...Nature of Beauties...: Rangamati Hill District

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Rangamati(Bengali:রাঙ্গামাটি পার্বত্য জেলা) is a district in South-eastern Bangladesh. It is a part of the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the town of Rangamati serves as the headquarters of the district. Area-wise, Rangamati is the largest district of the country.

Geography

Rangamati is located in the Chittagong Division. The total area of the district is 6116.13 sq km. It is bounded by the Tripura state of India on the north, Bandarban District on the south, Mizoram State of India and Chin State of Myanmar on the east, and Khagrachari and Chittagong Districts on the west.
It’s a combination of Hill- Lake-Plain land The area of the district is 6116.13 km² of which 1291.5 km² is riverine and 4824.63 km².is under forest vegetation and the lake area is about 650 km².

Demography

The total population is 5,08,182 according to 2005 census of which tribal 52% and non-tribal 48%. The number of males is 2,87,060 and the females are 2,38,043 (Census 2001). The density of population is 83 per square kilometer (Census 2001). The number of household is 1,03,974 having the household size 4.8 (Census 2001). The total population is divided into Bangalees and eleven tribes (ethnic minorities): Chakma, Marma, Tanchangya, Tripura, Pankua, Lushi, Khiang, Murang, Rakhain, Chak, Bowm,Khumi.[2]
Tribal population : (as per census of 2005 ):
Chakma-1,86,395, Marma-44,727, Tanchanga-18,607, Tripura-6,697, Pankho- 2,118, Bowm-1,053, khyang- 791, Lusai- 217, Chak- 177, Rakhain-70, Khumi-50,Gurkha-03,Etc.-174 [3]
As per 1991 census, the religious break up of the population of the district were: Buddhist 53.83%,Muslim 39.28%, Hindu 5.62% and Christian 1.12%. Religious institutions Pagoda 1230, Mosque 1059, Temple 65, Church 16. Genderwise, male constituted 53.59% and female constituted 46.41% of the population.[4]

Historical Significance

Rangamati was a contesting ground for the kings of Tripura and Arakan.This region came under the Mughal Empire after the Muslim invasion in 1566.^[1]
In 1737 Sher Mosta Khan,a tribal leader,took refuge with the Mughals. After this the Chakma settlement began along with various other settlements of varying ethnicity.^[2]
From 1760 to 1761,this land was leased to the East India Company.^[3]

Rangamati Town

Rangamati Town is mainly divided into 13 areas. Namely Vedvedi, Collegegate, Rajbari, Newmarket, Banarupa, Kathaltoli, Fishery Ghath, Reserve Bazar, Launch Ghath, Pathor Ghata, Tabalchori, Mazher Basti, Asam Basti.

For the Town, see Rangamati.

Administration

Chairman of Zila Porishod: Nikhil Kumar Chakma
Deputy Commissioner (DC): Shourendro Nath Chokroborty [5]

Education System

Rangamati district has an average literacy rate of 36.5%; male 45.8% and female 24.7%. There are 291 government primary schools, 120 non-government primary schools, 22 junior schools, 6 government high schools, 45 non-government high schools, 2 government colleges, 13 non-government colleges, 61 madrasas and 7 technical schools located throughout the district.

Subdivisions

The district of Rangamati consists of 10 upazilas, 1 municipality (9 wards and 35 mahallas), 50 union parishads, 162 mouzas and 1347 villages. The upazilas are Baghaichhari, Barkal, Kawkhali, Belaichhari, Kaptai, Juraichhari, Langadu, Nannerchar, Rajasthali and Rangamati sadar.