Magura District Town

 third-level administrative division, town district

Magura Sadar Upazila (Magura district) with an area of 406.50 sq km, is bounded by Sreepur (Magura) and Shailkupa upazilas on the north, Salikha upazila on the south, Mohammadpur (Magura) upazila on the east, Jhenaidah sadar upazila on the west. Main rivers are Gorai, Nabaganga and Fatki; Sirijdia, Padma, Kumar and Gazar Garai Beels are notable.

The location of Magura town centre is 23.4856101N 89.4189906E. Magura (Town) consists of 18 wards and 61 mahallas. The area of the town is 22.95 sq km. It has a population of 85216; male 51.69%, female 48.31%. Density of population is 3713 per sq km. Literacy rate among the town people is 47.6%.

Magura thana was turned into an upazila in 1983. The upazila consists of one municipality, 18 wards, 13 union parishads, 263 mouzas and 252 villages.

Archaeological heritage and relics: Neelkuthi (Ichakhada), Beparipara Jami Mosque (Parnanduali), tomb of Pir Mokarram Ali (Hajipur), Siddheshwari Math. Ghat of Nader Chand, tomb of Garib Shah, remnants of the Rajbari of Raja Sitaram Roy, fortification of Debal Raja, Mosque at village Gopal (Mughal period).

As of the 1991 Bangladesh census, Population 286925; male 51.41%, female 48.59%; Muslim 78.54%, Hindu 21.28% and others 0.18%.

Religious institutions: Mosque 250, temple 55, church 1, tomb 1 and place pilgrimage 3. Most noted religious institutions are Magura Jami Mosque, Beparipara Jami Mosque (Parnanduali), tomb of Pir Mokarram Ali (Hajipur), Kalibari Mandir, Ashram of Nangta Baba (Satdoha), Math and Mission at Hajratal and Sidweswari Math (Darimagura).

Literacy and educational institutions: Average literacy 30.5%; male 41.6% and female 19.4%. Educational institutions: college 5, high school 32, madrasa 2, government primary school 105, non-government primary school 42, technical institute 1. Noted educational institutions are Government Hussain Shahid Sohrawardhi College (1940), Magura Government Boys' High School (1854), Hajipur High School (1914), Shatrujitpur Kaliprasanna High School (1919).

Cultural organisations: Club 80, public library 3, cinema hall 2, theatre group 4, opera party 2, literary society 2, women's organisation 3.

Main occupations: Agriculture 46.06%, agricultural labourer 18.06%, wage labourer 3.29%, industry 1.21%, commerce 11.37%, service 7.84%, transport 3.57%, construction 1.43%, and others 7.17%.

Land use: Total cultivable land 27140.83 hectares, fallow land 141.85 hectares; single crop 25%, double crop 55% and treble crop land 20%; land under irrigation 78%.

Land control: Among the peasants, 15% are landless, 35% small, 42% intermediate and 8% rich; land per head 0.12 hectare.

Main crops: Paddy, jute, wheat, mustard seed, brinjal, sugarcane, chilli, onion, chhola and musuri dal (pulse).

Fisheries, dairies, poultries Poultry 20, fishery 50 and hatchery 4.

Communication facilities- Roads: pucca 155 km, semi pucca 75 km and mud road 750 km.

Manufactories: Textile mill 2, plastic pipe factory 1, soap factory 1, ice factory 10, bidi factory 1, lather factory 18 and welding 135.

Cottage industries: Weaving 20, bamboo and cane work 325, blacksmith 150, goldsmith 70, potteries 200, wood work 105 and tailoring 500.

NGO activities: Operationally important NGOs are brac, asa, proshika, Swanirvar Bangladesh, Seba, Prime and ADI.

Health centres: Hospital 1, upazila health complex 1, child hospital 1, eye hospital 1, diabetic hospital 1, maternity hospital 1, family welfare centre 13 and satellite clinic 7.