Shantiganj ( bn, শান্তিগঞ্জ, Shantigônj), formerly known as South Sunamganj or Dakshin Sunamganj ( bn, দক্ষিণ সুনামগঞ্জ), is an upazila of the Sunamganj District in Sylhet Division, Bangladesh.

Geography

Shantiganj is located in between 24°49' and 25°10' north latitudes and in between 91°14' and 91°27' east longitudes. It has a total area of . The Surma River and Kalni River flow through Shantiganj. The Ufa, Karchabarar, Saladia, Behala, Baradal and Basadubi

beel A beel (Bengali and Assamese: বিল) is a billabong or a lake-like wetland with static water (as opposed to moving water in rivers and canals - typically called in Bengali, in the Ganges - Brahmaputra flood plains of the Eastern Indian s ...

s are other notable bodies of water in Shantiganj, in addition to the Dekhar haor. The upazila is bounded by Chhatak Upazila and Dowarabazar Upazila to the east,

Derai Upazila Derai ( bn, দিরাই) is an upazila (sub-district) of the Sunamganj District in northeastern Bangladesh, part of the Sylhet Division. History Derai was previously known as Babaganj Bazar. It was home to two influential Hindu residen ...

and Jagannathpur Upazila to its south,

Jamalganj Upazila Jamalganj ( bn, জামালগঞ্জ) is an upazila of Sunamganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Geography Jamalganj is located at . It has 18119 households and total area 338.74 km2. Jamalganj Upazila is bounded by T ...

to its west, and

Sunamganj Sadar Upazila Sunamganj Sadar ( bn, সুনামগঞ্জ সদর) is an upazila of Sunamganj District in the Division of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Geography Sunamganj Sadar is located at . Geographically, it is situated on the northeastern part of Banglad ...

to its north.

History

Shantiganj was first established as an upazila on 6 June 2006 when it was separated from

and given the name "South Sunamganj".Population & Housing Census 2011
Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. On 26 July 2021,

Khandker Anwarul Islam Khandker Anwarul Islam is a retired Bangladeshi civil servant. He had served as the country's 22nd Cabinet Secretary. Prior to that, he was the Senior Secretary of the Bridges Division under Ministry of Road Transport and Bridges and the ex-offic ...

announced the renaming of South Sunamganj to "''Shantiganj''".

Demographical Data

Shantiganj has a total population of 183,881, per the 2011 census. There are 8 unions within the upazila, with a total of 107 mauzas and 171 villages. With over 32,000 households, majority (80.6%) of these are ''kancha'' or ''kucha'' houses which are made from mud or clay, while a few are semi or full

pucca houses Pucca housing (or pukka or pacca) refers to dwellings that are designed to be solid and permanent. This term is applied to housing in South Asia built of substantial material such as stone, brick, cement, concrete, or timber. The term ''pucca'' ...

. A small minority of these houses have access to sanitary latrine (29.2%), majority have non-sanitary latrine (60.4%) and 10.4% do not have toilet facilities available. Electricity within the upazila was available to 38.4% of the population. The population is predominantly

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

(90.3%) with a small minority of

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

s (9.7%) and very few following other religions.

Education

The literacy rate and school attendance is below average of the Sunamganj District, with 32.3% and 43.8% respectively. There are five madrasas in the upazila, including Jamia Islamia Haji Akram Ali Dakhil Madrasa and Amaria Islamia Alim Madrasa.

Administration

Shantiganj Upazila is divided into eight union parishads: Dargapasha, Joykalash, Paschim Birgaon, Paschim Pagla, Patharia, Purba Birgoan, Purba Pagla, and Shimulbak. The union parishads are subdivided into 102 mauzas and 171 villages.

Chairmen

Economy and tourism

There are 15 haat bazaars in Shantiganj. These are: Patharia Bazar, Pagla Bazar, Noakhali Bazar, Ganiganj Bazar, Birgaon Bazar, Taila Bazar, Natun Bangla Bazar, Aktapara Bazar, Damodharatapi Bazar, Chikarkandi Bazar, Muradpur Bazar, Jaikalas Bazar, Thakurbhog Bazar, Shantiganj Bazar and Bhamabhami Bazar. Shantiganj Upazila is home to around 150 mosques, most notable of which is the historic

Pagla Jame Mosque Pagla Jame Mosque ( bn, পাগলা জামে মসজিদ, , Pagla Friday Mosque), known locally as Raypur Boro Moshjid, ( bn, রায়পুর বড় মসজিদ; ar, جامع رايفور الكبير, , Great Mosque of ...

Notable people

Muhammad Abdul Mannan M. A. Mannan M.P (born 16 February 1946) is a Bangladeshi politician and the Minister of Planning of Bangladesh since 2019. Mr Mannan was a former diplomat and bureaucrat of Bangladesh who served to the Government Bangladesh. Early life Manna ...

, minister, diplomat and bureaucrat * Faruk Rashid Chowdhury, communist * Humayun Rashid Choudhury, diplomat and politician *

Shamsun Nahar Begum Shamsun Nahar Begum ( bn, শামছুন নাহার বেগম) is a Bangladesh Awami League politician, lawyer and a former Member of Parliament from a reserved seat. Early life and education Begum was born into a Bengali Muslim fa ...

, former Member of Parliament

References

{{Upazilas of Sylhet Division Upazilas of Sunamganj District