Gopalganj District Town

 city, third-level administrative division

Gopalganj District (Dhaka division) with an area of 1489.92 sq km, is bounded by Faridpur district on the north, Pirojpur and Bagerhat districts on the south, Madaripur and Barisal districts on the east, Narail district on the west. Temperature: Average max: 35.8°C, min: 12.6°C. Total rainfall 2105 mm. Main rivers: Garai, Madhumati, Kaliganga, Hunda, Ghagar, and old Kumar; Borni Baor, Chandar Beel and Baghyar Beel are notable.

The location of Gopalganj town center is 23.0075179N 89.828918E. Gopalganj (Town) a municipal (estd in 1972) town, consists of 9 wards and 49 mahallas. The area of the town is 8.59 sq km. The town has a population of 40987; male 53.27%, female 46.73%; density of population is 4771 per sq km. Literacy rate among the town people is 66.9%.

Gopalganj district was established in 1984. Earlier it was a subdivision under Faridpur district. It consists of 5 upazilas, 4 municipalities, 36 wards, 68 union parishads, 618 mouzas, 880 villages and 85 mahallas. The upazilas are gopalganj sadar, kashiani, kotalipara, muksudpur and tungipara.

Historical events: A battle between the army of Mughal emperor Babur and Nusrat Shah (sultan of Bengal) was held on the bank of the Ghargara (presently the Ghagar). Fakir-sannyasi resistance was held in the region during the early part of the British rule.

As of the 1991 Bangladesh census: Population 1132046; male 50.05%, female 49.95%; Muslim 63.61%, Hindu 35.13%, Christian 1.20%, Buddhist 0.02% and others 0.04%.

Religious institutions: Mosque 1374, temple 802, church 56, pagoda 1, sacred place 4.

Literacy and educational institutions: Average literacy 38.2%; male 44.7% and female 31.6%. Educational institutions: science and technology university 1, university college 1, liberation war research institute 1, vocational institute 1, homeopath college 1, government college 5, non-government college 16, high school 139, junior school 17, madrasa 72, government primary school 598, non-government primary school 285, satellite school 22, community school 8, technical training centre 4, kindergarten 4.

Cultural organisations: Club 205, public library 5, cinema hall 6, shilpakala 1, literary society 7, women's organisation 56, theatre group 6, jatra party 2, circus party 1, community centre 6, playground 87.

Main occupations: Agriculture 46.37%, agricultural labourer 20.94%, wage labourer 1.71%, commerce 9.76%, service 9.28%, fishing 1.71%, transport 1.38%, hawker 1.21%, construction 1.01% and others 6.63%.

Land use: Total cultivable 110951 hectares; fallow land 36697 hectares; single crop 37%, double crop 49.96% and treble crop land 13.04%.

Land control: Among the peasant, 40% are landless, 50% small, 8% intermediate and 2% rich.

Fisheries, dairies, poultries Poultry 121, fishery 256, dairy 14, hatchery 5, shrimp cultivation 20.

Communication facilities- Roads: pucca 320 km, semi pucca 184 km and mud road 1703; railways 12 km; waterways 49 nautical mile.

Manufactories: Textile mill, ice factory, biscuit factory, saw mill, rice mill, oil mill, flour mill.

Cottage industries: Weaving, wood work, goldsmith, blacksmith, potteries, bamboo work, tailoring, welding.

Mineral resource Peat coal.

NGO activities: Operationally important NGOs are brac, proshika, caritas, ccdb, Ganaunnayan Prachesta, SGS, Suryamukhi Sangstha, KSA, DDO.

Health centres: Hospital 3, upazila health complex 5, union health and family planning centre 50, rural health centre 1, satellite clinic 38, community clinic 1, eye hospital 1, maternity and child care 2, mission hospital 1.