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Barisal City বরিশাল
—  Metropolitan city  —
Nickname(s): Chandradvipa
Barisal City Location of Barisal in Bangladesh
Coordinates: 22°48′0″N 90°30′0″E / 22.8°N 90.5°E / 22.8; 90.5
Country	Bangladesh
Division	Barisal Division
District	Barisal District
Municipality Eshtablished	1957
City Corporation	2000
Granted city status	2003[1]
Government
• Type	Mayor–Council
• Body	Barisal City Corporation
• City Mayor	Shawkat Hossain Hiron
Area[2]
• Metropolitan city	19.99 km2 (7.72 sq mi)
Population (2008)[3]
• Metropolitan city	210,374
• Density	10,524/km2 (27,260/sq mi)
• Metro	385,093
Time zone	BST (UTC+6)
Postal code	8200
GDP (2005)	$00 billion
Calling code	0431
Website	Official Web Portal

Barisal City (Bengali: বরিশাল Bariśāl)) is an old port on the Kirtankhola, former Ariel Khan on the northern shore of the Bay of Bengal in southern Bangladesh and it is 142 km (373 km by road) far from capital city Dhaka. It is now the headquarters of both the Barisal Division and the Barisal District. The city consists of 30 wards and 50 mahallas. The area of the town is 19.99 km².^[4] Barisal municipality was established in 1957 and was turned into a City Corporation in 2000.

Barisal City has one police academy.

History[link]

n Mughal period because of heavy fighting between them and Hindu chiefs. In course of time, it fell under Bengal Nawabs and British India, later passed to Bangladesh.

Following the partition of India in 1947, the area of Bangladesh became a province of Pakistan, initially known as East Bengal, and then, from 1955, as East Pakistan. The people of East Pakistan Province declared their independence as the nation of Bangladesh on March 26, 1971, while fighting a savage war against the central Pakistani government. The separation from Pakistan took place, with extensive aid from India, on December 16, 1971 as a result of the third Indo-Pakistan War. Bangladesh was soon recognized by most other nations, although Pakistan withheld diplomatic recognition until 1974 and China did not recognize the nation until 1976. Bangladesh was admitted to the United Nations in 1974.

The central city of this region is the city of Barisal. It is one of the biggest river ports in Bangladesh. It is a city with nearly 0.38 million people and a divisional headquarter, medical college, cadet college, some pharmaceutical industries, textile industries and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority's head office. Barisal is fast growing city of the country stands on the Kirtankhola River. Country's first short landing and take off airport has been completed in Barisal and a private Airlines named Air Bengal has begun its regular air flight between Dhaka Tejgaon Airport and Barisal.

The city is sometimes called the "Venice of the East" or the "Venice of Bengal".^[5]

Geography[link]

Barisal District with an area of 2790.51 km² is bounded by Madaripur, Shariatpur, Chandpur and Lakshmipur districts on the north, Patuakhali, Barguna and Jhalokati districts on the south, Bhola and Lakshmipur districts on the east, Jhalokati, Pirojpur and Gopalganj districts on the west. Whereas the area of the town is 16.37 km².

Climate[link]

Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon-type climate, with a hot and rainy summer and a dry winter. January is the coolest month with temperatures averaging near 26 deg C (78 d F) and April the warmest with temperatures from 33 to 36 deg C (91 to 96 deg F). The climate is one of the wettest in the world. Most places receive more than 1,525 mm of rain a year, and areas near the hills receive 5,080 mm ). Most rains occur during the monsoon (June–September) and little in winter (November–February).
Bangladesh is subject to devastating cyclones, originating over the Bay of Bengal, in the periods of April to May and September to November. Often accompanied by surging waves, these storms can cause great damage and loss of life. The cyclone of November 1970, in which about 500,000 lives were lost in Bangladesh, was one of the worst natural disasters of the country in the 20th century.
Bangladesh has warm temperatures throughout the year, with relatively little variation from month to month. January tends to be the coolest month and May the warmest. In Dhaka the average January temperature is about 19°C (about 66°F), and the average May temperature is about 29°C (about 84°F).
Required clothing: Lightweight cottons and linens throughout the year. Warmer clothes are needed in the evenings during the cool season. Waterproofs are necessary during the monsoon season.

Demography[link]

According to an estimate of 2008 Barisal has a population of 210,374; male 53.28%, female 46.72%. Literacy rate among the town people is 85%. Main occupations are Agriculture 35.28%, agricultural labourer 18.76%, wage labourer 4.16%, commerce 13.89%, service 10.64%, fishing 3.45%, construction 1.25%, transport 1.72% and others 10.85%.Here population growth rate is 1.41%.

Religion[link]

The majority of the people of Barisal (90.64 per cent) identify themselves as Muslims.This is followed by those of Hindus (8.38 per cent) and Christians (0.98 per cent).There are about 3,941 Mosques, 805 temples, 44 churches and 5 tombs.

Education[link]

Top view from sadar road, Barisal City

118 sadar road, Barisal City

Town Hall, Barisal

Barisal City Corporation

Bibir Pukur, Barisal

Higher education[link]

Barisal is a major center for higher education in Bangladesh. Few of city’s education institutions are...

• University of Barisal
• Sher-E-Bangla Medical college
• Brojomohun College (known as BM College)
• Barisal Polytechnic Institute
• Barisal Cadet College
• Government Syed Hatem Ali College

There are also a Physical education college, a Nursing institute and two Teacher's training colleges.

Primary and secondary education[link]

The primary and secondary schools/colleges of Barisal are controlled by the Boards of Intermediate and Secondary Education,Barisal, most of them are public though there are also a number of private one.

Numbers of primary and secondary schools/college are shown below:

Among them Barisal Govt. Girls High School, Barisal Zilla School, Udayan High School, Barisal Cadet College are renowned.

Culture[link]

Media[link]

Barisal is a center for the newspaper, periodical and book publishers. Some locally published newspapers and periodicals are:

Newspapers[link]

periodicals[link]

Online Newspaper[link]

Tourist attractions[link]

Durgasagar: with an area of about 2,500 hectare, is the largest pond or dighi of southern Bangladesh. It is located at Madhabpasa village of babuganj upazila, about 11 km away from barisal town. Locally it is known as Madhabpasha Dighi. According to a desire of Rani Durgavati, mother of Raja Joynarayan, the dighi was dug in 1780 (1187 BS). There are coconut trees around the dighi which together with the dighi are bounded by brick-walls. In the middle of the dighi, there is an island with bushes. Migratory birds usually come here during winter. The surrounding areas of the dighi has now been turned into a picnic spot.

Transportation[link]

Air[link]

Barisal airport is not an international airport. Only Bangladesh Biman and Air Parabat use this port. Active routes are Barisal-Dhaka and Barisal-Chittagong.

Buses[link]

Many Bus company connect Barisal to other districts. Some of them are...

River Port[link]

River is also a popular transport system with other district.The luxurious launch journey connects between the south and Dhaka city. It is one of the most enjoyable night journey ever you could get in your life. The launches are really royal, majestic and with pomp and pleasure. Some royal launches are:

Economy[link]

Barisal is a rice producing center of Bangladesh. Balam (a kind of baasmati) is the most popular rice in Barisal. It is also famous for Betel Leaf, a typical south Asian chewing item. As Barisal is surrounded by river so fish is plenty in there.It is said..

"Dhan (paddy) nadi (river) Khal (canal) ai tine Barisal."

Means, paddy, river and canal these three things make Barisal.

Coconut is very common in there as it is a coastal area. Hog Plum in Barisal is very famous.

Exports: Fish, medicine,Empty Gelatine Capsules by Global Capsules Ltd. bidi (local tobacco) by Amrita Bidi as Karokor Bidi Factory, AMRITA Food Branded all Spices, Sunflower oil, Atta, Maida,Bhutta powder-Suzi and handicrafts.

Architecture[link]

Barisal's buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style, and have been built over a long period of time.

Archaeological heritage[link]

Some well known heritage are as follows:

Noted Barisailese[link]

See also[link]

• Barisal District
• Barisal Division

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official Site of Daily Amader Barisal - First Online Newspaper of Greater Barisal
•  Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Barisal". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Coordinates: 22°42′N 90°22′E / 22.7°N 90.367°E / 22.7; 90.367