Dinajpur (District)

Dinajpur district
Basic data
Country	Bangladesh
division	Rangpur
Seat	Dinajpur
surface	3,444.3 km²
Residents	2,990,128 (2011)
density	868 inhabitants per km²
ISO 3166-2	BD-14
Website	dinajpur.gov.bd

Coordinates: 25 ° 38 '  N , 88 ° 39'  E

The Dinajpur District ( Bengali : দিনাজপুর জেলা , Dinajpur jelā ) English : Dinajpur District ) is an administrative unit in northern Bangladesh , which lies within the Rangpur Division . The capital is also called Dinajpur . The district has 2,990,128 inhabitants (2011 census).

geography

The 3444.3 km² district of Dinajpur is bordered in the north by the districts Thakurgaon and Panchagarh , in the south by the districts Gaibandha and Joypurhat , in the east by the districts Nilphamari and Rangpur and in the west by the Indian state of West Bengal .

The main rivers in Dinajpur are the Atrai , Choto Jamuna , Dhepa , Eshamoti , Kanchan , Punarbhaba and Tangon .

climate

The temperatures fluctuate between 10.5 ° C and 33.5 ° Celsius. The average annual rainfall is 2536 mm. The average humidity is over 70%. There is little rain in the months from November to March. June, July and August are the months with the most rain.

population

Population development

As everywhere in Bangladesh, the population in the district has been growing rapidly for decades.

age structure

As everywhere in Bangladesh, the population is on average very young. The average age at the last census in 2011 was around 25 years and the trend is rising.

The 2011 census showed the following age structure:

Age	0–9 years	10–19 years	20-29 years	30–39 years	40-49 years	50–59 years	60–69 years	70–79 years	80 years and more
number	647.715	577,666	545,448	443.193	338.670	208,336	131,781	65,702	31,617
proportion of	21.66%	19.32%	18.24%	14.82%	11.33%	6.97%	4.41%	2.20%	1.06%
Source: Zila Dinajpur, table P14, page 542

Significant places

The most populous place within the district is the district capital Dinajpur . Other towns are Birampur , Birganj , Bochaganj , Fulbari , Goraghat , Hakimpur and Parbatipur . The urban population makes up only 15.17 percent of the total population. The towns have the following population figures:

District population by gender

As in many parts of Bangladesh, the proportion of the female population is lower than the number of male residents.

Distribution of the population by gender in Dinajpur district
	1974 census		1981 census		1991 census		2001 census		2011 census
	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of
TOTAL	1,457,175	100%	1,804,375	100%	2.260.131	100%	2,642,850	100%	2,990,128	100%
Men	752.280	51.63%	930.560	51.57%	1,166,893	51.63%	1,363,892	51.61%	1,508,670	50.46%
Women	704.895	48.37%	873.815	48.43%	1,093,238	48.37%	1,278,958	48.39%	1,481,458	49.54%
Source: Zila Dinajpur in the 2011 census, table PT-02, page 18

Ethnic groups

The population is ethnically very uniform. But 66,861 people (2.24% of the population) do not belong to the Bengal people. These include 49,861 Santal , 4566 Oraon and 1629 Barman .

The Santal live mainly in the Upazilas Nawabganj (8496 people), Birganj (6313 people), Birampur (5605 people), Goraghat (4929 people), Dinajpur Sadar (4191 people), Fulbari (3956 people), Biral (3275 people) and Parbatipur (3180 people).

The Oraon live mainly in the Upazilas Hakimpur (1868 people), Dinajpur Sadar (828 people) and Nawabganj (731 people) and the Barmans in Dinajpur Sadar (626 people) and Biral (400 people).

religion

Until the early Middle Ages, the majority of the population was Buddhist. But a thousand years ago there were also numerous Hindus. With the Muslim conquest of the region in 1303, Buddhism almost completely disappeared and many caste-free Hindus also converted to Islam over the course of the next few centuries.

Due to the high birth rate and the emigration of Hindus, the proportion of Muslims is growing steadily. However, there are still significant Hindu minorities in various Upazilas. The proportion of Hindus in the Upazila Kaharole is 44.06 percent, in the Upazila Bochaganj 37.92 percent, in the Upazila Birganj 27.90 percent and in the Upazila Khansama 27.70 percent.

year	Buddhists		Christians		Hindus		Muslims		Other		Total
	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of
1981	500	0.03%	13,385	0.74%	383,541	21.26%	1,364,402	75.63%	42,187	2.34%	1,804,375	100.00%
1991	2551	0.11%	18.051	0.80%	465.229	20.58%	1,732,239	76.64%	42,061	1.86%	2.260.131	100.00%
2001	1093	0.04%	27,996	1.06%	521925	19.75%	2,057,030	77.83%	34,806	1.32%	2,642,850	100.00%
2011	473	0.02%	37,488	1.25%	583,313	19.51%	2,333,253	78.03%	35,601	1.19%	2,990,128	100.00%
Source: 1981, 1991, 2001 and 2011 census results

Distribution urban and rural population

Bandarban is one of the most rural districts within the country. The distribution:

Urban and rural population in Dinajpur district
	1974 census		1981 census		1991 census		2001 census		2011 census
	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of	number	proportion of
TOTAL	1,457,175	100%	1,804,375	100%	2.260.131	100%	2,642,850	100%	2,990,128	100%
CITY	79,098	5.43%	188,748	8.56%	288,367	12.76%	370.864	14.03%	453.699	15.17%
COUNTRY	1,378,077	94.57%	1,615,627	91.44%	1,971,764	87.24%	2,271,986	85.97%	2,536,429	84.83%
Source: Zila Dinajpur in the 2011 census, table PT-01, page 17

education

There is a university in the district and several colleges. The state education system also includes primary and secondary schools. There are also private schools and a few religious schools ( madrasas ).

Nevertheless, the level of education is at a low level. Only 66.31 percent of 5-9 year olds and 86.68 percent of 10-14 year olds attended school (2011). What is rather unusual for the region is the fact that in percentage terms more girls than boys go to school.

At the end of the colonial era, almost the entire population was illiterate. That changed little when the area was part of East Pakistan. Despite significant efforts, the goal of full literacy is still a long way off. There are also huge differences. While more than 7 in 10 men can read and write in urban areas, less than half of women in rural areas can. But literacy has been growing rapidly since 1991 and is significantly higher than in many other districts in Bangladesh. The following table shows the development:

Literacy in the Dinajpur district
unit	1991 census	2001 census	2011 census
	proportion of	proportion of	number	proportion of
TOTAL	29.85%	45.67%	1,335,127	52.42%
Men	37.78%	51.02%	714.105	55.68%
Women	21.27%	39.99%	621.022	49.12%
TOTAL CITY	49.2%	61.77%	265,606	66.96%
City men	56.2%	66.49%	142,765	70.42%
City women	41.5%	56.67%	122,841	63.34%
TOTAL COUNTRY	26.8%	42.93%	1,069,521	49.74%
Country men	34.9%	48.36%	571,340	52.91%
Country women	18.2%	37.18%	498.181	46.54%
Source: Zila Dinajpur in the 2011 census, Tables PT-15, page 23 and P-07, page 273

The highest public educational institutions are:

• Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University
• Dinajpur Polytechnic Institute
• Dinajpur Government College
• Dinajpur City College
• Dinajpur Govt. Women's college
• Dinajpur Medical College and Hospital

administration

The Dinajpur district is divided into 13 so-called Upazilas : Biral, Birampur, Birganj, Bochaganj (also called Setabganj), Chirirbandar, Dinajpur Sadar, Fulbari, Goraghat, Hakimpur, Kaharole, Khansama, Nawabganj and Parbatipur. Within this administrative subdivision there are eight self-governing cities ( municipality ), 101 Union Parishads (village councils) and 2131 villages.

economy

The majority of the employed work in agriculture. In total there are (2011) 2,342,413 people who are older than 10 years. Of these, 589,327 people are in school or are not gainfully employed, 15,884 people are looking for work and 824,465 people work in a household. 912,737 people are in paid employment. Of these, 579,948 (= 70.3 percent) people work in agriculture and fishing, 49,732 in industry and 283,057 in services.

Web links

• Article on Dinajpur District at Banglapedia
• Dinajpur at the 2011 census
• Zila Dinajpur at the 2011 census
• Article Dinajpur Subdivision in the Imperial Gazetteer of India
• Article Dinajpur District in the Imperial Gazetteer of India