Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila

Cox's Bazar Sadar Upazila (cox's bazar district) with an area of 228.23 sq km, is bounded by chakaria upazila on the north, bay of bengal and ramu upazila on the south, Ramu upazila on the east, maheshkhali upazila, Maheshkhali channel and Bay of Bengal on the west. Main river: bakkhali.

Cox's Bazar (Town) Cox's Bazar municipality was constituted in 1869 and was turn into a town committee in 1959. The town committee was again replaced by municipality in 1972 and it was elevated to B-grade in 1989. The municipality covers an area of 6.85 sq km with 27 mahallas and 9 wards; population 60234; male 57.09%, female 42.91%. The literacy rate among the town people is 52.2%. Cox's Bazar having been a great tourist resort various establishments have developed in the town including 6 big hotels, 30 medium hotels, 50 semi-medium hotels, Jhinuk market for the tourists and the Burmese market dealing in luxury goods from Burma, Thailand and China.

Administration Cox's Bazar thana was established in 1854 and was turned into an upazila in 1983. It consists of 10 union parishads, 1 municipality, 37 mouzas and 140 villages.

Archaeological heritage Cox's Bazar Buddhist Pagoda, Agvamedha Buddhist Keyang, single-domed mosque at Jhilangja union belonging to the twelfth century.

Historical events During the war of liberation in 1971, the Pak-soldiers killed some persons including the veteran lawyer Jnanendralal Chowdhury at a place behind the old rest house in the town. They also killed two freedom fighters Farhad and Subhash by gunshot at Badar Mokam area.

Marks of the War of Liberation Shaheed memorial monument behind the old rest house of the town.

Population 253788; male 54%. female 46%; Muslim 89.56%, Hindu 8.31%, Buddhist 2%, Christian 0.01%, others 0.12%; ethnic nationals: Maghs and Rakhains 5325.

Religious institutions Mosque 296, temple 21, pagoda 17, church 5, mazar 5. Notable institutions: Cox's Bazar Central Jami Masjid, Badar Mokam Jami Masjid, Bara Bazar Jami Masjid, Idgah Bazar Central Jami Mosque, Cox's Bazar Kalibari Mandir, Cox's Bazar Saraswati-bari Mandir, tombs of Shah Alauddin, Maulana Nurul Haque (Dula Fakir), Petan Shah, Kalu Shah, Mozaher Shah.

Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 27.06%; male 35.03%, female 19.09%. Educational institutions: college (government) 2, college (non-government) 2, law college 1, high school (government) 2, high school (non-government) 26, junior high school 3, primary teacher's training institute 1, technical training institute 1, madrasa 55, primary school (government) 64, primary school (non- government) 38, NGO operated primary school 22, kindergarten 9. Old institutions: Cox's Bazar Government High School (1874), Idgah Ideal High School (1928).

Newspapers and periodicals Daily Saikat, Daily Cox's Bazar, Daily Ajker Desh-bidesh, Daily Dainandin, Daily Maer Desh, Weekly Swadesh Bani; extinct: Daily Himchhari, Daily Bak-khali, Weekly Cox's Bazar, Weekly Cox's Bazar Barta, Weekly Sagar-bani, Weekly Sagar-kantha.

Cultural organisations Public library 2, literary organisation 1, club 20, officer's club 1, co operative society 366, women's association 2, theatre party 1, cinema hall 3, playground 10.

Main occupations Agriculture 15.86%, agricultural labourer 13.1%, wage labourer 7.86%, commerce 19.34%, service 7.93%, transport 2.79%, fishing 6.55%, industries 1.32%, constructions 1.42%, others 23.83%.

Land use Cultivable land 8881.02 hectares, land for salt production 1011.74 hectares, land for shrimp cultivation 1214.08 hectares, forest area 7703.36 hectares, fallow land 270.74 hectares; single crop 32.63%, double crop 65.6%, triple crop 1.77%. Rubber dam has been installed on the Bakkhali and Idgah rivers for irrigation purposes.

Land control Among the peasants, 20% are landless, 40% small, 25% intermediate, 15% rich; cultivable land per head is 0.03 hectare.

Value of land The market value of the first grade arable land is about Tk. 7000 per 0.01 hectare.

Main crops Paddy, potato, betel leaf, brinjal, betel nut.

Extinct and nearly extinct crops Sweet potato, sugarcane, kaun, arahar.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, papaya, banana, pineapple.

Dairies, fisheries and poultries Livestock 24, poultry 197, fishery 250, shrimp cultivation 226, shrimp hatchery 20.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 60 km, semi pucca 15 km and mud road 170 km; airport 1.

Traditional transport Palanquin, boat and sampan. These means of transport are nearly extinct or nearly extinct.

Manufactories Fish processing industry 31, fish feed mill 1, salt mill 20, ice factory 20, flour mill 5, rice mill 3, saw mill 10, printing press 12.

Cottage industries Garments industry 200, weaving 150, conch industry 50, welding 120, wood work 250, goldsmith 20, blacksmith 20, potteries 150.

Hats, bazars and fairs Hats and bazars are 8, fairs 3. Notable hats, bazar and fairs are Bangla Bazar, Time Bazar, Chawfaldandi Bazar, Idgah Bazar, Balikhela Mela, Baisakhi Mela.

Main exports Betel leaf, betel nut, jackfruit, banana, papaya, pineapple, timber, frozen shrimp, dry fish.

NGO activities Operationally important NGOs are Gana Swasthya Kendra, brac, caritas, asa, Ananda, proshika, Bangla-German Sampriti, World Vision, Concern, MSF (Holand).

Health centres Governmetn hospital 1, private hospital 2, upazila health complex 1, maternity centre 1, TB clinic 1, family planning centre 1.

Ref : http://banglapedia.org/HT/C_0365.HTM