Sylhet Division

Sylhet Division Greater Sylhet
Division
Tea Gardens of Srimongol
Map of Sylhet Division in red
Coordinates: 24°30′N 91°40′E
Country	Bangladesh
Area
• Total	12,595.95 km2 (4,863.32 sq mi)
Population  (2011 census)
• Total	9,807,000
• Density	780/km2 (2,000/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+6 (BST)

Sylhet Division is the Northeastern division of Bangladesh. It is named after its main city, Sylhet. The division is bordered by the Meghalaya State of India on the north, Tripura State on the south, Assam State of India on the east and Dhaka and Chittagong divisions on the west. Bangladeshis also claims the Karimganj Thana as part of its country.

Demographics

The population of Sylhet Division is about 10 million. Followers of different religions are: Muslim 81.16%, Hindu 17.80%, Christian 0.06%, Buddhist 0.02% and others 0.96%.

History of Sylhet

Sylhet district was created in 1772 after this area was acquired by the British in 1767 and Mr. William Thackeray was appointed as the first collector. Current Sylhet district consists of 12 (twelve) upazilas. There is an attempt to make this web portal useful to the needs of information seekers. It contains detailed information on various important government departments, resources, publications, education, agriculture, medicine, tourism and housing. The process of continuously enriching the web portal will continue. the late 18th century, the British East India Company became interested in Sylhet. They saw it as an area of strategic importance in the war against Burma. Sylhet gradually fell under British control and administration. It was governed as a part of Bengal. After the British administrative reorganization of India, Sylhet became a part of Assam. It remained a part of Assam for the rest of the era of British rule.

In 1947, after a referendum, almost all of Sylhet as a district became a part of East Bengal at the time and remained so after Bangladeshi independence. The Karimganj subdivision became part of the new Indian state of Assam. The referendum was held on 3 July 1947. There were a total of 546,815 votes cast on 239 polling stations. A majority of 43.8 per cent voted in favour of East Bengal. There were protests about false votes, but the referendum was acknowledged during India's independence on 18 July 1947. In 1971, Sylhet became part of the newly formed country of Bangladesh.