Bhola Island (also called Dakhin Shahbazpur) is the largest island of

Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the eighth-most populous country in the world, with a population exceeding 165 million people in an area of . Bangladesh is among the mos ...

with an area of 1,441 km². It is most of the land area of

Bhola District Bhola District ( bn, ভোলা) is an administrative district (''zila'') in south-central Bangladesh, which includes Bhola Island, the largest island of Bangladesh. It is located in the Barisal Division and has an area of 3403.48 km2. It i ...

Barisal Division Barishal Division is one of the eight administrative divisions of Bangladesh. Located in the south-central part of the country, it has an area of , and a population of 8,325,666 at the 2011 Census. It is the least populous Division within the ent ...

Geography

It is situated at the mouth of the

Meghna River The Meghna River ( bn, মেঘনা নদী) is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, ...

. There are ferry and launch services from

Dhaka Dhaka ( or ; bn, ঢাকা, Ḍhākā, ), formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh, as well as the world's largest Bengali-speaking city. It is the eighth largest and sixth most densely populated city ...

and

Barisal Barisal ( or ; bn, বরিশাল, ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal Dist ...

. The Island is long and has a population of 1.7 million. A 1776 map indicates that it was oval-shaped yet it is currently more elongated because of erosion by the Meghna River. It is only above ocean level at the most elevated point. Due to its low elevation, large parts of the island have already been inundated by

sea level rise Globally, sea levels are rising due to human-caused climate change. Between 1901 and 2018, the globally averaged sea level rose by , or 1–2 mm per year on average.IPCC, 2019Summary for Policymakers InIPCC Special Report on the Ocean and Cry ...

, and the island is at serious risk of disappearing entirely.

Culture

According to the 2011 census, 96.7% are Muslim, 3.3% are Hindu. Bhola Island is known for its

Buffalo curd Curd, also dahi, is a traditional yogurt or fermented milk product, originating from the Indian subcontinent, usually prepared from cow's milk, and sometimes buffalo milk, or goat milk. It is popular throughout the Indian subcontinent. The word ' ...

(doi) which is unique in Bangladesh. The process that has been used has remained unchanged. It is made in traditional clay pots and the process takes 18 hours. It is popular in the Island and is served in special occasions such as weddings, festivals and other special occasions.

Energy

The Island has faced chronic power issues, although natural gas was discovered in Shahbazpur in 1994. The government decided to build a power plant which is expected to fully operational by August 2015. The state-owned

Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) is a Bangladeshi public limited company listed at the Dhaka and Chittagong Stock Exchange. __TOC__ PGCB at a Glance Corporate Office: PGCB Bhaban, Avenue-3, Jahurul Islam City, Aftabnagar, Badda, Dhaka-12 ...

(PGCB) is installing a high voltage transmission line from Bhola Island to Borhanuddin Island.

Media

There are 14 community radio stations on air.

History

In 1970 it was affected by the devastating

Bhola Cyclone The 1970 Bhola cyclone (Also known as the Great Cyclone of 1970) was a devastating tropical cyclone that struck East Pakistan (present-day Bangladesh) and India's West Bengal on November 11, 1970. It remains the deadliest tropical cyclone ever re ...

which completely devastated the southern half of the island and also destroyed the rice crop. In October 1975, it was home to the last human being naturally infected with smallpox. When a toddler named Rahima Banu became infected with the virus, the World Health Organization sent a team to vaccinate 18,150 individuals who lived within a 1.5-mile radius of her home, which prevented the spread of the virus and eliminated it. In 1995, half of the island became flooded, leaving 500,000 people homeless. In 2005, floods affected over half a million people on the island. Significant floods in the months and years before had caused severe erosion and led to a number of rivers overflowing. As of 2009 a number of the island's inhabitants were living in the slums of Dhaka. In 2019, riots erupted after a Hindu man from the island was accused of posting blasphemous content against the Prophet Muhammad. It was later discovered his account had been hacked to say such things by mischief makers wanting money.

References