Munshiganj (Bengali: মুন্সীগঞ্জ), also historically known as Bikrampur, is a district in central Bangladesh. It is a part of the Dhaka Division and borders Dhaka District.
Geography
Total land area is 235974 acres (954 km2), out of which 138472 acres (560 km2) are cultivable and 5609 acres (23 km2) are fallow land. It has no forest area. 40277 acres (163 km2) of land is irrigated while 26242 acres (106 km2) of land is under river. It has 14 rivers of 155 km passing through.
Administration
The district consists of 6 upazilas:
- Lohajang Upazila
- Sreenagar Upazila
- Munshiganj Sadar Upazila
- Sirajdikhan Upazila
- Tongibari Upazila
- Gazaria Upazila
Demographics
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | 908,285 | — |
| 1981 | 1,065,573 | +2.31% |
| 1991 | 1,188,387 | +1.10% |
| 2001 | 1,293,972 | +0.85% |
| 2011 | 1,445,660 | +1.11% |
| Sources: | ||
According to the 2011 Bangladesh census, Munshiganj District had a population of 1,445,660, of which 721,552 were males and 724,108 were females. Rural population was 1,259,554 (87.13%) while urban population was 186,106 (12.87%). Munshiganj had a literacy rate 56.09% for the population 7 years and above: 56.44% for males and 55.74% for females.
91.92% are Muslims, 7.93% Hindus.
Notable people
Revolutionary nationalists
- M. Hamidullah Khan, Bangladesh Forces, Sector Commander, Sector 11, Bangladesh War of Independence 1971
- Jagadish Chandra Bose, Great Bengali physicist
- Badal Gupta, revolutionary against British India
- Benoy Basu, revolutionary against British India
- Dinesh Gupta, revolutionary against British India
- Sarojini Naidu, Politician
- Chittaranjan Das
Social and scientific
- Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose, scientist
- Chashi Nazrul Islam, artist
- Humayun Azad, linguist, poet and novelist
- Durga Mohan Das, Brahmo reformer
- Dwarkanath Ganguly, Brahmo reformer
Art, culture and sports
- Atiśa, Buddhist religious leader and master
- Brojen Das, the first Bangladeshi and Asian to swim across the English Channel, and the first person to cross it four times
- Imdadul Haq Milan, writer and media personality
- Buddhadeb Bosu, writer, poet, playwright, essayist
- Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay, author, Teacher
- Ananta Jalil, actor, director, producer, businessman, and philanthropist
- Tahsan Rahman Khan, singer-songwriter, composer, actor and model.
- Tele Samad, Actor
- Radhu Karmakar, noted Indian cinematographer and director in Hindi cinema
- Azmeri Haque Badhon, actress, Dentist
- Shimul Yousuf, actress, singer
- Nazma Anwar, actor
- Munni Saha, journalist, television host
Public affairs
- A. N. M. Hamidullah, First Governor, Bangladesh Bank
- Fakhruddin Ahmed, former chief adviser, Non-Party Caretaker Government of Bangladesh, 2007–2008.
- Iajuddin Ahmed, former President of Bangladesh
- A.Q.M. Badruddoza Chowdhury, former shortest term appointed President of Bangladesh
- M. A. Naser, pioneer in Engineering Education, former Vice Chancellor or BUET, Ekushey Padak recipient