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List of cities and towns in Bangladesh

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This article presents a list of cities and towns in Bangladesh. According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives of Bangladesh, there are 532 urban centres in Bangladesh.[1][2]

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Location of major cities in Bangladesh


The bureau defines an urban centre with a population of 100,000 or more as a "city". Altogether, there are 43 such cities in Bangladesh. 11 of these cities can be considered major cities as these are governed by City Corporations. All of the City Corporation-governed cities currently have a population of more than 200,000, which is not a criterion for the status, because currently 17 cities in Bangladesh have a population of more than 200,000. Besides the 9 major cities, there are 32 other cities in Bangladesh that are not governed by "City Corporations", rather by "Municipal Corporations". A city with a population of more than 10,000,000 is defined by the bureau as a megacity.[failed verification] Dhaka is the only megacity in Bangladesh according to this definition.[3] Together, Dhaka and the port city of Chittagong account for 48% of the country's urban population.[4]

An urban centre with a population of less than 100,000 is defined as a "town". In total, there are 490 such towns in Bangladesh.[3] Among these, 287 towns are governed by "Municipal Corporations". These are called "Paurashava"s in the local Bengali language. Altogether, including the ones governing the 32 other non-major cities, there are 318 Municipal Corporations.

In addition, there are another 203 towns which are Upazila centres (and other urban centres) and not governed by any Municipal Corporation or "Paurashava". These are the non-Municipal Corporation or "non-Paurashava" towns.[3][2]

In 1951, Bangladesh was mostly a rural country and only 4% of the population lived in urban centres. The urban population rose to 20% in 1991 and to 24% by 2001. In 2011, Bangladesh had an urban population of 28% and the rate of urban population growth was estimated at 2.8%.[3] At this growth rate, Bangladesh's urban population would reach 79 million or 42% of the population by 2035. The urban centers of Bangladesh have a combined area of about 10600 square kilometers, which is 7% of the total area of Bangladesh. As such, Bangladesh has a very high urban population density: 4028 persons per square kilometer (2011), whereas the rural density is significantly lower: 790 persons per square kilometer (2011).[1] The number of municipalities tripled from 104 municipalities in 1991 to 318 municipalities in 2011.[4]

Major cities

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There are 11 major cities in Bangladesh that are governed by twelve city corporations, which include Dhaka North, Dhaka South, Narayanganj, and Gazipur (which all lie in Greater Dhaka), Chattogram, Khulna, Comilla, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Barisal, Mymensingh.

Rank City Area(km2)[3] Population (2022)[5][a] District Division Photos
1 Dhaka 306 10,295,786 Dhaka Dhaka Gulshan, Dhaka
2 Chittagong 155 3,230,507 Chittagong Chittagong Skyline of Chattogram (Chittagong)
3 Gazipur 330 2,677,715 Gazipur Dhaka Aerial view of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Agricultural University in Gazipur
4 Narayanganj 13 967,951 Narayanganj Dhaka Skyline in Narayanganj
5 Khulna 45 719,557 Khulna Khulna Skyline of Khulna
6 Bogura 69 50000 Bogura Rajshahi [[File:Bogura city
7 Rangpur 69 708,570 Rangpur Rangpur
7 Mymensingh 91 577,000 Mymensingh Mymensingh
9 Rajshahi 96 553,288 Rajshahi Rajshahi Aerial view of the skyline of Rajshahi
10 Sylhet 58 532,839 Sylhet Sylhet Sylhet city aerial view
11 Comilla 53 440,233 Comilla Chittagong Skyline of Comilla
12 Barisal 58 419,484 Barisal Barisal Barishal Launch terminal


Metropolitan areas

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All eleven of the aforementioned major cities are designated as metropolitan areas: Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Sylhet, Rangpur, Comilla and Mymensingh. Metropolitan areas can be loosely defined as a major city combined with some of its adjacent municipalities and peri-urban areas.

Cities

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In addition to the 9 major cities governed by City Corporations, there are many minor cities which are governed by Municipal Corporations (pourashava). Area figures come from the 2011 census or Paurashava websites. Those with populations of over 100,000 (as of 2022 census) are given below:[6]

City Area (km2) Population (2022) District Division
Brahmanbaria 20.49 264,341 Brahmanbaria Chattogram
Chandpur 26.82 203,451 Chandpur
Cox's Bazar 24.45 196,385 Cox's Bazar
Feni 22 234,357 Feni
Lakshmipur 19.4 132,230 Lakshmipur
Chowmuhani 20.70 100,065 Noakhali
Maijdee 23.79 132,198
Rangamati 64.75 106,069 Rangamati
Savar 14.08 384,105 Dhaka Dhaka
Faridpur 66.24 237,283 Faridpur
Kaliakair 27.16 249,111 Gazipur
Sreepur 47.25 258,973
Gopalganj 16.9 108,523 Gopalganj
Bhairab 15.71 156,297 Kishoreganj
Kishoreganj 11.3 138,063
Tarabo 19.39 197,672 Narayanganj
Ghorashal 26.50 101,690 Narsingdi
Narsingdi 20.95 180,711
Tangail 29.8 212,887 Tangail
Jashore 20.56 209,352 Jashore Khulna
Jhenaidah 32.42 140,271 Jhenaidah
Kushtia 42.78 221,806 Kushtia
Magura 44.36 114,249 Magura
Satkhira 32.39 138,411 Satkhira
Jamalpur 53.25 158,889 Jamalpur Mymensingh
Netrakona 29.40 122,299 Netrakona
Sherpur 24.75 123,516 Sherpur
Bogura 69.56 486,016 Bogura Rajshahi
Chapai Nawabganj 24.70 201,005 Chapai Nawabganj
Naogaon 38.36 178,649 Naogaon
Pabna 27.27 176,005 Pabna
Sirajganj 28.49 188,549 Sirajganj
Dinajpur 22.8 212,288 Dinajpur Rangpur
Saidpur 30.04 143,538 Nilphamari
Thakurgaon 100,462 Thakurgaon

Towns

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The following is a list of towns in Bangladesh governed by Municipal Corporations.

Division Number Towns
Dhaka Division 23
Chattogram Division 28
Sylhet Division 20
* Municipalities of Maulvibazar District




Municipalities of Habiganj District

Khulna Division 24
Barishal Division 23
Mymensingh Division 25
Rajshahi Division 15
Rangpur Division 16

Urban areas by population

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See also: Demographics of Bangladesh

Dhaka is by far the largest urban area as well as the largest metropolitan area in Bangladesh. Chittagong is the second largest city and urban area in Bangladesh as well as the second largest metropolitan in Bangladesh.

Khulna is the third largest city and second largest port city of the country after Chittagong. Also, the adjoining areas of Khulna are abided by port-related business, industry, governmental foreign investment, and some well-known mega projects. This city also has a rich history of industrialization through the British period. Khulna has also a significant number of tourism industries centered on the largest mangrove forest of the world, the Sundarbans. Cumilla city is also the third developed city after Khulna and Rajshahi. Cumilla is also marked as an economically stronger city compared to other cities after Dhaka and Chittagong. Cumilla city also got a richer regional economy for remittances and the tourism industry. Rajshahi is also a big city and is known as the educational city of Bangladesh due to its well-marked educational institutions with better results and better educational performances. So we can say that the best 5 cities in Bangladesh are Dhaka, Chittagong, Cumilla, Khulna, and Rajshahi. Other major cities with a stronger economy and developer infrastructure after these five best cities are Sylhet, Bogra, Rangpur, Barishal, Jessore, Kushtia, Feni, Cox's Bazar, Mymenshing, Dinajpur, Pabna, Brahmanbaria, Narsingdi, Bholo, Gopalganj, etc.

The following table shows the largest populated area within a local government area.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b About Us, Local Government Engineering Department, Ministry of Local Government, Bangladesh, archived from the original on 9 October 2018, retrieved 9 October 2018
  2. ^ a b Statistical Pocketbook Bangladesh 2017 (PDF), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, 2018
  3. ^ a b c d e Population and Housing Census 2011 - Volume 3: Urban Area Report (PDF), Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, August 2014, pp. ix, xi, 24–26, 167
  4. ^ a b Elisa Muzzini; Gabriela Aparicio (11 April 2013), Bangladesh: The Path to Middle-Income Status from an Urban Perspective, World Bank Publications, p. 51
  5. ^ Population and Housing Census 2022: National Report (PDF). Vol. I. Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. November 2023. p. 56.
  6. ^ "Table 01: Household and Population by Type of Dwelling by Paurashava, Union and Location, 2022". Population & Housing Census 2022. District Reports. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. 2024.
  1. ^ Population is for City Corporation. For Dhaka, which was split into Dhaka North and Dhaka South City Corporations after 2011, the combined figures for both are given.
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