Gopalganj, Madaripur District, Dhaka Division, Bangladesh

🇧🇩 Gopalganj is a city in Gopalganj District in the Dhaka Division of Bangladesh. Spanning an area of 6.5 sq mi (16.9 km²), the city serves as the headquarters of Gopalganj District and Gopalganj Sadar Upazila.

Demographics At the 2011 census, Gopalganj Municipality had 11,600 households and a population of 51,346. 10,445 (20.34%) were under 10 years of age. Gopalganj had a sex ratio of 947 females per 1,000 males and a literacy rate of 78.62%.

History Gopalganj sadar is the main town of Gopalganj District. 15 MPs are from there. It has 15 banks, including 3 commercial banks. It may take two or three hours to reach by road from Rajdhani after build the Padma bridge (depending on traffic). After the Bangladesh Liberation War, Gopalgonj Sadar became 'Pourashava'. As a close fellow of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Panna Biswas of Gimadanga was selected as first chairman. Khan Saheb Sheikh Mosharrof Hossain, Molla Jalaluddin Ahmed, Hemaet Uddin, Wahiduzzaman, Fayekuzzaman are well-known figures among the others born in Sadar upazila.

Geography Gopalganj Sadar is located at 23.0167°N 89.8333°E. It has 73,126 households and a total area of 391.35 km².

Places of interest • Ulpur has a former Zamindar palace which is known as "Ulpur Zamindar Bari". Now a part of that palace currently used as Tehsil Office. • Arpara also has a former Zamindar Palace which is known as "Arpara Zamindar Bari". One of the oldest historical Mosque "Munshi Bari Jame Mosjid" is also situated in Arpara village under Verarhat. There also have a tourist attraction and picnic spot called "Arpara Park". This is one of the most beautiful botanical garden in the entire district. • Balakoir Beel, 12 km (7.5 mi) north-east of the city, is a tourist attraction during the rainy season, when the wetland is carpeted with lotus flowers.

Administration Gopalganj Sadar Upazila is divided into Gopalganj Municipality and 21 union parishads: Borasi, Baultali, Chandra Dighalia, Durgapur, Gobra, Gopinathpur, Haridaspur, Jalalabad, Kajulia, Karpara, Kati, Latifpur, Majhigati, Nizra, Paikkandi, Raghunathpur, Sahapur, Satpar, Suktail, Ulpur, and Upafi. The union parishads are subdivided into 127 mauzas and 197 villages.

Gopalganj Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 47 mahallas.

Education There are ten colleges in the upazila: Government Bangabandhu College, Gopalgonj, Dr. Dilawar Husain Memorial College, Government Nazrul Degree College Satpar, Haji Lalmia City College, Kazi Zahural Huq College, Krishnapur Shaptodas Palli College, M. H. Khan Degree College, N. Haque College of Business & Technology, Sabira - Rouf College, and Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Government Women's College.

There also have some famous higher secondary school. They are: S. M. Model Government High School, Sultanshahi Kakania High School (1944), Swarnakali High School, Arpara Islamia High School, Ulpur PC High School (1900), Boutali Sahapur Sammilani High School, founded in 1928, Karpara Union High School (1936), Satpar Dinnnath Goyali Chandra High School, Chandra Dighalia High School, Gopinathpur High School (1911) are notable secondary schools.