Rangpur District


Rangpur is a district in Northern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Rangpur Division.

Geography

Under the Rangpur division composed of eight districts of northern Bangladesh, the District of Rangpur is bordered on the north by Nilphamari District, on the south by Gaibandha District, on the east by Kurigram, and on the west by Dinajpur district. Rangpur town is the divisional headquarter. The soil composition is mainly alluvial soil of the Teesta River basin, and the remaining is barind soil. The temperature ranges from 32 degrees Celsius to 11 degrees Celsius, and the annual rainfall averages 2931 mm.

Travelling (Distance From Dhaka to Rangpur)

If anyone wants to travel Rangpur s/he can use Air, Rail or Roadway for traveling. If anyone wants to travel by Air s/he has to travel Dhaka Domestic Airport to Saidpur Airport. 7 flights travel this route daily. US-Bangla Airlines, Novoair, and Biman offer the flights. Distance by airways from Dhaka to Saidpur is 158 miles or 254.28 km or 137.3 nautical miles. If anyone wants to travel by Rail s/he has to travel Kamalapur Rail Station to Rangpur Rail Station by the train named "Rangpur Express". Once you decide to travel by rail you have to travel 281 miles or 452.70 km. Sunday is the day off for "Rangpur Express". By road travelers have to travel 190.76 miles or 307 km using Savar-Kaliakair route or 203.19 miles or 327 km using Tongi-Mawna route.shamu

History

Rangpur was conquered in by the army of Raja Man Singh, a commander of the Mughal emperor, Akbar, in 1575, but it was only until 1686 that it was fully integrated into the Mughal Empire. Place names such as Mughalbasa and Mughalhat bear testimony to the Mughal association and past of Rangpur and its hinterland. Later on, Rangpur passed under the control of "Sarker" of Ghoraghat. During the period of the British East India Company, the Sannyasi Rebellion took place.

Language

Rangpur is a multi-lingual district. People of Rangpur have two languages- Rangpuri and Bengali. But Rangpuri is used by most inhabitants. Bengali is more popular in the towns and among the educated people. But a small portion of Santal and other similar people also have their languages.

Demographics

Total population of Rangpur is 2534365, male 50.91%, female 49.09%. Islam is the predominant religion in Rangpur. Hinduism is the second largest religion in Rangpur. Muslim 89.60%,Hindu 9.59%,. Christian 0.50% and others 0.31%; ethnic nationals: Santal and Orao.
In an anthropological view, most people of Rangpur are having Rajbangshi blood in their veins. This is true mainly for the villages which are the majority in Rangpur.
The district of Rangpur has 4924 mosques, 480 Temple, 43 churches and six tombs.

Administrative sub-divisions

The district has 3 municipalities, namely, Rangpur Sadar, Badarganj, and Haragach, and eight Upazilas, namely:
Rangpur town, covering an area of around 43 square kilometers, lies on the bank of the Ghaghat river and was turned into a municipality back in 1869. The population of the Rangpur municipality as of 2006 is 251,699, with 52% male and 48% female, and the literacy rate is 54.6%. The establishment of Rangpur City Corporation, as Divisional City is now underway after the establishment of the Rangpur Division in January 2010. The area of Rangpur City Corporation is estimated to be around 100 square kilometers accommodating about 6 million population by the next Census of 2011. Rangpur city would be the fifth-largest city of Bangladesh after Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna and Rajshahi estimated population by the next 2011 census.
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Education

is the only university in the Rangpur district. The Rangpur Medical College, situated in Rangpur is one of the major government medical colleges in Bangladesh. Carmichael College, established in 1916 by some leading zamindars, is a postgraduate college offering courses in 14 subjects in the faculties of arts, social science, science, and commerce. The most renowned educational institution in this region is Rangpur Cadet College. Other renowned institutions include Cantonment Public School & College,Rangpur, Rangpur Government College, Police Lines School and College and Rangpur Zilla School. Zilla School is established in 1832, this higher secondary school is known for the quality of education it offers. Other prominent educational institutions include Rangpur Government College, Begum Rokeya College, and Govt. Commercial Institute. Besides there is one polytechnic institute, one vocational institute, around 282 high schools, 722 government primary schools, 38 junior high schools, 193 NGO operated schools and almost 370 Madrasahs in Rangpur. Rangpur Model College is now an honors college.574567546

Places of interest

Just south of the city of Rangpur lies the Tajhat Zamindar's palace. After the end of the British Raj, the building was abandoned and decayed rapidly, although it was used for a few years as a courthouse during the 1980s. In the year 2004, it was largely restored and turned into a museum with ancient inscriptions, art, and coins from the area on display. RDRS Bangladesh, an NGO in northwest Bangladesh, has a large office and guesthouse/convention center in the town of Rangpur.
A museum and women's training center was established in Pairabondh, the birthplace of Begum Rokeya. It is half an hour's drive away from Rangpur city. There is another museum at the heart of the town.
There is a Zoo in the city. There is an ancient auditorium named 'Town Hall' at the center of the city, where different cultural programs are held. In the great Rangpur region, no economic development took place until the 90's, mainly because of the yearly flooding the region used to see before the making of "Teesta Barrage." There is a military cantonment in the town.
"Bhinno Jogot" is a theme park and a picnic spot which is situated 15 kilometers from Rangpur Town.
Near the stadium, there is a place called 'Chicli vata' surrounding bij many lakes and rice fields.
Jadu Nibash in Radhaballav is an ancient house of former minister of Bangladesh, Mashiur Rahman.

Media

has a Broadcasting station in Rangpur.Bangladesh Television has a satellite station in Rangpur. Rangpur Press Club is situated in the Rangpur town. Rangpur has almost 19 cinema halls. There are several locally published newspapers in the district.

Online

Bangladesh Betar Rangpur
News paper: Dainik Dabanol

Development organisations

RDRS Bangladesh – previously Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service – has its main operational headquarters in Rangpur town at the RDRS Complex. RDRS was established in 1972 following the War of Liberation, after assisting refugees in camps across the border in India. RDRS returned to help rehabilitate the disadvantaged northwest region of Rangpur-Dinajpur, providing relief, running health services, providing education, developing agriculture and roads, and also starting conscientization applying the Frierian approach. It is the field program of the Geneva-based Lutheran World Federation. RDRS became a fully Bangladeshi NGO in 1997 with a national Board of Trustees and Executive Director. RDRS is still a major development actor across the northwest working with around 2 million landless and marginal farmers, indigenous minorities, vulnerable communities such as the river islands and 360 Federations, i.e. community-based organizations. The RDRS Rangpur Guesthouse based on the RDRS Complex is the leading hotel in town.

Notable people

The members of the national parliament are: