Rajarhat ( bn, রাজারহাট) 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 ...

Kurigram District Kurigram District ( bn, কুড়িগ্রাম) is a district of Bangladesh in the Rangpur Division. The district is located in northern Bangladesh along the country's border with India. Under Indian rule, the area was organized as a mahakum ...

in the Division of Rangpur,

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 ...

. Since 1981 it had been a ''Thana'' and later on September 14, 1983 was turned into an

by the government.

Geography

Rajarhat is located at , which is about 10 kilometers west to the center of Kurigram district. It is surrounded by Phulbari and

Lalmonirhat Lalmonirhat ( bn, লালমনিরহাট) is a town and district headquarters of Lalmonirhat District in the division of Rangpur, Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in Sout ...

sadar upazilas on the north, Ulipur and Pirgachha upazilas on the south,

Kurigram Kurigram District ( bn, কুড়িগ্রাম) is a district of Bangladesh in the Rangpur Division. The district is located in northern Bangladesh along the country's border with India. Under Indian rule, the area was organized as a mahakum ...

sadar upazila on the east, Lalmonirhat Sadar and

Kaunia ''Kaunia'' is a genus of South American shrubs or small trees in the family Asteraceae. Its range is centered in Bolivia but it is also found in Argentina, southern Brazil, Peru and Ecuador. Genus is named for Edward Kaun of Baltimore, Maryland ...

upazilas on the west. It has 27,357 households and a total area of 166.23 km². Two rivers,

Teesta Teesta River is a long river that rises in the Pauhunri Mountain of eastern Himalayas, flows through the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal through Rangpur, and enters the Bay of Bengal. It drains an area of . In India, it flows through ...

and ''Dharla'' pass through this upazila.

Demographics

As of 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 ...

, Rajarhat has a population of 192,689 with a population density of 945 people per square kilometer. Males constitute 50.52% of the population, and females 49.48%. Upazila's adult (over 18) population is 72315. The average literacy rate of the people is 40.66% with 46.62% of male and 34.65% of female being literate.

Points of interest

* Sindurmati Dighi * Chandamari Mosque * Pangeshwari Temple * Gharialdanga Zamindar Bari * Panga Rajbari * Two cannons ascribed to Fate Khan and Kalu Khan (Panga Rajbari) *

Koteshwar Shiva Mandir Koteshwar may refer to: * Koteshwar or Kotishwar means millionaire in Sanskrit and is another name for the Hindu deity Shiva * Koteshwar, Kutch Koteshwar is a small village and the location of an ancient Shiva temple. It located near the mout ...

Administration

Rajarhat 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 ...

s: Biddanondo, Chakirpashar, Chinai, Gharialdanga, Nazimkhan, Rajarhat, and Umarmajid. The union parishads are subdivided into 110 mauzas and 180 villages. Similar to other upazilas in the country, ''Upazila Parisad'' headed by an ''Upazila Chairman'' who is elected in a direct vote of the people is the highest form of local government in Rajarhat upazila.

Education

* Literacy Rate: 60% * Number of Colleges: 4 * Number of High Schools: 34 * Number of Madrasas: 45 * Number of Primary Schools (government run): 49 * Number of Primary Schools (private): 67

Notable residents

* Abdullah Sarwrdi (Ex MP) * Raufun Basunia (Late leader of anti dictatorship movement) * Jahangir Hossain Chowdhury (First Upazilla Chairman Rajarhat) * Badol Khondokar ( film director and producer )

References

{{Upazilas of Rangpur Division Upazilas of Kurigram District