of the Swadeshi Indian independence movement, the governance of Sitakunda was briefly in the hands of Indian nationalists when, in February 1908, they took over the central government in

Kolkata Kolkata, also known as Calcutta ( its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary ...

. In 1910, Indian Petroleum Prospecting Company drilled here for hydrocarbon exploration, the first such activity in

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

. In 1914, the first onshore

wildcat well A wildcatter is an individual who drills wildcat wells, which are exploration oil wells drilled in areas not known to be oil fields. Notable wildcatters include Glenn McCarthy, Thomas Baker Slick Sr., Mike Benedum, Joe Trees, Clem S. Clarke, ...

in Bangladesh was drilled at Sitakunda anticline to a depth of . By 1914, however, all four of the wells drilled had proven to be failures. After the

Indian Rebellion of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against Company rule in India, the rule of the East India Company, British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the The Crown, British ...

, the British colonial government (British Raj) replaced the governance of the East India Company. When the British withdrew in 1947, after creating the independent states of India and Pakistan, Sitakunda became a part of

East Pakistan East Pakistan was the eastern province of Pakistan between 1955 and 1971, restructured and renamed from the province of East Bengal and covering the territory of the modern country of Bangladesh. Its land borders were with India and Burma, wit ...

. The potential for a

industry first appeared in 1964 when Chittagong Steel House started scrapping ''MD Alpince'', a Greek ship that had been accidentally beached near Fouzdarhat by a

tidal bore A tidal bore, often simply given as bore in context, is a tidal phenomenon in which the leading edge of the incoming tide forms a wave (or waves) of water that travels up a river or narrow bay, reversing the direction of the river or bay's cu ...

four years earlier. On 15 February 1950, Hindu pilgrims form all over

Tripura Tripura () is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, third-smallest state in the country, it covers ; and the seventh-least populous state with a populat ...

and

Assam Assam (, , ) is a state in Northeast India, northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra Valley, Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . It is the second largest state in Northeast India, nor ...

arriving for

Maha Shivaratri Maha Shivaratri is a Hindu festival celebrated annually to worship the deity Shiva, between February and March. According to the Hindu calendar, the festival is observed on the fourteenth day of the first half (night start with darkness - ...

were attacked by the Ansars and armed Muslim mobs and were massacred at Sitakunda railway station. During the

Bangladesh War The Bangladesh Liberation War (, ), also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, was an War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Bengali nationalism, Bengali nationalist and self-determination movement in East Pakistan, which res ...

of 1971, Sitakunda was part of

Sector 1 Sector 1 is an administrative unit of Bucharest located in the northern part of the city. It contains also the northwestern districts of Băneasa and Pipera. Sector 1 is thought to be the wealthiest sector in Bucharest. Like each of Bucharest sec ...

, led by

Ziaur Rahman Ziaur Rahman (19 January 193630 May 1981) was a Bangladeshi military officer and politician who served as the sixth president of Bangladesh from 1977 until Assassination of Ziaur Rahman, his assassination in 1981. One of the leading figures of t ...

and Major Rafiqul Islam of the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini, initially called the Mukti Fauj, also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was a big tent armed guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military personnel, paramilitary personnel and civilians during the Ba ...

, the militant group fighting for the

independence of Bangladesh The independence of Bangladesh was Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence, declared from Pakistan on 26 March 1971, which is now celebrated as Independence Day (Bangladesh), Independence Day. The Bangladesh Liberation War started on 26 March ...

. The ship breaking industry began in earnest in 1974 when Karnafully Metal Works started scrapping ''Al Abbas'', a Pakistani ship damaged in 1971, and flourished in the 1980s. As of 2007, Sitakunda had overtaken the ship breaking industries of India and Pakistan to become the largest in the world. In the early 2000s, Islamic militant organization Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) leader Siddikul Islam (also known as ''

Bangla Bhai Siddique ul-Islam (), known popularly as Azizur Rahman ( in Arabic) or Bangla Bhai () (1970 – 30 March 2007), was a Bangladeshi jihadist and the military commander of the Al Qaeda affiliated radical Islamist organization Jagrata Muslim Ja ...

'') ran militant training centers in the upazila at which participants learned to make bombs and handle firearms. One of his followers, Mahfuzul Huq, was captured on 21 February 2006.

Geography and climate

Sitakunda Upazila occupies an area of , which includes of forest. It is bordered by

Mirsharai Mirsarai () is a town and municipality in Chattogram District of Chattogram Division, Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by popu ...

to the north, Pahartali to the south, Fatickchhari,

Hathazari Hathazari () is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Hathazari is located at . It has a total area of 246.32 km2. The main river is Halda River, Halda. It is surrounded by Fatikchhari Upazila on t ...

and Panchlaish to the east, and the Sandwip Channel in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

to the west. The Sitakunda range is a long ridge in the center of the upazila, which reaches an altitude of above sea level at Chandranath or Sitakunda peak, the highest peak in Chittagong District. Part of Sitakunda is covered by the low hill ranges, while the rest is in the Bengal

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river. Floodplains stretch from the banks of a river channel to the base of the enclosing valley, and experience flooding during periods of high Discharge (hydrolog ...

. To the north, Rajbari Tila at and Sajidhala at are the highest peaks in this range, which drops abruptly to a height of less than in the vicinity of Chittagong City to the south. About north of Sitakunda Town is the Labanakhya saltwater hot spring, which has been proposed as a source of

geothermal energy Geothermal energy is thermal energy extracted from the crust (geology), crust. It combines energy from the formation of the planet and from radioactive decay. Geothermal energy has been exploited as a source of heat and/or electric power for m ...

. There are two waterfalls in the hills: ''Sahasradhara'' (thousand streams) and ''Suptadhara'' (hidden stream). Both have been identified as sites requiring special attention for protection and preservation by the National Heritage Foundation of Bangladesh. An area prone to

cyclones In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

and storm surges, Sitakunda was affected by cyclones in 1960, 1963, 1970, 1988, 1991, 1994 and 1997; the cyclones of 29 May 1963, 12 November 1970, 29 April 1991 made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

. The intra-deltaic coastline is very close to the tectonic interface of the Indian and Burmese plates, as well as the active Andaman–Nicobar fault system, and is often capable of generating

tsunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, ...

s. Cyclone preparedness measures are inadequate for the 200,000 residents of Sitakunda who were estimated to be living in high risk areas after the 1991 cyclone. For every 5,000 people, Sitakunda has only one cyclone shelter, each of which is capable of holding 50 to 60 people. Syedpur Union has eleven, Muradpur eight, Baraiyadhala seven, and Kumira five. Sitakunda municipality, Barabkunda, Bhatiary and Bansbaria have four shelters each. Salimpur has three and Sonaichhari Union has two shelters. The Chittagong Coastal Forest Department developed the river bars (''char'' in Bengali) on the bank of the Sonaichhari channel adjacent to the Sitakunda coast into a kilometer-wide coastal

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

plantation during 1989–90, to reduce the impact of cyclones. Although the site was initially unstable, rapid sediment accretion stabilised the soil, providing the coast with some protection. The cyclone of 1990 smashed about 25% of a sea-wall built using two-ton steel-reinforced concrete blocks, some of which were carried up to inland. In contrast, a mangrove plantation just south of the sea-wall sustained damage to less than 1% of its trees, most of which recovered within six months. The planted mangrove forest that helped Sitakunda to escape as one of the least damaged areas during the devastating

1991 Bangladesh cyclone The 1991 Bangladesh Cyclone has been noted as one of the deadliest tropical cyclones in recorded history. It was also one of the most powerful cyclones in the Indian Ocean. Forming out of a large area of convection over the Bay of Bengal on Apr ...

is under threat from illegal tree-cutting by ship-breakers in the area. Annual average temperature is between and , with an annual rainfall of . Along with Chittagong and Hathazari, in June 2007 Sitakunda was badly affected by

mudslide A mudflow, also known as mudslide or mud flow, is a form of mass wasting involving fast-moving flow of debris and dirt that has become liquified by the addition of water. Such flows can move at speeds ranging from 3 meters/minute to 5 meters/ ...

s caused by heavy rainfall combined with the recent practice of hill-cutting. The mean annual wind speed recorded in Sitakunda between 1991 and 2001 was , as measured by the wind monitoring station built as part of a

exploration project jointly run by the

Local Government Engineering Department Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) is an organ of Bangladesh government created for provision of transport infrastructures in rural areas and to provide technical support to the rural and the urban local government institutions (LGIs), p ...

and the Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies. A small 300-watt wind turbine, built by the government, provides electricity to fish farms.

Geology

The

geological structure Structural geology is the study of the three-dimensional distribution of rock units with respect to their deformational histories. The primary goal of structural geology is to use measurements of present-day rock geometries to uncover informatio ...

of Sitakunda, long and wide, is one of the westernmost structures of

Chittagong Chittagong ( ), officially Chattogram, (, ) (, or ) is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also the business capital of Bangladesh. It ...

and

, delimited by the

Feni River The Feni ( ; ISO: ''Phēnī Nadī'' ) is a river in southeastern Bangladesh and Tripura state of India. It is a trans-boundary river that is the subject of an ongoing dispute about water rights between the two countries. The Feni River originates ...

in the north, the

Karnaphuli River The Karnaphuli River ( ''Kôrnophuli''; also spelt Karnafuli and Khawthlangtuipui in Mizo, meaning "western river" and Borgang in Chakma, meaning "Big River") is the largest and most important river in Chittagong and the Chittagong Hill Tract ...

in the south, the

Halda River Halda River is a river in south-eastern Bangladesh. It originates at the Badnatali Hill Ranges in Ramgarh Upazila in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, flows through Fatikchhari Upazila, Bhujpur Thana, Hathazari Upazila, Raozan Upazila and Chandgaon Than ...

in the east and the Sandwip Channel in the west. The Sitakunda Range acts as a

water divide A drainage divide, water divide, ridgeline, watershed, water parting or height of land is elevated terrain that separates neighboring drainage basins. On rugged land, the divide lies along topographical ridges, and may be in the form of a single ...

between the Halda Valley and the Sandwip Channel. The -long Halda flows from Khagrachari to the Bay of Bangal, and is one of the six

tributaries A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...

of Karnafuli, the major river in the area. Sandwip Channel represents the northern end of the western part of the Chittagong-Tripura Folded Belt. The structure contains a thick sedimentary sequence of sandstone, shale and siltstone. The exposed sedimentary rock sequences except limestone, thick in an average, provide no difference in overall

lithology The lithology of a rock unit is a description of its physical characteristics visible at outcrop, in hand or core samples, or with low magnification microscopy. Physical characteristics include colour, texture, grain size, and composition. Lit ...

of Chittagong and Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Sitakunda fold is an elongated, asymmetrical, box-type double plunging

anticline In structural geology, an anticline is a type of Fold (geology), fold that is an arch-like shape and has its oldest Bed (geology), beds at its core, whereas a syncline is the inverse of an anticline. A typical anticline is convex curve, c ...

. Both the gently dipping eastern and steeper western flanks of the anticline are truncated abruptly by the alluvial plain of the Feni River. For a lack of infrastructure in Bangladesh, this anticline is one of the few regularly surveyed structures in the country. The

syncline In structural geology, a syncline is a fold with younger layers closer to the center of the structure, whereas an anticline is the inverse of a syncline. A synclinorium (plural synclinoriums or synclinoria) is a large syncline with superimposed ...

from Sitakunda separates the eastern end of the Feni Structure located in the folded flank of the Bengal Foredeep. Local experts consider the Sitakunda–Teknaf fault to be one of the two most active seismic faults in Bangladesh. After the earthquake of 2 April 1762, which caused a permanent submergence of of land near Chittagong and the death of 500 people in

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; , ), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital city, capital and list of cities and towns in Bangladesh, largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the list of largest cities, largest and list o ...

, two volcanoes are said to have opened in the Sitakunda hills. During a seismic tremor on 7 November 2007, fire broke out at the Bakharabad Gas Systems Limited in the Faujderhat area of the upazila when a pipeline was fractured. The Girujan Clay Formation runs through Sitakunda at a thickness of . In the Sitakunda hills, the Boka Bil Shale Formation contains '' Ostrea digitalina'', '' Ostrea gryphoides'' and numerous plates of

Balanus ''Balanus'' is a genus of barnacles in the family Balanidae of the subphylum Crustacea. This genus is known in the fossil record from the Jurassic to the Quaternary periods (age range: from 189.6 to 0.0 million years ago.). Fossil shells withi ...

(a type of

barnacle Barnacles are arthropods of the subclass (taxonomy), subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacean, Crustacea. They are related to crabs and lobsters, with similar Nauplius (larva), nauplius larvae. Barnacles are exclusively marine invertebra ...

s), fragments of Arca, Pecten, Trochus,

Oliva Oliva (, ; ) is a Municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Comarques of the Valencian Community, ''comarca'' of Safor in the Valencia (autonomous community), Valencian Community, Spain. To its east lie of coastline and beaches fronting t ...

and

coral Corals are colonial marine invertebrates within the subphylum Anthozoa of the phylum Cnidaria. They typically form compact Colony (biology), colonies of many identical individual polyp (zoology), polyps. Coral species include the important Coral ...

s. Both formations were identified and named by early 20th-century British

petroleum geologist A petroleum geologist is an earth scientist who works in the field of petroleum geology, which involves all aspects of oil discovery and production. Petroleum geologists are usually linked to the actual discovery of oil and the identification ...

P. Evans.

Demography

As of the

2011 Census of Bangladesh In 2011, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics conducted a national census in Bangladesh, which provided a provisional estimate of the total population of the country as 142,319,000. The previous decennial census was the 2001 census. Data were r ...

, Sitakunda upazila had 77,279 households and a population of 387,832. 78,302 (20.19%) were under 10 years of age. Sitakunda had an average literacy rate of 59.20%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 919 females per 1000 males. 45,147 (11.64%) of the population lived in urban areas. According to the census of 2001, Sitakunda had a population of 298,528 distributed to 55,837 units of households (average household size 5.3), including 163,561 men and 134,967 women, or a gender ratio of 121:100. The average population of component administrative units of the upazila are 4,072 for wards, 1,666 for

mahalla is an Arabic word variously translated as district, Quarter (country subdivision), quarter, Ward (country subdivision), ward, or neighborhood in many parts of the Arab world, the Balkans, Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, and nearby nations. ...

s, 29,853 for unions, 5,060 for

mouza In Bangladesh, Pakistan and parts of India, a mouza or mauza (also mouja) is a type of administrative district, corresponding to a specific land area within which there may be one or more settlements. Before the 20th century, the term referred to a ...

s (revenue villages) and 5,060 for villages reported by the census. Out of the 69 mauzas here, 8 have less than 50 households, while 27 have more than 600 households. Of the villages, 8 have a population of less than 250, while 29 have more than 2,500. , the population density of Sitakunda was . Apart from the

majority, there are a number of small communities of ethnic minorities in the area. Many of the resident Rakhine people are believed to have settled here during the Arakanese rule of Chittagong (1459–1666), though the event is not historically traceable. The Rakhine population in

Khagrachari District Khagrachhari District (), officially Khagrachhari Hill District, is a district in the Chittagong Division of Southeastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region. Etymology The zila headquarters is located on the bank of ...

migrated from the surrounding area and built up their permanent abode at Ramgarh in the 19th century. Other ethnic groups include the recently migrated

Tripuri people The Tripuri people (Kokborok language, Kókborok: ''Tripuri dópha rok''), also known as Tripura, Tipra, Twipra, Tipperah, are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking ethnic group of Northeast India, Indian state of Tripura and Bangladesh. They are the descend ...

. In the District of Chittagong that includes Sitakunda, the population ratio by religion in 2001 was

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

83.92%,

13.76%,

2.01% and Christian 0.12%, with 0.19% following other religions. In 1981, it was Muslim 82.79%, Hindu 14.6%, Buddhist 2.23% and Christian 0.21%, with 0.19% following other religions. Chittagonian, a derivative of

spoken by 14 million people mainly in the Chittagong district, is the dominant language.

Administration

Sitakunda as a

thana Thana means " station" or "place" in South Asian countries. The word ''thana'' originates from the Sanskrit word ''sthana'' or "sthanak", meaning "place" or "stand", which was anglicized as ''thana'' by the British. * Thanas of Bangladesh, forme ...

came into existence in 1879, and was renamed to Sitakunda Upazila in 1983. It ranks third in area and sixth in population out of the 26 upazilas and thanas of Chittagong. Sitakunda Town, with an area of and a population of 36,650, is the administrative center and the sole municipality (''Pourashabha'') of Sitakunda Upazila. Badiul Alam is the incumbent mayor of the town, he was first elected in 2015 and again in 2020 in the Sitakunda municipality election, he is a

Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

politician. The rest of the area is rural and organized into 10 union councils (''

union parishad Union council (), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit in Bangladesh, with zila parishads (district councils) being the largest rural authori ...

s''), namely Banshbaria, Barabkunda, Bariadyala, Bhatiari, Kumira, Muradpur, Salimpur, Sonaichhari, Saidpur and Bhatiari Cantonment Area. The area is divided into 69 mauzas and 88 villages. Along with neighboring towns such as

, Fateyabad, Patiya and

Boalkhali Boalkhali () is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Boalkhali is located at . It had 44108 households and its total area is 126.46 km2. According to the 2001 Bangladesh Census, there were 36,58 ...

, Sitakunda Town was developed as a satellite town to relieve the increasing population pressure on Chittagong, with Bhatiari and Sadar unions selected as zones for industrialization, like South Halishahar and Kalurghat. (Urban Page). In the 2009 Upazila elections, Abdullah Al Baker Bhuiyan was elected the Upazila Chairman, while Advocate MN Mustafa Nur and Nazmun Nahar were elected vice chairmen. Sitakunda Upazila makes the 281st

electoral district An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...

in Bangladesh, identified as Chittagong-4. In the

2024 general election This is a list of elections that were held in 2024. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. * 2024 United Nations Security Council election * 2024 national electoral calendar * 2024 local electo ...

, SM Al Mamun of

Bangladesh Awami League The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...

(AL) was elected as the member of parliament, he won easily because there was not any strong opponents. Previously Didarul Alam of

Party served as member of parliament from 2014 to 2024. M Akteruzzaman is the Upazila Nirbahi Officer, the chief executive of the upazila. The upazila is served by a court presided over by a first-class

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judi ...

. The Power Development Board is responsible for supplying electricity to the upazila, but due to power outages the industries in the area are strictly constrained. Anwarul Kabir Talukder, the State Minister for Power, lost his job on 29 September 2006 after hundreds of demonstrators in Sitakunda blocked the Dhaka–Chittagong highway in protest at the lack of electricity; violence also erupted elsewhere in Bangladesh. In case of fire, the services are brought in from the neighboring city of Chittagong. A proposed Kumira–Sitakunda Hill Water Reservoir Project to supply safe drinking water is to be undertaken by the government.

Economy

The

industry in Sitakunda has surpassed similar industries in India and Pakistan to become the largest in the world. As of August 2007, over of iron had been produced from the scrapping of about 20 ships in the 19 functional ship yards scattered over along the coast of Sitakunda from

, near Fouzderhat. Local re-rolling mills, as well as similar mills, process the scrap iron. Bangladesh, with no local metal ore mining industry of its own, is dependent on ship-breaking for its domestic steel requirements; the re-rolling mills alone substitute for import of about of billets and other raw materials. There are 70 companies registered as ship breakers in Chittagong, employing 2,000 regular and 25,000 semi-skilled and unskilled workers. Organized under the Bangladesh Ship Breakers Association, (BSBA), these include companies within large local conglomerates that sought ISO certificates. The industry has come under threat, both from a decline in the number of ships scrapped annually – down from 70–80 to about 20 – and because of environmental and

concerns. There have been complaints that journalists and human rights activists are being barred from the ship breaking yards. The ship breaking industry is purportedly damaging the local ecology as well, taking a toll on the fish population and soil quality. A survey conducted by students of the Institute of Marine Science of

Chittagong University The University of Chittagong () also known as Chittagong University (CU), is a public research university located in Chittagong, Bangladesh. It was established on 18 November 1966. It is the fifth oldest university of Bangladesh. Having an area ...

in 2007 revealed that the soil of the locality is polluted by heavy metals including mercury (0.5 to 2.7 ppm), lead (0.5 to 21.8 ppm), chromium (220 ppm), cadmium (0.3 to 2.9 ppm), iron (2.6 to 5.6 ppm), calcium (5.2 to 23.2 ppm) and magnesium (6.5 to 10.57 ppm). Safety standards in the industry are low; between 1995 and 2005, 150 workers were killed and 576 were maimed or injured. The main causes of death were fire or explosion, suffocation and inhaling CO₂. These old ships also contain hazardous substances like asbestos, lead paint, heavy metals and PCBs. The workers are paid US$1.75 a day and have little access to medical treatment. Among the workers, 41% of are aged between 18 and 22 years, and many are reported to be as young as 10 years of age. There have also been allegations of large quantities of steel and non-ferrous items, such as

bronze Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...

, aluminum, copper, and bronze-

amalgam Amalgam most commonly refers to: * Amalgam (chemistry), mercury alloy * Amalgam (dentistry), material of silver tooth fillings ** Bonded amalgam, used in dentistry Amalgam may also refer to: * Amalgam Comics, a publisher * Amalgam Digital, an in ...

recovered from ship breaking being smuggled out of Bangladesh. There also are reports of pirates targeting

tugboat A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, suc ...

s pulling ships in. Employment of local people is low in the industrial facilities. The main occupations of the local people by industry are

service Service may refer to: Activities * Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty * Civil service, the body of employees of a government * Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a ...

(28.76%), commerce (21.53%), and agriculture (24.12%). Out of of cultivable land 25.46% yield a single crop, 57.95% yield double and 16.59% a treble crop annually. Bean, melon, rubber and

betel Betel (''Piper betle'') is a species of flowering plant in the pepper family Piperaceae, native to Southeast Asia. It is an evergreen, dioecious vine, with glossy heart-shaped leaves and white catkins. Betel plants are cultivated for their lea ...

leaf are the main agricultural exports. Fishing has traditionally been an industry restricted to low

caste A caste is a Essentialism, fixed social group into which an individual is born within a particular system of social stratification: a caste system. Within such a system, individuals are expected to marry exclusively within the same caste (en ...

Hindus belonging to the fisher class, although since the last decades of the 20th century an increasing number of Muslims have joined the sector. Due to the introduction of engine-powered boats and

gill net Gillnetting is a fishing method that uses gillnets: vertical panels of netting that hang from a line with regularly spaced floaters that hold the line on the surface of the water. The floats are sometimes called "corks" and the line with corks is ...

s, there was a rise in fish catches between the 1970s and 1990s, especially in the major fishing season (mid-July to mid-November). Over-fishing, however, has depleted the fish population and some fish species are facing extinction in the area, leading to seasonal

food insecurity Food security is the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, healthy food. The availability of food for people of any class, gender, ethnicity, or religion is another element of food protection. Similarly, househo ...

(February to April). According to a 2001 survey, 4,000 people in Sitakunda were engaged in wild shrimp fry collection, harvesting an average of five-and-a-half million fries a year. Sitakunda has a cement factory, 12

jute Jute ( ) is a long, rough, shiny bast fibre that can be Spinning (textiles), spun into coarse, strong threads. It is produced from flowering plants in the genus ''Corchorus'', of the mallow family Malvaceae. The primary source of the fiber is ...

mills, 6 textile mills, 10 re-rolling mills, and 79 functional and defunct shipyards. Two of the operational jute mills are run by the

Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation Bangladesh Jute Mills Corporation (BJMC, ) is a public corporation that manages all government-owned jute factories and industries in Bangladesh. The corporation is located in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. In addition to the jute mills ...

, and one has been sold to a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

company. To protest against privatization, workers of Hafiz Jute Mill, Gul Ahmed Jute Mill, MM Jute Mill and RR Jute Mill blocked the Dhaka–Chittagong Highway for seven hours in September 2007. As early as 1953, Sitakunda was described as the location for one of only five poultry farms in

, along with Tejgaon (Dhaka),

Narayanganj Narayanganj () is a city in central Bangladesh in the Greater Dhaka area. It is in the Narayanganj District, about southeast of the capital city of Dhaka. With a population of almost 1 million, it is the 6th largest city in Bangladesh. It is als ...

(Dhaka), Jamalpur (

Bogra Bogra (), List of renamed places in Bangladesh, officially Bogura, is a city located in Bogra District, Rajshahi Division, Bangladesh. The city is a major commercial hub in North Bengal, Northern Bangladesh. It is the second largest city in te ...

), and

Sylhet Sylhet (; ) is a Metropolis, metropolitan city in the north eastern region of Bangladesh. It serves as the administrative center for both the Sylhet District and the Sylhet Division. The city is situated on the banks of the Surma River and, as o ...

. Some mining for sand from agricultural lands is carried out along the eastern side of the Dhaka–Chittagong road. Operators of local brick kilns are engaged in illegal hill cutting, a practice that was responsible along with heavy rainfall for the 2007 Chittagong mudslide. The rural poor are supported by

Grameen Bank Grameen Bank () is a microfinance, specialized community development bank founded in Bangladesh. It provides small loans (known as microcredit or "grameencredit") to the impoverished without requiring collateral. Grameen Bank is a statutory ...

and NGOs such as

CARE Care may refer to: Organizations and projects * CARE (New Zealand), Citizens Association for Racial Equality, a former New Zealand organisation * CARE (England) West Midlands, Central Accident Resuscitation Emergency team, a team of doctors & ...

, BRAC and

ASA Asa may refer to: People and fictional characters * Asa (given name), a given name, including a list of people and fictional characters so named * Asa people, an ethnic group based in Tanzania * Aṣa, Nigerian-French singer, songwriter, and reco ...

Transport and communication

The

Dhaka–Chittagong Highway The N1 or Dhaka–Chittagong Highway is the main transportation artery of Bangladesh, connecting the capital city of Dhaka and the southern port city of Chittagong. Approximately in length, the highway starts at Jatrabari Thana, Jatrabari in Dh ...

runs through Sitakunda, connecting the two largest cities in Bangladesh. A workshop conducted by

Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...

(ADB) estimated that improving the highway would increase Bangladesh's GDP by 1% and its foreign trade by 20%. This roadlink between the two cities existed in the pre-railway days and has been identified as a part of the medieval southern

Silk Road The Silk Road was a network of Asian trade routes active from the second century BCE until the mid-15th century. Spanning over , it played a central role in facilitating economic, cultural, political, and religious interactions between the ...

. In 2006, ADB and the World Bank announced a plan to help Bangladesh build a second highway between Dhaka and Chittagong, which would be a part of the

Asian Highway Network The Asian Highway Network (AH), also known as the Great Asian Highway, is a cooperative project among countries in Asia and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) to improve their connectivity via hig ...

. Historically, the rail transportation system drove developments in Chittagong and the surrounding areas, including Sitakunda. The

rail track Railway track ( and UIC terminology) or railroad track (), also known as permanent way () or "P way" ( and Indian English), is the structure on a railway or railroad consisting of the rails, fasteners, sleepers (railroad ties in American E ...

s were established as part of the Bengal Assam Railway in 1898, originally running from Chittagong to Badarpur, with branches to

Silchar Silchar is a city and the headquarters of the Cachar district of the state of Assam, India. It is second largest city of Assam after Guwahati in terms of population and GDP. It is also administrative capital of Barak Valley division. It is locate ...

and

Laksam Laksam is a city in eastern Bangladesh. It is the headquarters of Laksam Upazila of Comilla District. It is situated on the banks of the Dakatia River. Demographics According to the 2022 Bangladesh census, Laksam city had a population of 9 ...

. In September 1878, Sitakunda was included in the East Bengal Circle of Railway Mail Service (RMS) along with rest of the district. By 1904, the track system was extended to Chandpur to connect river boat traffic between

Goalanda Goalanda may refer to the following places: * Goalanda Upazila, a subdistrict of Dhaka, Bangladesh * Goalundo Ghat Goalundo Ghat (also spelled Goalanda and Goalondo; ) is a small town and Municipality#Municipalities as lower-level governance ...

and

. Approximately of railroads stop at six rail stations. Currently, there is no express train service between Sitakunda and Chittagong, though intercity expresses (Sylhet–Chittagong, Chandpur–Chittagong, and Dhaka–Chittagong) stop at Sitakunda station and carry a small share of the commuter traffic load. By 2003, there were a total of of paved roads in the upazila, along with of mud roads, as well as five ferry-gauts or river docks for the use of

barge A barge is typically a flat-bottomed boat, flat-bottomed vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. Original use was on inland waterways, while modern use is on both inland and ocean, marine water environments. The firs ...

-type ferryboats. The traditional

bullock cart A bullock cart or ox cart (sometimes called a Carriage#Bullock carriage, bullock carriage when carrying people in particular) is a two-wheeled or four-wheeled vehicle pulled by oxen. It is a means of transportation used since ancient times in m ...

s are now rarely seen in the upazila. Sitakunda was to be the landing station for a

submarine communications cable A submarine communications cable is a cable laid on the seabed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea. The first submarine communications cables were laid beginning in the 1850s and car ...

, but the cable now comes ashore at

Cox's Bazar Cox's Bazar (; ; ) is a city, fishing port, tourism centre, and Cox's Bazar District, district headquarters in south-eastern Bangladesh. Cox's Bazar Beach, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangladesh, is the longest uninterrupte ...

. The cable has frequently been severed by miscreants, often in the Sitakunda area, since its installation on 21 May 2006.

Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication Bangladesh NGOs Network for Radio and Communication (BNNRC) is a national networking body in Bangladesh. Its stated objectives include building a democratic society based on the principles of free flow of information, and equitable and affordable ...

(BNNRC) has brought internet services to the upazila by establishing Rural Knowledge Centres (RKC). BTTB and RanksTel run telephone services in the upazila. The telephone area code for Sitakunda is 3028, which has to be added to Bangladesh area code +880 when making overseas calls, and the subscriber numbers consist of four digits locally.

Pilgrimage sites

Sitakunda is a major site for pilgrimage in Bangladesh, as it features 280 mosques (including the Shah Mosque) 8

(including Baro Awlias Mazar, Kalu Shah Mazar, Fakir Hat Mazar, Shahjahani Shah Mazar), 49 Hindu temples (including Labanakhya Mandir, Chandranath Mandir, Shambunath Mandir), 3

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

known as the Hammadyar Dighi, was built during the reign of Ghiyasuddin Mahmud Shah, the last Husain Shahi sultan of Bengal, as recorded by the inscription above the central entrance. The Sudarshan Vihara at village Mayani here, as well as the Vidarshanaram Vihara at village Mayani in Patiya were both established in 1922 by Prajnalok Mahasthavir (1879–1971), an eminent Bangladeshi Buddhist preacher. According to legend,

Shiva Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...

's wife Sati immolated herself in the

yajna In Hinduism, ''Yajna'' or ''Yagna'' (, Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐd͡ʒɲə ) also known as Hawan, is a ritual done in front of a sacred fire, often with mantras. Yajna has been a Vedas, Vedic tradition, described in a layer of Vedic literature ...

-fire of her father

Daksha Daksha ( ,) is a Hindu god whose role underwent a significant transformation from Vedic mythology, ''Vedic'' to Itihasa-Purana, ''Itihasa-Puranic'' mythology. In the ''Rigveda'', Daksha is an ''Adityas, aditya'' and is associated with priestly ...

, as a protest against Shiva's dishonor. The God became furious and started to dance the '' Tāndava'' with Sati's body on his shoulders. Knowing that the dance of destruction was about to annihilate the world,

Vishnu Vishnu (; , , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism, and the god of preservation ( ...

cut the body of Sati to pieces with Sudarshana Chakram, his celestial weapon, thereby appeasing Shiva. Each of 51 pieces of the body fell to earth, and the place where each piece fell became a holy center of pilgrimage or ''

''. The legend goes that Sati's right arm fell near a now-extinct hot spring at the Chandranth peak in Sitakunda. The site is marked by the temple of Sambhunath just below the Chandranath temple on top of the peak, and it is a major '' tirtha'' for Hindus in Bangladesh. According to

Rajmala ''Rajmala'' is a chronicle of the Kings of Tripura, written in Bengali verse in the 15th century under Dharma Manikya I. Overview The ''Rajmala'' chronicles the history of the Manikya kings of Tripura. While it serves as an invaluable s ...

, the temple of Chandranath received considerable endowments from the

Twipra Kingdom The Twipra Kingdom (), anglicized as Tipperah, was one of the largest historical kingdoms of the Tripuri people in Northeast India. Legend A list of legendary Tripuri kings is given in the Rajmala chronicle, a 15th-century chronicle in B ...

in the time of king

Dhanya Manikya Dhanya Manikya was the Maharaja of Tripura who reigned from 1490 to 1515 C.E. In this time, Tripura Sundari Temple was established. Biography Assisted by his generals Rai Kwchak and Rai Kosom, Dhanya Manikya expanded Tripura's territorial dom ...

, who once attempted to remove the

lingam A lingam ( , lit. "sign, symbol or mark"), sometimes referred to as linga or Shiva linga, is an abstract or Aniconism, aniconic representation of the Hinduism, Hindu Hindu deities, god Shiva in Shaivism. The word ''lingam'' is found in the Up ...

from the temple to his kingdom. Poets from across the ages – from

Jayadeva Jayadeva (; born ), also spelt Jaideva, was a Sanskrit poet during the 12th century. He is most known for his epic poem ''Gita Govinda'' which concentrates on Krishna's love with the ''gopi'', Radha, in a rite of spring. This poem, which presen ...

(circa 1200 AD) to Nabinchandra Sen (1847–1909) – were said to be devoted to the temple. Chandranath is within the jurisdiction of Gobardhan Math, which was founded, according to legends, by Padmacharya, a disciple of

Shankaracharya Shankaracharya (, , " Shankara-''acharya''") is a religious title used by the heads of amnaya monasteries called mathas in the Advaita Vedanta tradition of Hinduism. The title derives from Adi Shankara; teachers from the successive line of te ...

and founder of ''Vana'' and ''Aranya'' sects of the Dashanami Sampradaya. An International Vedic Conference was held from 15 to 17 February 2007 at Sitakunda Shrine (Tirtha) Estate in Sitakunda Chandranath Dham, on the occasion of the great Shiva Chaturdarshi (a Hindu festival in worship of Lord Shiva). These temples have been subject to repeated attack and violation by Muslims, and Bangladesh Hindu Bouddha Christian Oikya Parishad has asked for the pilgrims to be protected.

Flora and fauna

While returning to

after completing a floral survey,

Joseph Dalton Hooker Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For 20 years he served as director of the Ro ...

(1817–1911) carried out the first survey of Sitakunda's local flora, as recorded in his ''Himalayan Journals'', in January 1851 (published by the

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

Trigonometrical Survey Office and Minerva Library of Famous Books; Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co., 1891). The forests of the region are known to be evergreen type with a preponderance of deciduous species with a levelled distribution. The topmost level consists of Garjan (''

Dipterocarpus alatus ''Dipterocarpus alatus'', the resin tree, is a tropical forest tree, of dense evergreen or mixed dense forests, in tropical Asia. It is considered vulnerable. Description ''Dipterocarpus alatus'' is a large tree, growing tall. It is insect poll ...

''), Telsur (''

Hopea odorata ''Hopea odorata'' is a species of tree in the plant family Dipterocarpaceae. It is found in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Laos, Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. Description ''H. odorata'' is a large tree reaching up to in hei ...

''), Chapalish ('' Artocarpus chaplasha''), Chundul (''

Tetrameles nudiflora ''Tetrameles'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Tetramelaceae with one species, ''Tetrameles nudiflora''. It grows as a large deciduous tree and is found across southern Asia from India through southeast Asia, Malesia, and into northe ...

'') and Koroi or the Moluccan albizia (''

Falcataria moluccana ''Falcataria falcata'' (syns. Albizia falcata, Falcataria moluccana and Paraserianthes falcataria), commonly known as the Moluccan albizia, is a species of fast-growing tree in the family Fabaceae. It is native to the Maluku Islands, New Guinea, ...

''). The lower level consists of species of Jarul (''

Lagerstroemia speciosa ''Lagerstroemia speciosa'' (giant crepe-myrtle, Queen's crepe-myrtle, banabá plant, or pride of India, or "Queen's Flower" or "Jarul") is a species of ''Lagerstroemia'' native to tropical southern Asia. It is a deciduous tree with bright pink ...

''), Toon (''

Toona ciliata ''Toona ciliata'' is a forest tree in the mahogany family which grows throughout South Asia from Afghanistan to Papua New Guinea and Australia. Names It is commonly known as the red cedar (a name shared by other trees), tone, toon or toona (als ...

''), Jam (''

Syzygium cumini ''Syzygium cumini'', commonly known as Malabar plum, Java plum, black plum, jamun, jaman, jambul, or jambolan, is an evergreen tropical tree in the flowering plant family Myrtaceae, and favored for its fruit, timber, and ornamental value. It is ...

''), Jalpai ('' Elaeocarpus robustus'') and Glochidion.

Liana A liana is a long-Plant stem, stemmed Woody plant, woody vine that is rooted in the soil at ground level and uses trees, as well as other means of vertical support, to climb up to the Canopy (biology), canopy in search of direct sunlight. T ...

s, epiphytes (mostly of orchids, asclepiads, ferns and leafy mosses) and herbaceous undergrowths are abundant. Savannah formations are found in the open, along the banks of rivers and swamps with common tall grasses like Kans (''

Saccharum spontaneum ''Saccharum spontaneum'' (wild sugarcane, kans grass) is a grass native throughout much of tropical and subtropical Asia, northern Australia, and eastern and northern Africa. It is a perennial grass, growing up to three meters in height, with s ...

''), Shon (''

Imperata cylindrica ''Imperata cylindrica'' (commonly known as cogongrass or kunai grass ) is a species of Perennial plant, perennial rhizomatous grass native to tropical and subtropical Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, Africa, and Southern Europe. It has al ...

'' and '' I. arundincca'') and Bena (''

Vetiveria zizanoides ''Chrysopogon zizanioides'', commonly known as vetiver and khus, is a perennial bunchgrass of the family Poaceae. Vetiver is most closely related to sorghum while sharing many morphological characteristics with other fragrant grasses, such as l ...

''). Several species of Bamboo are cultivated that are common in Bangladesh including ''

Bambusa balcooa ''Bambusa balcooa'' is a clumping bamboo native from the Indian subcontinent to Indo-China. Description ''Bambusa balcooa'' is a very large, thick-walled, clumping or sympodial bamboo: growing up to a height of , and a thickness of . Uses ...

'' (which is also common in

), '' B. vulgaris'', '' B. longispiculata'', '' B. tulda'' and '' B. nutans''; the latter two also being common in the hills of the region. A number of fish species have become endangered in the area due to

overfishing Overfishing is the removal of a species of fish (i.e. fishing) from a body of water at a rate greater than that the species can replenish its population naturally (i.e. the overexploitation of the fishery's existing Fish stocks, fish stock), resu ...

. They include Bhoal ('' Raiamas bola''), Lakkhya ('' Eleutheronema tetradactylum''), Chapila ('' Gudusia chapra''), Datina (''

Acanthopagrus latus ''Acanthopagrus latus'', the yellowfin seabream, grey bream, Houttuyn's yellowfin seabream, Japanese bream or yellow-finned black porgy, is a species of marine ray-finned fish belonging to the family Sparidae, the seabreams and porgies. This fish ...

''), Rupchanda ('' Pampus argenteus''), Pungash (''

Pangasius pangasius ''Pangasius pangasius'', the Pangas catfish, is a species of shark catfish native to fresh and brackish waters of Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, and Pakistan. It has also been introduced to Cambodia and Vietnam. This species grows to a standard leng ...

''), Chhuri (''

Trichiurus lepturus The largehead hairtail (''Trichiurus lepturus'') or beltfish is a member of the cutlassfish family, Trichiuridae. This common to abundant species is found in tropical and temperate oceans throughout the world. The taxonomy is not fully resolved, ...

''), Ilsha Chandana ('' Tenualosa toli''), Hilsha ('' Tenualosa ilisha''), Faishya ('' Anchoviella commersonii''), Maittya ('' Scomberomorus commerson''), Gnhora ('' Labeo gonius''), Kata ('' Nemapteryx nenga''), Chewa ('' Taenioides cirratus''), Sundari bele ('' Glossogobius giuris''), Bnata ('' Liza parsia''), Koral (''

Etroplus suratensis The green chromide (''Etroplus suratensis'') is a species of cichlid fish that is native to fresh and brackish water habitats in some parts in India such as Kerala, Goa, Chilika Lake in Odisha and Sri Lanka. The species was first described by Ma ...

'') and Kawoon (''

Anabas testudineus The climbing perch (''Anabas testudineus'') is a species of amphibious freshwater fish in the family Anabantidae (the climbing gouramis). A labyrinth fish native to Far Eastern Asia, the fish inhabits freshwater systems from Pakistan, India, ...

''), as well as

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s like tiger shrimps. The first eco-park in Bangladesh, Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Eco Park, was established in 2001 along with a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

, under a five-year (2000–2004) development project at a cost of on of the Chandranath Hills in Sitakunda. The eco-park was established to facilitate

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

conservation, natural regeneration, new plantations and infrastructure development, as well as to promote nature-based tourism to generate income. The park, , and the garden, , under the Bariadhala Range of Chittagong Forest Division, are rich with natural

Gymnosperm The gymnosperms ( ; ) are a group of woody, perennial Seed plant, seed-producing plants, typically lacking the protective outer covering which surrounds the seeds in flowering plants, that include Pinophyta, conifers, cycads, Ginkgo, and gnetoph ...

tree species including

Podocarpus neriifolius ''Podocarpus'' () is a genus of conifers, the most numerous and widely distributed of the podocarp family, the Podocarpaceae. ''Podocarpus'' species are evergreen shrubs or trees, usually from tall, known to reach at times. The cones have two t ...

and species of

Gnetum ''Gnetum'' is a genus of gymnosperms, the sole genus in the family Gnetaceae within the Gnetophyta. They are tropical evergreen trees, shrubs and lianas. Unlike other gymnosperms, they possess vessel elements in the xylem. Some species have bee ...

and

Cycas ''Cycas'' is a genus of cycad, and the only genus in the family Cycadaceae with all other genera of cycad being divided between the Stangeriaceae and Zamiaceae families. '' Cycas circinalis'', a species endemic to India, was the first cycad speci ...

. The park is reported to be able to receive 25,000 visitors in a single weekend. With the botanical garden included, the number of visitors can reach up to 50,000. According to the ''International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management'', however, "ignoring the dependence of local people on park resources created conflicts between local communities and the park authority" and "prohibition on the extraction of forest products from the park... make the livelihoods of surrounding villagers vulnerable".

Society

The educational institutions of the upazila include

Faujdarhat Cadet College Faujdarhat Cadet College is a historic public military high school being the first of its kind in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) and second in entire Pakistan, modelled after Public school (United Kingdom), public schools in the UK (according t ...

(founded in 1958), 4 regular colleges (including Sitakunda Degree College founded in 1968), 24 high schools (including Sitakund Government Model High School founded in 1913 and Madam Bibir Hat Shahjania High School founded in 1905), 10

madrasa Madrasa (, also , ; Arabic: مدرسة , ), sometimes Romanization of Arabic, romanized as madrasah or madrassa, is the Arabic word for any Educational institution, type of educational institution, secular or religious (of any religion), whet ...

s, and 76 junior and primary schools. All the secondary schools and regular colleges are under the Chittagong Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education split from the Comilla Board in May 1995. Dr.

Muhammad Shahidullah Muhammad Shahidullah (; 10 July 1885 – 13 July 1969) was a Bengali people, Bengali linguist, philologist, educationist, and writer. He played vital role in Language movement of 1952 he was the first to establish logic about Why Bengali should ...

(1885–1969), an eminent Bangladeshi

linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...

, served as the headmaster of the Government High School from 1914 to 1915. On 24 July 1996, members of

Bangladesh Chhatra League Bangladesh Chhatra League, simply Chhatra League (), is the student wing of the political party, Bangladesh Awami League, founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 4 January 1948. The organisation is banned and listed as a terrorist organisation in B ...

and

Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir, commonly known as Chhatrashibir or Shibir, is an Islamic student organisation in Bangladesh. It was established in 1977 as the successor to the East Pakistani faction of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba colloquially known a ...

(ICS) in Sitakunda Degree College fought with guns and firecrackers over a minor dispute. On 29 July 1996, two ICS members of the college were abducted and one of them was killed. Bangladesh Military Academy is also situated in this upazila. , average literacy of Sitakunda Upazila for people of 7 years of age or more is 54.6%, while the average literacy of Sitakunda Pourashabha is 53.9%. There has been an overall growth of 32.9% between 1991 and 2001, which for men was 20.5% and for women 59.2%. 70,315 people of the Upazila between the ages of 5 and 24 years attend schools, an overall increase of 35.6% between 1991 and 2001, which for men was 28.1% and for women 45.4%. The highest school attendance rate is observed in age group 10–14 years. The health service centers in the upazila include a health complex, an infectious diseases hospital, a railway TB hospital, 11 family planning centres and a veterinary treatment centre.

Bangladesh Railway Bangladesh Railway () is the state-owned rail transport agency of Bangladesh. It operates and maintains all railways in the country, and is overseen by the Directorate General of Bangladesh Railway. The Bangladesh Railway is governed by the Mi ...

set up the hospital at Kumira in 1952 with a capacity of 150 beds. The capacity was reduced to 50 beds in 1994 as some focus was redirected to the Railway Hospital at

Central Railway Building The Central Railway Building (CRB) is situated in the scenic hilly area of Chittagong, Bangladesh. It is the governing office for the general manager of Bangladesh Railway. Construction started in 1897, it is one of the oldest buildings of the po ...

in Chittagong. Originally built to treat railway employees, the hospital now also treats people from the wider community.

Malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

dengue Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne disease caused by dengue virus, prevalent in tropical and subtropical areas. Asymptomatic infections are uncommon, mild cases happen frequently; if symptoms appear, they typically begin 3 to 14 days after ...

and other fevers,

hepatitis Hepatitis is inflammation of the liver parenchyma, liver tissue. Some people or animals with hepatitis have no symptoms, whereas others develop yellow discoloration of the skin and whites of the eyes (jaundice), Anorexia (symptom), poor appetite ...

, as well as respiratory infections including

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

are some of the major health threats. The percentage of disabled in Sitakunda is reported to be the highest in Bangladesh, at 17% compared to the national average of 13%. Banshbaria Union has been declared as 100% sanitized, as all households in the union adopted sanitary latrines, while the upazila has only 16% sanitation coverage. A survey published in 2006 by the Bangladesh Arsenic Mitigation Water Supply Project found that of the 18,843

tube well A tube well is a type of water well in which a long, -wide, stainless steel tube or pipe is bored underground. The lower end is fitted with a strainer, and a pump lifts water for irrigation. The required depth of the well depends on the depth ...

s surveyed, 24.7% were found to be

contaminated Contamination is the presence of a constituent, impurity, or some other undesirable element that renders something unsuitable, unfit or harmful for the physical body, natural environment, workplace, etc. Types of contamination Within the scienc ...

. Visible signs of

arsenic poisoning Arsenic poisoning (or arsenicosis) is a medical condition that occurs due to elevated levels of arsenic in the body. If arsenic poisoning occurs over a brief period of time, symptoms may include vomiting, abdominal pain, encephalopathy, and water ...

were found in 47 people. National newspapers published in Dhaka including

Prothom Alo ''Prothom Alo'' () is a Bengali language, Bengali-language daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka. It is one of the largest circulated newspaper in Bangladesh. According to the National Media Survey of 2018, conducted by Kantar MRB ...

Ajker Kagoj ''Ajker Kagoj'' () was a daily Bengali-language newspaper published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. The newspaper was launched in 1991 under the editorship of Nayeemul Islam Khan, Naimul Islam Khan. Since 1992, Kazi Shahid Ahmed was the editor and publi ...

Janakantha ''Daily Janakantha'' (; ''Dainik Janakanṭha'' "Daily People's Voice") is a Bengali daily newspaper published from Dhaka, Bangladesh. It is owned by Janakantha Shilpa Paribar (GJSP). History This newspaper was first published on 21 February ...

and

The Daily Ittefaq ''The Daily Ittefaq'' (, Bangla pronunciation: ) is a Bengali-language daily newspaper. Founded in 1949 by Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani and Yar Mohammad Khan, it is the oldest and one of the most circulated newspapers in Bangladesh. The newspape ...

are available in Sitakunda, as well as regional newspapers published in Chittagong Azadi and Purbakon. It also has its own local newspapers and a journalist community. In 2003, Atahar Siddik Khasru, the president of the local Press Club, went missing on 30 April and was rescued on 21 May. He was abducted and tortured by unidentified men allegedly on charges of protesting against the harassment of Mahmudul Haq, editor of local magazine ''Upanagar''. On 6 May, about 30 local journalists working for national and local press took to the streets in protest. The other weekly newspaper is ''Chaloman Sitakunda''. Television channels available in the upazila include satellite television channels like

Channel i Channel i () is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Impress Group. It was launched on 1 October 1999, as Bangladesh's first digital television channel. It is one of the oldest satellite television chan ...

, ATN Bangla, Channel One, NTV, as well as terrestrial television channel

Bangladesh Television Bangladesh Television (), commonly known by its acronym BTV (), is the state-owned television network of Bangladesh. The network was originally established as the East Pakistan branch of Pakistan Television Corporation, Pakistan Television in 1 ...

. The festivals of Shiva Chaturdashi in middle of the month of

Falgun Falgun or Phalgun (; ) or Phagun () is the eleventh month of the year in the Bengali calendar, the Assamese calendar, and the Nepali calendar. In the revision of the Bengali calendar used in Bangladesh since October 2019, the month has 29 days ...

(end of February) and Chaitra Sankranti at end of the month of

Chaitra Chaitra () is a month of the Hindu calendar. In the standard Hindu calendar and India's national civil calendar, Chaitra is the first month of the year. It is the last month in the Bengali calendar, where it is called Choitro. Chaitra or Cha ...

(mid April) are observed with much fanfare, featuring the largest Hindu fair of the district. The Sitakunda Upazila Krira Sangstha (Sports Club) is noted for its participation in soccer. There are 151 clubs, a public library and two cinema halls in the upazila.

References

External links

Sitakunda Weather
{{Authority control Upazilas of Chittagong District