DHAKA

Background: Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh and is known as the city of mosques. Dhaka district is situated almost at the middle place of the country. Dhaka (city) stands on the bank of the river Buriganga. There are several myths on the origin of the name Dhaka. One is that the name came following the establishment of Dhakeshwari temple by Raja Ballal Sena in the 12th century CE and Dhakeswari is the name of a Goddess. While others say that Dhakeshwari stands the meaning of Goddess of Dhaka; so the temple must have been named after the region. Another myths says that the Dhak (a membranophone instrument) is used as part of the Durga Puja festival in this temple and hence the name Dhaka. Yet another one says it came from the plant named Dhak (Buttea Frondosa) which was widely found in that area.The more credible one comes from the source of Rajatarangini written by a Kashmiri Brahman, Kalhana. It says the region was originally known as Dhakka. The word Dhakka means watchtower. Bikrampur and Sonargaon — the earlier strongholds of Bengal rulers were situated nearby. Dhaka was most likely used as the watchtower for the fortification purpose.

Geographic Area and Location: Dhaka district is surrounded on the north by Gazipur and Tangail districts, on the east by Narayanganj district, on the south by Munshinganj and Faridpur districts and on the west by Manikganj district. It lies between 23º53' and 24º06' north latitudes and between 90º01' and 90º37' east longitudes. The total area of the district is 1463.60 sq. km. (565.00 sq. miles).

Administration: Dhaka district was established in 1772. The district consists of 6 upazila and 41 thanas, 86 unions, 974 mauzas, 1999 villages, 2 city corporations, 92 city wards, 855 city mahallas, 3 paurashavas, 27 wards and 133 mahallas. The upazilas are Dhamrai, Dohar, Keraniganj, Nawabganj and Savar. It consists of forty one thanas namely Adabor, Gulshan, New Market, Badda, Pallabi, Hazaribag, Bimanbandar, Cantonment, Demra, Dhanmondi, Kafrul, Kamrangir Char, Khilgaon, Sutrapur, Tejgaon, Shyampur, Kotwali, Lalbagh, Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Motijheel, Uttara, Ramna, Sabujbagh, Bangshal, Chak Bazar, Dakshinkhan, Darus Salam, Gendaria, Jatrabari, Kadamtali, Kalabagan, Khilkhet, Paltan, Rampura, Shah Ali, Shahbagh, SherE-Bangla Nagar, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Turag and Uttar Khan

Township: Dhaka municipality was established in 1864 and was turned into a Town Committee in 1960. The name of the Town Committee was changed to Dhaka Municipality in 1972. It was turned into a Municipal Corporation in 1983. Finally it was elevated to City Corporation in 1991. Dhaka is the capital city of Bangladesh. Other important establishments include Bangladesh Supreme Court, High Court, Judge Court, Diplomatic Missions of many countries, Bangladesh Secretariat, National Museum, National Zoo, and head offices of various sectors and corporations, government departments, business houses and NGOs.

Archaeological Heritage and Relics: Lalbagh fort and the tomb of Bibi Pari (1668), Bara Katra (1641), Chhota Katra and the tomb of Bibi Champa (1663), ancient fort and the palace of the Nawab (jail hospital, 1638), Ahsan Manzil (1872), Husaini Dalan (1642), Binod Bibi Mosque (1456 ad), Seven domed Mosque (1676), Chawk Mosque (1676), Bibi Meher Mosque (1814), Armanitola Mosque (1716), Khawja Shahbaj Mosque (1679), Shayesta Khan Mosque (1664-78), Khawja Ambar Mosque (1677-78), Moriam Saleh Mosque (1706), Sitara Begum Mosque (1815), Farruk Shayer Mosque (1703-1704), Tara Mosque, Azimpur Mosque (1746), Kartalab Khan Mosque (1700-1704), Holy Rosary Church (1678), Setara Begum Mosque (1819), Bagmara Math (Nawabganj), home stead of Raja Harish Chandra (eighteenth century, savar), Shree Shree Sani Ashram and Math (1199 ad), Dhakeshwari Mandir (eventeenth century), Jaykali Mondir, Bahadur Shah Park, Nimtali Deuri (Asiatic society of bangladesh, 1765) etc. are archaeological heritage and relics of this district.

Marks of the War of Liberation: Mass grave: near Kalampur Bazar (Dhamrai), South Kamlapur (Dhaka), National Martyrs' Memorial (Savar), mass killing site at Rayerbazar, Memorial Monument for intellectuals at Mirpur, Central Shaheed Minar, Amar Ekushey and Sangsaptak Sculptures (Jahangirnagar University), Aparajeyo Bangla and Soparjita Swadhinata (Dhaka University), Shahid Jahangir Gate, etc are marks of the war of liberation of Dhaka district.

There are some Statistics about Dhaka:

1. Broad classification of area 2011

Name	Total Area	Land Area	Reserve Forest	Riverine Area (In sq. km.)
Dhaka Metropolitan	302.92	279.43	0	23.49

2. Number of Municipality, Union, Mauza, Mahalla and Village 2011

Name	Municipality	Ward (PSA)	Mahalla	Union	Mauza	Village
Dhaka Metropolitan	2	92	855	17	86	123

3. Number of household, population and density 2011

Name	Household	Male	Female	Both	Average size of household	Density per sq. km
Dhaka Metropolitan	2034146	4931802	3974237	8906039	8.42	30551

4. Population by religion 2011

Name	Muslim	Hindu	Buddhist	Christian	Others	Total
Dhaka Metropolitan	8524587	320763	10292	48620	1777	8906039

5. Number of religious institution 2011

Name	Mosque	Eid-Gah	Temple (Mandir)	Church (Girza)	Pagoda	Others
Dhaka Metropolitan	3906	77	291	11	4	0

6. Number of pond, dighee, flood camps/shelter, cyclone shelter, stadium/ playground, park 2011

Name	Pond	Dighee	River Flow	Flood camp/ shelter	Cyclone Shelter	Stadium/ Playground	Park
Dhaka Metropolitan	676	0	8	0	0	99	17

7. Number of selected industry 2011

Name	Textile Mill	Garments Factory	Rice Mill	Match Factory	Steel and Engineering	Aluminium
Dhaka Metropolitan	7	1227	19	8	14	30

8. Number of Government health complex and health personnel 2011

Name	Number of Bed	Number of Doctor	Number of Nurse	Number of Technician	Number of Other Staff
Dhaka Metropolitan	8719	3920	3099	720	7910

9. Number of private hospital/clinic and related health personnel 2011

Name	Number of Centre	Number of Bed	Number of Doctor	Number of Nurse	Number of Technician	Number of Other Staff
Dhaka Metropolitan	620	16944	6091	3213	1163	10613

10. Number of diagnostic centre and related health personnel 2011

Name	Number of Centre	Number of Doctor	Number of Nurse	Number of Technician	Number of Other Staff
Dhaka Metropolitan	1040	3385	3109	2449	3147

11. Number of Government office, post office, bank, NGO and dak-banglow/rest house 2011

Name	All Government office	Post office	All nationalized bank branch	All private bank branch	All NGO’s
Dhaka Metropolitan	60	135	295	325	11

12. Number of cinema hall, registered club, auditorium, public library and orphanage 2011

Name	Cinema hall	Registered club	Library	Orphanage	Auditorium
Dhaka Metropolitan	40	7547	19	143	82

13. Length of metalled, semi metalled and unmetalled road 2011

Name	Metalled road	Semi metalled road	Unmetalled (kacha) road	Total (Kilometer)
Dhaka Metropolitan	1594	104	533	2231

14. Number of bridge, baily bridge, culvert, pool, shako and others 2011

Name	Bridge	Baily bridge	Culvert	Pool	Shako
Dhaka Metropolitan	108	9	78	6	10

15. Number of railway station, steamer/launch station and bus stand 2011

Name	Railway station	Steamer/launch station	Bus stand
Dhaka Metropolitan	8	4	41