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List of cities and towns in Bangladesh

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This article presents a list of cities and towns in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives of Bangladesh, there are 532 urban centres in Bangladesh.[1][2]

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Location of major cities in Bangladesh

The bureau defines an urban centre with a population of 100,000 or more as a "city". Altogether, there are 43 such cities in Bangladesh. 11 of these cities can be considered major cities as these are governed by City Corporations. All of the City Corporation-governed cities currently have a population of more than 200,000, which is not a criterion for the status, because currently 17 cities in Bangladesh have a population of more than 200,000. Besides the 9 major cities, there are 32 other cities in Bangladesh that are not governed by "City Corporations", rather by "Municipal Corporations". A city with a population of more than 10,000,000 is defined by the bureau as a megacity.[failed verification] Dhaka is the only megacity in Bangladesh according to this definition.[3] Together, Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong account for 48% of the country's urban population.[4]

An urban centre with a population of less than 100,000 is defined as a "town". In total, there are 490 such towns in Bangladesh.[3] Among these, 287 towns are governed by "Municipal Corporations". These are called "Paurashava"s in the local Bengali language. Altogether, including the ones governing the 32 other non-major cities, there are 318 Municipal Corporations.

In addition, there are another 203 towns which are Upazila centres (and other urban centres) and not governed by any Municipal Corporation or "Paurashava". These are the non-Municipal Corporation or "non-Paurashava" towns.[3][2]

In 1951, Bangladesh was mostly a rural country and only 4% of the population lived in urban centres. The urban population rose to 20% in 1991 and to 24% by 2001. In 2011, Bangladesh had an urban population of 28% and the rate of urban population growth was estimated at 2.8%.[3] At this growth rate, Bangladesh's urban population would reach 79 million or 42% of the population by 2035. The urban centers of Bangladesh have a combined area of about 10600 square kilometers, which is 7% of the total area of Bangladesh. As such, Bangladesh has a very high urban population density: 4028 persons per square kilometer (2011), whereas the rural density is significantly lower: 790 persons per square kilometer (2011).[1] The number of municipalities tripled from 104 municipalities in 1991 to 318 municipalities in 2011.[4]

Major cities

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There are Ten major cities in Bangladesh that are governed by twelve city corporations, which include [(Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Narayanganj, Gazipur,) Dhaka Megacity ] Chattogram, Khulna, Comilla, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Barisal

Rank City Area(km2)[3] Population (2022)[5] District Division Photos
1 Dhaka 306 18,295,786 Dhaka Dhaka Division Gulshan, Dhaka
2 Chattogram 168 5,550,507 Chattogram Chattogram Division Skyline of Chattogram (Chittagong)
3 Khulna 45 989,557 Khulna Khulna Division Skyline of Khulna
4 Comilla 53 823,000 Comilla Chattogram Division Skyline of Comilla
5 Rajshahi 42 772,288 Rajshahi Rajshahi Division Aerial view of the skyline of Rajshahi
6 Sylhet 58 668,839 Sylhet Sylhet Division Sylhet city aerial view
7 Barisal 58 489,484 Barisal Barisal Division Barishal Launch terminal
8 Rangpur 69 458,570 Rangpur Rangpur Division

Metropolitan areas

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All eleven of the aforementioned major cities are designated as metropolitan areas: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Comilla, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Mymensingh, Barisal and Rangpur. Metropolitan areas can be loosely defined as a major city combined with some of its adjacent municipalities and peri-urban areas.

Cities

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In addition to the 9 major cities governed by City Corporations, there are many minor cities which are governed by Municipal Corporations (pourashava). Area figures come from the 2011 census or Paurashava websites. Those with populations of over 100,000 (as of 2022 census) are given below:[6]: 388–394 

City Area (km2) Population (2022) District Division
Brahmanbaria 20.49 264,326 Brahmanbaria Chattogram
Chandpur 26.82 203,436 Chandpur
Moynamoti 25.25 139,520 Cumilla
Cox's Bazar 24.45 196,374 Cox's Bazar
Feni 22 234,350 Feni
Lakshmipur 19.4 132,220 Lakshmipur
Chowmuhani 20.70 100,048 Noakhali
Maijdee 23.79 132,185
Kotbari 16.25 148,221 Cumilla
Rangamati 64.75 106,060 Rangamati
Savar 14.08 384,093 Dhaka Dhaka
Faridpur 66.24 237,266 Faridpur
Kaliakair 27.16 249,100 Gazipur
Sreepur 47.25 258,946
Gopalganj 16.9 108,508 Gopalganj
Bhairab 15.71 156,293 Kishoreganj
Kishoreganj 11.3 138,051
Tarabo 19.39 197,658 Narayanganj
Ghorashal 26.50 101,689 Narsingdi
Narsingdi 20.95 180,699
Tangail 29.8 212,858 Tangail
Jashore 20.56 209,330 Jashore Khulna
Jhenaidah 32.42 140,256 Jhenaidah
Kushtia 42.78 221,804 Kushtia
Magura 44.36 114,240 Magura
Satkhira 32.39 138,397 Satkhira
Jamalpur 53.25 158,873 Jamalpur Mymensingh
Netrakona 29.40 122,279 Netrakona
Sherpur 24.75 123,513 Sherpur
Bogura 69.56 485,944 Bogura Rajshahi
Chapai Nawabganj 24.70 201,000 Chapai Nawabganj
Naogaon 38.36 178,635 Naogaon
Pabna 27.27 175,982 Pabna
Sirajganj 28.49 450,000 Sirajganj
Dinajpur 22.8 212,275 Dinajpur Rangpur
Saidpur 30.04 143,536 Nilphamari
Thakurgaon 100,459 Thakurgaon

Towns

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The following is a list of towns in Bangladesh governed by Municipal Corporations.

Division Number Towns
Dhaka Division 23
Chattogram Division 28
Sylhet Division 20
* Municipalities of Maulvibazar District




Municipalities of Habiganj District

Khulna Division 24
Barishal Division 23
Mymensingh Division 25
Rajshahi Division 15
Rangpur Division 16

Urban areas by population

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See also: Demographics of Bangladesh

Dhaka is by far the largest urban area as well as the largest metropolitan area in Bangladesh. Chittagong is the second largest city and urban area in Bangladesh as well as the second largest metropolitan in Bangladesh.

Khulna is the third largest city and second largest port city of the country after Chittagong. Also, the adjoining areas of Khulna are abided by port-related business, industry, governmental foreign investment, and some well-known mega projects. This city also has a rich history of industrialization through the British period. Khulna has also a significant number of tourism industries centered on the largest mangrove forest of the world, the Sundarbans. Cumilla city is also the third developed city within Khulna and Rajshahi. Cumilla is also marked as an economically stronger city compared to other cities after Dhaka and Chittagong. Cumilla city also got a richer regional economy for remittances and the tourism industry. Rajshahi is also a big city and is known as the educational city of Bangladesh due to its well-marked educational institutions with better results and better educational performances. So we can say that the best 5 cities in Bangladesh are Dhaka, Chittagong, Cumilla, Khulna, and Rajshahi. Other major cities with a stronger economy and developer infrastructure after these five best cities are Sylhet, Bogra, Rangpur, Barishal, Jessore, Kushtia, Feni, Cox's Bazar, Mymenshing, Dinajpur, Pabna, Brahmanbaria, Narsingdi, Bholo, Gopalganj, etc.

The following table shows the largest populated area within a local government area.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b About Us, Local Government Engineering Department, Ministry of Local Government, Bangladesh, archived from the original on 9 October 2018, retrieved 9 October 2018
  2. ^ a b Statistical Pocketbook Bangladesh 2017 (PDF), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2018
  3. ^ a b c d e Population and Housing Census 2011 - Volume 3: Urban Area Report (PDF), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, August 2014, pp. ix, xi, 24–26, 167
  4. ^ a b Elisa Muzzini; Gabriela Aparicio (11 April 2013), Bangladesh: The Path to Middle-Income Status from an Urban Perspective, World Bank Publications, p. 51
  5. ^ POPULATION & HOUSING CENSUS 2022 - PRELIMINARY REPORT (PDF), BANGLADESH BUREAU OF STATISTICS, STATISTICS AND INFORMATICS DIVISION, MINISTRY OF PLANNING, POPULATION & HOUSING CENSUS 2022, GOVERNMENT OF THE PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH
  6. ^ Population and Housing Census 2022 National Report (PDF). Vol. 1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. November 2023.
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