An ''upazila'' ( bn, উপজেলা, upôzela, lit=sub-district pronounced: ), formerly called ''thana'', is an

administrative region Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...

in Bangladesh, functioning as a sub-unit of a

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

. It can be seen as an analogous to a

county A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

or a

borough A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely. History In the Middle Ag ...

of Western countries. Rural upazilas are further administratively divided into union council areas (union parishads). Bangladesh ha
495 upazilas
(as of 20 Oct 2022). The upazilas are the second lowest tier of regional administration in Bangladesh. The administrative structure consists of divisions (8), districts (64), upazilas (495) and union parishads (UPs). This system of

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

was introduced by the former military ruler and president of Bangladesh,

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

Hossain Mohammad Ershad, in an attempt to strengthen local government. Below UPs, villages (''gram'') and ''para'' exist, but these have no administrative power and elected members. The Local Government

Ordinance Ordinance may refer to: Law * Ordinance (Belgium), a law adopted by the Brussels Parliament or the Common Community Commission * Ordinance (India), a temporary law promulgated by the President of India on recommendation of the Union Cabinet * ...

of 1982 was amended a year later, redesignating and upgrading the existing ''thanas'' as ''upazilas''.

History

Upazilas were formerly known as ''thana'', which literally means police station. Despite the meaning, thanas functioned much as an administrative and geographic region, much as today's upazilas. In 1982 thanas were re-termed to as upazilas with provisions for semi-autonomous local governance. This system was reverted to the thana system in 1992. Later in 1999 geographic regions under administrations of thanas were converted into upazilas. All administrative terms in this level were renamed from ''thana'' to ''upazila''. For instance, thana nirbahi officer (lit. thana executive officer) was renamed upazila nirbahi officer (lit. upazila executive officer). The word ''thana'' is now used to solely refer to ''police stations''. Generally, there is one police station for each upazila, but larger administrative units may have more than one police station covering different regions. 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

Dakshin Sunamganj Upazila 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. Ge ...

to "''Shantiganj Upazila''" as well as the creation of three new upazilas; Eidgaon Upazila in Cox’s Bazar District, Modhyanagar Upazila in Sunamganj District and

Dasar Upazila Dasar Upazila is an upazila of Madaripur district in the Division of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Dasar Upazila consists of five unions of Baligram, Kazibakai, Gopalpur, Dasar and Nabagram. The area of this upazila is 76.8 km2. According to the 2011 ...

in Madaripur District.

Administration

Upazila nirbahi officer

Upazila nirbahi officer (UNO, or upazila executive officer; bn, উপজেলা নির্বাহী কর্মকর্তা) is a non-elected administrator in an ''upazila''. UNOs are senior assistant secretary of Bangladesh Civil Service (Administration) Cadre. They act as executive officer of the upazila under the elected posts.

Upazila parishad

Each upazila parishad (or council) has a ''chairman'', a ''vice-chairman'' and a ''woman vice-chairman''. All three are elected through direct popular election.

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 ...

chairmen within the upazila are considered as the members of the ''porishod''. The post of a ''woman vice-chairman'' was created to ensure at least one-third woman representation in the all elected posts of the local government. On 22 January 2010 the first election in 18 years of upazila porishod was held.

Lists of upazilas

References

External links

Statoids

{{Articles on third-level administrative divisions of countries Subdivisions of Bangladesh Bangladesh geography-related lists Lists of subdivisions of Bangladesh Bangladesh 3