Koyra ( bn, কয়রা) is an

upazila An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an administrative region in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a district. It can be seen as an analogous to a county or a ...

of the

Khulna District Khulna District ( bn, খুলনা জেলা , ''Khulna Jela'' also ''Khulna Zila'') is a district of Bangladesh. It is located in the Khulna Division. It is bordered on the north by the Jessore District and the Narail District, on the south ...

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 ...

. It's the 2nd largest Upazila in Bangladesh. ''Water bodies'' Main rivers: dharla, pasur, arpangachhia, Taldhup, Malancha, kobadak, ball; Koyra canal is notable.

History

Koyra's history most likely dates as far back as the office of

Khan Jahan Ali Ulugh Khān Jahān `Alī ( bn, উলুগ খান জাহান আলী), was a Muslim saint and the Khan-i-Azam of Khalifatabad (now in Bangladesh). It is believed that he built the great Mosque City of Bagerhat, now a UNESCO World Herita ...

in the 15th century at least. This is evident from the ancient mosques found in Koyra such as

Masjidkur Masjidkur Mosque is one of the archaeological sights of Bangladesh, located in Koyra Upazila of Khulna District. The Kapotaksha River is beside the mosque and very close to the Sundarbans. History After the Partition of India in 1947, the mosque ...

. The Channir Chak L.C. Collegiate School was established in 1935. In 1962, the Koyra Madinabad Secondary School was established. During the

Bangladesh Liberation War The Bangladesh Liberation War ( bn, মুক্তিযুদ্ধ, , also known as the Bangladesh War of Independence, or simply the Liberation War in Bangladesh) was a revolution and War, armed conflict sparked by the rise of the Benga ...

of 1971, a sub-sector of

Sector 9 Sector 9 is a skateboard manufacturer and subsidiary of Bravo Sports. The company was started in La Jolla, California in 1993 by cofounders Steve Lake, Dave Klimkiewicz, Dennis Telfer, and Tal O'Farrell.Debra Phillips, G. David Doran, Elaine W. Te ...

was founded in Koyra's Amati Union known as Bachharbari-Manoranjan Camp, and so most of the

Mukti Bahini The Mukti Bahini ( bn, মুক্তিবাহিনী, translates as 'freedom fighters', or liberation army), also known as the Bangladesh Forces, was the guerrilla resistance movement consisting of the Bangladeshi military, paramilitary ...

's and

Mujib Bahini The Mujib Bahini, also known as Bangladesh Liberation Force (BLF), was an armed force formed during the Bangladesh Liberation War to fight against Pakistan in 1971. The force was mainly composed of activists drawn from the Awami League and its st ...

's operations were launched from here. The Bengali freedom fighters built five camps in Koyra; World Poet Camp led by Abd al-Latif, Najmul Camp led by KM Mujibur Rahman, Nazrul Camp led by Abd al-Hakim, Narayan Camp led by Keramat Ali, Shaykh Abd al-Jalil and Shamsur Rahman in Jhileghata and the Suhrawardy Camp led by Rezaul Karim in Bamiya, Bagali Union. In Jaygirmahal, Dr Rafiqul Islam ran a secret medical centre to provide treatment to wounded freedom fighters. A mass grave was found in Launch Ghat, Marighata. On 19 November 1979, Korya was established as a

thana Thana means "police station" in South Asian countries, and can also mean the district controlled by a police station. * Thanas of Bangladesh, former subdistricts in the administrative geography of Bangladesh; later renamed ''upazila'' * in (Briti ...

. It was upgraded to an upazila (sub-district) on 7 November 1983. The Upazila suffered heavy damage following the

Cyclone Sidr Extremely Severe Cyclonic Storm Sidr was a tropical cyclone that resulted in one of the worst natural disasters in Bangladesh. The fourth named storm of the 2007 North Indian Ocean cyclone season, Sidr formed in the central Bay of Bengal, and q ...

in 2007 and

Cyclone Aila Severe Cyclonic Storm Aila (JTWC designation: 02B) was the second named tropical cyclone of the 2009 North Indian Ocean cyclone season. Warned by both the Regional Specialized Meteorological Center (RMSC) and Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC), ...

two years after that.

Geography

Koyra is located at . It has 28,061 households and a total area 1775.41 km².

Demographics

According to the

2011 Bangladesh census In 2011, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, conducted a national census in Bangladesh, which provided a provisional estimate of the total population of the country as 142,319,000. The previous decennial census was the 2001 census. Data were reco ...

, Koyra had a population of 193,931. Among them 49.68% were male and 50.32%were female. The population aged 18 or over was 80,830. Koyra had an average literacy rate of 50.4% (7+ years), compared to the national average of 72.8%. The upazila is home to

Bengali Muslims Bengali Muslims ( bn, বাঙালি মুসলমান; ) are adherents of Islam who ethnically, linguistically and genealogically identify as Bengalis. Comprising about two-thirds of the global Bengali population, they are the sec ...

primarily as well a very large

Bengali Hindu Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...

community and the other small ethnic groups such as the

Mahato Mahto or Mahato is a surname used by several castes and communities in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Odisha in India. Mahato is also a popular surname in Nepal. In the zamindari villages, "Mahto" was a title given t ...

and the

Munda people The Munda people are an Austroasiatic speaking ethnic group of India. They predominantly speak the Mundari language as their native language, which belongs to the Munda subgroup of Austroasiatic languages. The Munda are found mainly concentr ...

who reside in the Koyra Sadar Union and Uttar Bedkashi Union.

Administration

Koyra Thana was formed in 1980 and it was turned into an upazila in 1983.Koyra Upazila is divided into seven

union parishad Union council ( bn, ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, translit=iūniyan pariṣad, translit-std=IAST), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit ...

Amadi Amedi or Amadiya ( ku, ئامێدی, Amêdî, ; Syriac alphabet, Syriac: , Amədya), is a town in the Duhok Governorate of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is built on a mesa in the broader Great Zab river valley. Etymology According to Ali ibn al ...

, Bagali, Dakshin Bedkashi, Koyra, Moharajpur, Moheswaripur Union, and Uttar Bedkashi Union. The union parishads are subdivided into 71 mauzas and 133 villages.

List of chairmen

Facilities

The upazila has three orphanages: Haji Rahim Orphanage, Qadi Kabir ad-Din Orphanage and Haji Qamar ad-Din Orphanage.

Notable people

Ruman Shana Mohammad Ruman Shana ( bn, রোমান সানা; born 8 June 1995) is a Bangladeshi archer. He won the bronze medal in recurve single's event of 2019 World Archery Championships and became the first Bangladeshi archer in history to win ...

, archer * Shah Md. Ruhul Quddus, politician

References

{{Upazilas of Khulna Division Khulna Division