Chittagong Division

Chittagong Division, officially Chattogram Division, is geographically the largest of the eight administrative Divisions of Bangladesh. It covers the southeasternmost areas of the country, with a total area of and a population according to the 2022 census of 33,202,326, which made it the second most populous division of Bangladesh and the 45th most populous subnational entity in the world — more populous than all but 43 other countries.However, in 2024, it is planned by government to divided the Chittagong Division into two parts and implement a new division called Cumilla Division, and the reduced administrative division will include the mainland Chittagong district, Cox's Bazar district, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. On the other hand, the people of Noakhali region are also demanding the establishment of the Noakhali Division with Noakhali District, Feni District, Lakshmipur District and neighboring districts.
Chittagong Division is home to Cox's Bazar, the longest natural sea beach in the world; as well as St. Martin's Island, Bangladesh's sole coral reef.

History

Chittagong as an administrative division was established in 1829 to serve as an administrative headquarters for five of Bengal's easternmost districts, with the Chittagong District serving as its headquarters. In East Pakistan, the division's Tippera district was renamed as Comilla District in 1960.
In 1984, fifteen districts were created by separating and reducing the original five districts of Chittagong, Comilla, Hill Tracts, Noakhali and Sylhet:

The Chittagong District was divided into two districts; Chittagong and Cox's Bazar District
The Comilla District was split into three districts; Comilla, Brahmanbaria and Chandpur
The Hill Tracts District was split into three districts; Bandarban, Khagrachhari and Rangamati
The Noakhali District was divided into three districts; Noakhali, Lakshmipur and Feni
The Sylhet District was split into four districts; Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj.

Sylhet, Habiganj, Moulvibazar and Sunamganj districts were moved from the Chittagong Division to create the newly established Sylhet Division in 1995.

Administration

Chittagong Division is presently subdivided into eleven districts and thence into 100 sub-districts. The first six districts listed below comprise the north-western portion of the present Chittagong Division, while the remaining five comprise the south-eastern portion, the two portions being separated by the lower stretch of the Feni River; the upland districts of Khagrachhari, Rangamati and Bandarban together comprise that area previously known as the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The six districts in the north-west will now form the new Cumilla Division.

Name	Headquarters	Area	Population 1991 Census	Population 2001 Census	Population 2011 Census	Population 2022 Census
Brahmanbaria District	Brahmanbaria					3,306,563
Cumilla District	Cumilla
Chandpur District	Chandpur
Lakshmipur District	Lakshmipur
Noakhali District	Maijdee
Feni District	Feni
Khagrachhari District	Khagrachhari
Rangamati District	Rangamati
Bandarban District	Bandarban
Chittagong District	Chittagong
Cox's Bazar District	Cox's Bazar
Total Districts		34,529.97

Demographics

According to the 2022 Census of Bangladesh, Chittagong Division had 7,528,333 households and a population of 33,202,326, 33.7% of whom lived in urban areas. The population density was 979 people per km². 90.11% were Muslims, 6.61% Hindus, 2.92% Buddhists, 0.22% Christians and 0.14% others.