Chhāgalnāiya, Chittagong Division, Bangladesh

🇧🇩 Chhagalnaiya (Bengali: ছাগলনাইয়া) is a town in Feni district of Chittagong Division, Bangladesh. The town is the administrative headquarters and urban centre of Chhagalnaiya Upazila.The urban area of Chhagalnaiya is the biggest in Chhagalnaiya Upazila and 2nd most populous in Feni district. Chhagalnaiya is 14.6 km away from the district headquarter, Feni city while the distance from the Divisional Headquarter, Chittagong is 96.6 km. The nearest airport from Chhagalnaiya town is Shah Amanat International Airport.

Etymology Despite some beliefs, the origin of the word chhagal (ছাগল, 'goat') in Chhagalnaiya has no connection to the Gandhi's goat stealing incident of 1946. The Chhagalnaya-Parshuram region, located in this relatively ancient part of Noakhali, had a large portion of its area submerged underwater in the distant past. This body of water was known as either billasagar or sukh sagar (transl. sea of happiness), according to different opinions. Numerous boat wrecks have been discovered in this area once inhabited by boatmen, referred to as sagarer naiya (Bengali: সাগরের নাইয়া, lit. 'boatmen of the sea') in Bengali. Over time, sagarer naiya evolved into sagarnaiya in folk language, and eventually into chagalnaiya, the term used today. Some accounts suggest that during the early British period, the word sagar (sea) was mistakenly transcribed as sagol, resulting in sagolnaiya or Chhagalnaiya.

Geography Chhagalnaiya is located at 23.0361°N 91.5194°E. It has an average elevation of 8 metres.

Demography According to 2011 Bangladesh census, Chhagalnaiya town has a population of about 48,243 of which 23,857 are male and 24,386 are female.

Administration The town is administered by a local governing body called Chhagalnaiya Municipality or Chhagalnaiya Paurashava which has divided the town into 9 wards. The town occupies an area of 27.04 km² of which municipality governs an area of 25.2 5 km².

Transport The town is the road transport hub of the upazila. To the west it is connected by zilla road Z1031 to Feni, about 14 km (8.7 mi) away. Z1035 runs north 23 km (14 mi) to Parshuram. Z1032 runs south 11 km (6.8 mi) to Muhuriganj, where it connects to the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway.

Education The literacy rate of the town is 62.7%. Some of the notable educational institution of the town are: • Chhagalnaiya government college • Chhagalnaiya academy • Chhagalnaiya Govt. Pilot high school • Chhagalnaiya Pilot girls high School • Moulovi Samsul Karim College • Radhanagar High School • Karaiya High School.