Sunamganj District Information

Sunamganj is a district within the Sylhet Division which is located in north-eastern Bangladesh. Sunamganj sub-division was upgraded to a district in 1984. This district has10 upazilas, 4 municipalities, 36 wards, 139 mahallas, 82 union parishads, 1711 mouzas and 2813 villages. The subdistricts are Bishwamvarpur Upazila, Chhatak Upazila, Derai Upazila, Dharmapasha Upazila, Dowarabazar Upazila, Jagannathpur Upazila, Jamalganj Upazila, Sullah Upazila, Sunamganj Sadar Upazila and Tahirpur Upazila.

Area: 3,669.58 km2 (1,416.8 sq mi).

Population: 1,968,669. Among them males are 50.89% and female 49.11%.

Density: 536.5/ km2

Literacy rate: Average literacy 22.3%; male 27.5%, female 17.6%.

Religion: Muslims 83.62%, Hindu15.95% and other religions 0.43%.

Main rivers: The Surma and the Kushiyara.

Boundary: Khasia and Jaintia hills (India) on the north, Habiganj and Kishoreganj districts on the south, Sylhet district on the east, Netrokona and greater Mymensingh districts on the west of Sunamganj.

Weather: The annual average temperature of Sunamganj has a maximum of 33.2°C and a minimum 13.6°C. Annual rainfall of Sunamganj is 3334 mm.

Ethnic community: Manipuri, Khasia, Garo and Hajong.

Marks of Liberation War: Mass killing site at Sreeramshi and Raniganj villages of Jagannathpur Upazila, T&T Office of Derai Upazila. mass grave site near the T&T Office .
Sunamganj has memorials like Memorial plank with names of great martyrs engraved, memorial plank at Raniganj, Shikha Satera (Seventeen Flames) and the Central Memorial at Chhatak.

Educational institutions: There are 2technical institute, 1PTI and 5music schools.
There are also 22college, 126secondary School, 664primary School (government), 312 primary school (private), 104madrasa, 94 satellite school and 56community schools.

Main occupation: Agriculture 43.43%.

Main crop: Boro paddy.

Mineral resources: Natural gas, limestone and stone.

Main exports: Paddy, fish, dried fish, orange, limestone, cement and paper pulp.

Transportation process: Main transportation is bus. There are railways and waterways also available.

Industries: Chhatak Cement Factory ,Chhatak Pulp and Paper Mills are most notable. Flour mill, ice factory, rice mill, saw mill, cold storage ,fish processing and printing presses are also available.

Historical events:
The name Sunamganj was after the name of Sipahi Sunamuddin, who established a bazaar on the bank of the river Surma.
People of Sunamganj fought a lot for the liberty. Among them Nankar Rebellion of Sukhair in 1922-23 is notable. Many political leaders and activists of Sunamganj were involved in this anti-British movement.
Also During the war of liberation many historical events took place here which held between the freedom fighters and the Pak army. Sunamganj was liberated on 6 December 1971.

Sunamganj is famous for folk music. Mystic poet and singerHason Raja and many others are from this district.

Renowned Personalities
Hason Raja (Renowned mystic poet and singer)
Shah Abdul Karim (Renowned mystic poet)
Dewan Moshin Raja(Mystic poet)
Radha Romon Dutta (Baul folk music composer and founder of the dhamail dance tradition)
Radhamadhav Dutta (Mystic poet)
Shahed Ali(Author and novelist)
Dewan Moshin Raja (Author and novelist)
Mominul Moujdin (Poet and novelist)
Khan Bahadur Ghulam Mustafa Chowdhury (Notable politician)

SUNAMGONJ Town
Sunamganj is a small town which stands on the bank of the river Surma. This town was established in late 18th century. The present town has an area of 22.16 sq km with a population of 49373. Among them male are 52.70% and female 47.30%. Population density is 2228 per sq km. sunamganj town consists of 9 wards and 44 mahallas. Literacy rate among the town people is 58.8%.

Attractive places of Sunamganj:
Bagbari Tila (Chhatak upaz
Sukhair Kalibari Temple.
Kahala Kalibari.
Maheshkhala Kalibari (Dharmapasha upazila).
The palace of Raja Bijoy Singh (16th century, Tahirpur upazila).
Chhatak Cement Factory.
Chhatak Pulp and Paper Mills.
Surma River.