Upazila

Bangladesh has 503 upazilas.The upazilas are the second lowest tier of regional administration in Bangladesh. The administrative structure consists of divisions (8), districts (64), upazilas (500) and union parishads (UPs). This system of devolution was introduced by the former military ruler and president of Bangladesh, Hossain Mohammad Ershad, in an attempt to strengthen local government.

Below UPs, villages (gram) and para exist, but these have no administrative power and elected members. The Local Government Ordinance of 1982 was amended a year later, redesignating and upgrading the existing thanas as upazilas.

History

Upazilas were formerly known as thana, which literally means police station. Despite the meaning, thanas functioned much as an administrative and geographic region, much as today's upazilas. In 1982, thanas were re-termed to as upazilas with provisions for semi-autonomous local governance. This system was reverted to the thana system in 1992. Later in 1999, geographic regions under administrations of thanas were converted into upazilas. All administrative terms in this level were renamed from thana to upazila. For instance, thana nirbahi officer (lit. thana executive officer) was renamed upazila nirbahi officer (lit. upazila executive officer).

The word thana is now used to solely refer to police stations. Generally, there is one police station for each upazila, but larger administrative units may have more than one police station covering different regions. However, it was complicated again and currently, Upazilas which combinely form "Administrative Districts" are known as Thanas. For example: Panchlaish Thana, Double Mooring Thana under Chittagong district.

On 26 July 2021, Khandker Anwarul Islam announced the renaming of Dakshin Sunamganj Upazila to "Shantiganj Upazila" as well as the creation of three new upazilas; Eidgaon Upazila in Cox's Bazar District, Madhyanagar Upazila in Sunamganj District and Dasar Upazila in Madaripur District.

On 7 May, 2026, the government approved the creation of five new upazilas across three districts: Mokamtola Upazila in Bogura District, Matamuhuri Upazila in Cox's Bazar District, Chandraganj Upazila in Lakshmipur District, Ruhia Upazila and Bhully Upazila in Thakurgaon District, taking the total number of upazilas to 500, as well as approving the creation of Bogura City Corporation.