Pirojpur District

Pirojpur

পিরোজপুর
Pirojpur পিরোজপুর
District
	Pirojpur District
	Top: Momin Mosque; Bottom: Floating fields in Baithakatha village.
	Location of Pirojpur in Bangladesh
	Expandable map of Pirojpur District
	Coordinates: 22°35′N 89°58′E / 22.58°N 89.97°E
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Barisal
Headquarters	Pirojpur
Government
• Deputy Commissioner	Abu Ali Md. Shazzad Hossain
Area
• Total	1,277.80 km2 (493.36 sq mi)
Population (2022)
• Total	1,198,195
• Density	940/km2 (2,400/sq mi)
Demonym(s)	Pirojpuri, Firozpuri
Time zone	UTC+06:00 (BST)
Postal code	8500
HDI (2018)	0.672; medium · 2nd of 21

Pirojpur (Bengali: পিরোজপুর) is a district (zilla) in south-western Bangladesh. It is a part of Barisal Division.^[3]

Position and Volume

Pirojpur is bounded by Barisal and Gopalganj districts to the north, Barguna district to the south, Jhalokati and Barguna districts to the east, Bagerhat district and Sundarban to the west. Baleswari River separates Pirojpur from Bagerhat in the west

Etymology

According to some, the second son of Subedar Shah Shuja, Firoz Shah, died in this area, and the area became known subsequently as 'Firozpur'. In time, the pronunciation 'Firozpur' slowly muted to 'Pirozpur' and later 'Pirojpur'.^[4]

Geography

Most of the land is low-lying and the soil is fertile. There are small forests. Nesarabad is known for its business centre and also for the Sundori tree (a kind of mangrove) that grows there.

Rivers

Gabkhan, Baleshwar, Damodar, Kocha, Pona, Kochakhali, Kaliganga, Sandha, Doratana etc. are big and known rivers.

The Baleshwar, the river that is situated to the east of Sunder Bans splits into two parts, but this is getting smaller and smaller day by day. One is known as Doratana which flows through Bagerhat and the other and mightier one is known as Kacha which flows through Bhandaria. Then it has an offshoot Baleshwar which later meets with Doratana and falls into Kaliganga near Mativanga, Najirpur. And Kocha splits into two river Kaliganga and Sandha. Kaliganga flows to the north meets with Baleshwar and flow to further north. and Sandha flows to the east. Later Sandha coalesce with Arial Khan and falls into the Meghna.

Demographics

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1974	823,787	—
1981	947,420	+2.02%
1991	1,063,185	+1.16%
2001	1,111,068	+0.44%
2011	1,113,257	+0.02%
2022	1,198,195	+0.67%
Sources:^[1]^[5]

According to the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, Pirojpur District had 298,490 households and a population of 1,198,195. 218,660 (18.25%) were under 10 years of age. The population density was 938 people per km². Pirojpur district had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 85.53%, compared to the national average of 74.80%, and a sex ratio of 1056 females per 1000 males. 19.98% of the population lived in urban areas.^[1]

Religion

Religions in Pirojpur district (2022)^[1]
Religion			Percent
Islam			84.88%
Hinduism			15.10%
Other or not stated			0.02%

Religion in present-day Pirojpur district^[a]
Religion	Population (1941)^[6]^{: 100–101}	Percentage (1941)	Population (2022)^[1]	Percentage (2022)
Islam	388,000	60.23%	1,016,985	84.88%
Hinduism	255,748	39.70%	180,980	15.10%
Others ^[b]	477	0.07%	230	0.02%
Total Population	644,225	100%	1,198,195	100%

Islam is the predominant religion in the district, along with a large Hindu minority. But similar to other districts in the Barisal division, the minority Hindu population have not only seen a decline in their share of population, but also their absolute numbers, in the 2001-2011 period. The percentage share of Hindus is the largest in Nazirpur Upazila and the lowest in Indurkani Upazila.^[5]

There are 3,087 mosques and 1,051 temples.^[7]

Administration

The subdivision (then a mohokooma, now a zilla) of Pirojpur was created on 28 October 1859 Pirojpur district was formed on 1 March 1984 and the municipality was formed in 1885. The area of Pirojpur is 1277.80 km². It is under Barisal Division. There are three municipalities in Pirojpur named Pirojpur, Bhandaria, Mathbaria. There are seven upazilas (sub districts) in Pirojpur district: Pirojpur Sadar, Bhandaria, Mathbaria, Indurkani, Nazirpur, Nesarabad and Kawkhali. Of these, Mathbaria is the largest (353.25 km²; it occupies 27.01% of the total area of the district). Kawkhali is the smallest (79.65 km²). Pirojpur District also contains 52 unions, 390 mauzas and 648 villages.^[7]

Chairman of Zilla Porishod : Mahiuddin Maharaj^[8]
Deputy Commissioner (DC) : Abu Ali Mohammad Sajjad Hossain^[9]

Borders

Pirojpur District is bordered by Barisal and Gopalganj districts to the north, Barguna district to the south, Jhalokati and Barguna districts to the east, Bagerhat district and The Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest to the west.

Sub-districts (Upazillas)

There are seven Sub-districts in Pirojpur and their population are given below:^[10]

Upazillas	Population
Bhandaria	164,618
Kawkhali	70,515
Mathbaria	262,841
Nazirpur	180,408
Nesarabad	212,232
Pirojpur Sadar	163,470
Indurkani	77,674

Transportation

Buses

There are two bus terminals in Pirojpur, Pirojpur Bus terminal and Pirojpur Old Bus Terminal. Many Bus company connect Pirojpur to other districts like Dhaka and many more.

Riverine

Launches, steamers and boats are used for travelling on the rivers. The local port is called Hoolarhaat Launch Station (ghaat)serving as the primary port for Pirojpur. It is situated some 5 km east to the Pirojpur town and the river port stands on Kaliganga. Beside it is the steamer wharf. Launches destined to Dhaka and other parts of the country regularly start from here.

Tourist attractions

Tasmima Villa, Bhandaria
Bhandaria Thana Echo Park, Bhandaria
Aman Ullah Collage, (Baridara Complex), Khatalia Road, Bhandaria.
Minister Bari Mosque, Bhandaria.
Kuriana Floating Market
Kuriana Guava Garden
Momin Mosque
Chanmari Shooting Spot
Pirojpur River View Eco Park (locally known as DC Park)
Rayerkathi Raaj Bari
Horinpala River View Eco Park, Telikhali Union, Mathbaria
Shapleza Kuthibari, Mathbaria
Baleshwari,River

Economy

Agriculture is the main source of income for rural people here. There are also other sources of income which are mainly city based. They are given below:

Agriculture 50.82%
Commerce 18.71%
Service 7.69%
Non-agricultural labour 5.75%
Transport and communication 2.16%,
Religious service 1.61%
Construction 1.36%
Rent and remittance 0.95%
Industry 0.78%
Others 10.17%

Agricultural products

Paddy, Jute, Sugar Cane, Wheat, Guava, Banana, Coconut, Hog-plum, Betel Leaf, Betel Nuts are the chief Agricultural Products produced here.^[11]

Media

Print media:

Manobkantha (national)
Sangbad (national)
Prothom Alo (national)
Kaler Kantho (national)
Samakal (national)
Dainik Janakantha (national)
Jugantor (national)
Pirojpurer Kotha (local)

Notable people

Ahsan Habib
Anwar Hossain Manju
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, Islamic scholar and politician
Hatem Ali Jamadar, member of the Bengal Legislative Assembly
Jewel Aich
Jannatul Ferdous Oishee, model, was born at Matibhanga village and completed her HSC in Nazirpur.^[12]
Khalid Hassan Milu^{[citation needed]}
Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah
SM Rezaul Karim
Nesaruddin Ahmad, first Pir of Sarsina
Abu Zafar Mohammad Saleh, Islamic scholar and Independence Award recipient

Notes

^ Pirojpur subdivision of Bakerganj district excluding thanas of Banaripara, Bamna, Pathargata
^ Including Jainism, Christianity, Buddhism, Zoroastrianism, Judaism, Ad-Dharmis, or not stated