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Barisal ( or ; , ), officially known as Barishal, is a major city that lies on the banks of the Kirtankhola river in south-central Bangladesh. It is the largest city and the administrative headquarter of both Barisal District and Barisal Division. It is one of the oldest municipalities and river ports of the country. The city was once called the Venice of the East or the Venice of Bengal.
Barisal municipality was established in 1876 during the British Raj and upgraded to City Corporation on 25 July 2002. Barisal is Bangladesh's third largest financial hub after Dhaka and Chittagong. The city consists of 30 wards and 50 mahallas with a population of 533,000, according to the 2023 national census, and about 250,000 voters, according to the 2018 voter list of city election. The area of the city is 58 km2.
In ancient times, it was called Vanga kingdom (বাঙ্গালা) and later Chandradvipa in the 10th century, while during the Medieval Islamic times it was also known as Ismailpur & Bacola (বাকলা). The word 'Bacola' or 'Bakla' was probably derived from the ancient name Vanga kingdom, an ancient geopolitical division of Bengal. Ralph Fitch, a leather merchant and the first ever Englishman known to have visited Bengal in the mid-1580s, described Barisal in his journal thus, "From Chatigan in Bengal, I came to Bacola; the king whereof is a Gentile, a man very well disposed and delighted much to shoot in a gun. His country is very great and fruitful, and hath store of rice, much cotton cloth, and cloth of silk. The houses are very fair and high built, the streets large, and people naked, except a little cloth about their waist. The women wear a great store of silver hoops about their necks and arms, and their legs are ringed with silver and copper, and rings made from elephants' teeth."
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 headquarters, medical college, cadet college, some pharmaceutical industries, textile industries and the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority's head office. Barisal is a fast growing city of the country on the Kirtankhola River. The country's first short landing and take off airport has been completed in Barisal and a private Airlines named Air Bengal has begun regular flights between Dhaka's Hazrat Shahjalal Airport and Barisal.
"Barisal guns" is a natural phenomenon named after Barisal; it is kind of a booming sound heard near lakes and rivers which is due to seismic activity under water, first heard in this region by the British in the 19th century.
Most people in Barisal are Bengalis, the majority ethnic group in Bangladesh. The long-standing Bengali inhabitants of the city are known as the demonym Barisaliya and the most spoken Bengali dialects of this region is known as Eastern Bengali. Apart from them, the city population is composed of people from neighboring upazilas and districts (Patuakhali, Bhola District, Pirojpur, Jhalakati, Barguna).
The majority of Barisal's people are Muslims (90.36%), mainly Sunni Islam of the Hanafi school. Other religious groups include Hindus (9.01%), and very few numbers of other religions, mainly Christians (0.61%) and Buddhists (0.01%).
Since 2015, the Catholic minority has its own Roman Catholic Diocese of Barisal.
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 District on the south, Bhola and Lakshmipur districts on the east, Jhalokati, Pirojpur and Gopalganj districts on the west. Several rivers flow across Barisal including the Kirtankhola, Arial Khan, Khoyrabad, Kalijira and Sandha.
== Points of interest ==
Durga Sagar: with an area of about 2,500 hectare, is the largest pond or dighi of southern Bangladesh. It is located at Madhabpasha 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. Madhabpasha was a capital of the kingdom of Chandradwip.
Lakhutia: located approximately 8 km from Barisal's central business district, the Roy family estate is known as 'Lakhutia' (note: there are several variations of the spelling of this word, including 'Lakutia' and 'Lakhotia'). The Lakhutia zamindar estate was founded by Roop Chandra Roy in the late 17th century. Apart from the main mansion itself, the estate has several Shiva temples and large ponds on the vast property. The Lakhutia mansion – including the Roy family's personal property, was effectively destroyed during the 1950 East Pakistan Riots, and then again later during the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. While most of Lakhutia was destroyed during the 1950 and 1971 riots and genocide, the historical site and sparse remains of the mansion remain one of Barisal's main tourist attractions.
Some well known heritage buildings are:
There is a regional sports training centre under Bangladesh Krira Shiksha Pratisthan (BKSP) situated at Rahamatpur in Barisal Barisal is also home to the Bangladesh Premier League franchise Fortune Barishal.
Major institutions include:
Population
Demographics
As of 2022 census results, Barisal City Corporation had 105,200 households and a population of 419,484. 16.19% of the population was under 10 years of age. Barisal had a literacy rate of 88.90% for those 7 years and older and a sex ratio of 103.87 males per 100 females.
Geography
Barisal city occupies an area of 58 km2.
Climate
Barisal has a climate on the border between a dry-winter humid subtropical climate (Köppen Cwa) and a tropical savanna climate ( Aw).
Architecture
Barisal's buildings are too diverse to be characterised by any particular architectural style, and have been built over a long period of time.
Sports
Cricket and football are the two most popular sports in Barisal while tennis and kabaddi are also popular. There is a national stadium in the city known as Barisal Divisional Stadium (also known as Abdur Rab Serniabad Stadium). It is a multi-purpose stadium and has a capacity of 15,000 spectators. It is currently used mostly for cricket matches. It is also used for football and other sports. Besides, different organization share to stage a show there occasionally. Notable players from Barisal who have played for the national team include Shahriar Nafees, Sohag Gazi, Kamrul Islam Rabbi and Fazle Mahmud.
Transport
Air
Barishal Airport is a domestic airport. Biman Bangladesh Airlines, Novoair and US-Bangla Airlines use this port. Active air-route is Barisal-Dhaka-Barisal.
River port
Barisal River Port is the second largest river port of Bangladesh. It is the most popular way of communication for the people of Barisal to Dhaka, the capital city. It is also a popular transport system with other districts like Bhola, Barguna, Lakshmipur.
Road
Barisal is connected to most other regions of the country via the N8 national highway. There are two bus terminals in Barisal, Nathullabad Central Bus terminal and Rupatali Bus Terminal, which connect Barisal to other districts.
Education
Barisal is home to many educational institutions. Govt. Brojomohan College is the oldest institution of higher education in the city, founded in 1889. There is a public university University of Barisal and two private universities, a government medical college Sher-e-Bangla Medical College (SBMC), a textile engineering college Shaheed Abdur Rab Serniabat Textile Engineering College and an engineering college Barisal Engineering College. There are also educational institutions like Barisal Zilla School, Barisal Cadet College, Govt. Syed Hatem Ali College, Government Women's College, Govt. Barisal College, Amrita Lal Dey College, Barisal Govt. Girls High School, Barisal Model School and College and Barisal Asmat Ali Khan Institution (A.K. School). Besides these there are three teacher training colleges, a Government Polytechnic institute, two technical institutes, a homeopathic college and a social welfare training centre.
Media
Barisal is a center for the newspaper, periodical and book publishers. Some locally published newspapers and periodicals are:
Newspapers
Periodicals
Notable people
See also
Notes and references
Notes
External links
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