An ''upazila'' ( pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an

administrative division Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

. It can be seen as an analogous to a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

or a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English language, English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History ...

of Western countries. Rural upazilas are further administratively divided into union council areas (union parishads). Bangladesh has 495 upazilas. 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 of

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

was introduced by the former military ruler and

president of Bangladesh President of Bangladesh (POB), officially the President of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is the head of state of Bangladesh and commander-in-chief of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The role of the president has changed three times since ...

, Lt-Gen Hossain Muhammad Ershad, in an attempt to strengthen local government. Below UPs, villages (''gram'') and ''para'' exist, but these have no administrative power and elected members. The Local Government Ordinance of 1982 was amended a year later, redesignating and upgrading the existing ''thanas'' as ''upazilas''.

History

Upazilas were formerly known as ''thana'', 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. All administrative terms in this level were renamed from ''thana'' to ''upazila''. For instance, thana nirbahi officer (lit. thana executive officer) was renamed upazila nirbahi officer (lit. upazila executive officer). The word ''thana'' is now used to solely refer to ''police 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 "Administrative

Districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...

" are known as Thanas. For example: Panchlaish Thana,

Double Mooring Thana Double Mooring () is a thana of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Double Mooring is located at . It has 58780 households and total area 26.99 km2. Post code 4100. Demographics At the 1991 Bangladesh census, ...

under

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 ...

district. On 26 July 2021, Khandker Anwarul Islam announced the renaming of Dakshin Sunamganj Upazila to "''Shantiganj Upazila''" as well as the creation of three new upazilas;

Eidgaon Upazila Eidgaon () is an upazila of Cox's Bazar District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Combined with the adjoining unions of Chowfaldandi and Varuakhali, it forms the traditional region of Greater Eidgaon. Geography Eidgaon Upazila is bounde ...

Cox's Bazar District Cox's Bazar District () is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the names ''Panowa'' ("yellow flower") and ''Palongkee''. T ...

Madhyanagar Upazila Modhonogor or Madhyanagar (, is an upazila in Sunamganj district in Bangladesh About 1.5 lakh people live in 4 unions of the upazila. The second largest haor of Bangladesh, the third Ramsar area is located at Banshikunda of Brihaur in Madhyanagar ...

Sunamganj District Sunamganj District (), is a district located in north-eastern Bangladesh in Sylhet Division. History In the ancient period, Sunamganj was part of the Laur Kingdom. After the conquest of Sylhet (Kingdom of Gauiurh) in 1303 by Muslims under the sp ...

and

Dasar Upazila Dasar Upazila is an upazila of Madaripur district in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. History A police investigation centre was set up in Dasar on February 2, 2012. Later, the Dasar Thana (police station) was formed on March 2, 2013, with ...

Madaripur District Madaripur District () is a district in central Bangladesh and a part of the Dhaka Division. History Madaripur subdivision was established in 1854 within Bakerganj district. In 1873, it was separated from Bakerganj and annexed to Faridpur distric ...

Administration

Upazila nirbahi officer

Upazila nirbahi officer (UNO, or upazila executive officer; ) is a non-elected administrator in an ''upazila''. UNOs are senior assistant secretary of Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) Cadre. They act as executive officer of the upazila under the elected posts.

Upazila parishad

Each upazila parishad (or council) has a chairperson called ''chairman'', a ''vice-chairman'' and a ''woman vice-chairman''. All three are elected through direct popular election.

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 ...

chairmen within the upazila are considered as the members of the ''porishod''. The post of a ''woman vice-chairman'' was created to ensure at least one-third woman representation in the all elected posts of the local government. On 22 January 2010, the first election in 18 years of upazila porishod was held.

Lists of upazilas

References

External links

Statoids

{{Articles on third-level administrative divisions of countries Upazilas Subdivisions of Bangladesh Lists of subdivisions of Bangladesh Bangladesh 3 Hussain Muhammad Ershad