Meherpur District is a northwestern district of Khulna Division in southwestern Bangladesh. It is bordered by West Bengal, India in the west, and by the Bangladeshi districts of Kushtia and Chuadanga to the east. It is believed that Meherpur was named in the 16th century or sometime after, in keeping with the name of a person named Darwish Meher Ali, an Islamic preacher. Pre-independence Meherpur was a subdivision of Nadia district. After Liberation War, Meherpur attained the status of a full-fledged district on 24 February 1984. On 24 February 2000, Meherpur Sadar Upazila was divided, leading to the creation of Mujibnagar Upazila.
The district has an area of 716.08 square kilometres (276.48 sq mi). The district is situated between 23.44° to 23.59° north latitude and 88.3° to 88.5° east longitude. It is the border district of western part of Bangladesh. This district stands Daulatpur Thana in Kushtia district and West Bengal (India) at North; Jibannagar and Damurhuda Thanas in Chuadanga district and West Bengal (India) at South; Mirpur in Kushtia district and Alamdanga of Chuadanga district at East. Along the western part of Meherpur runs approximately 60 km of the Bangladesh–India border from north to south.
Total administrative area of this district is 716.08 sq km. It consists of 03 upazilas- Meherpur Sadar, Mujibnagar and Gangni Upazila, 2 Municipalities- Meherpur and Gangni (one "A" category, one "B" category), 20 unions, 199 mouzas and 259 villages. Total Population is 705,356 (according to 2022 census), the number of male and female are 340093 and 365237, transgender 26 and the total households are 195,322. The religious composition of the district is Muslim 97.87%, Hindu 1.20%, Christian 0.92%, Buddhists 0.0023% and others 0.0023%. Annual population growth rate is 0.65% (according to 2022 census). The population density of this district is 951 persons per square kilometer. In terms of housing, 69% of structures in urban and business areas, and 52.34% in rural areas, are pucca or semi-pucca.
There are four rivers (total area: 11445.20 hectares) named Bhairab, Mathabhanga, Kajla and Cheutia. Total area of beels and major flood plain area is 30762 hectares. Area of forest land is 38860.73 hectares in Meherpur District.
The climate is tropical hot and dry most of the year in this district. The average maximum temperature is 37.1 degrees Celsius and the minimum temperature is 11.2 degrees Celsius. From April to June are the warmest month and from December to January are the coolest month of the year. The average rainfall is 1467 millimeters.
Meherpur has a comparatively low literacy rate. Overall literacy rate: 46.3%, where male: 46.9% and female: 45.7%. Total number of educational institutions are: Primary schools (government, private, community): 162 + 111 + 7 = 280, Lower secondary schools: 36, Secondary schools (government + private): 4 + 117 = 121, Colleges (government + private): 4 + 3 = 7, Technical colleges (government + private): 1 + 2 = 3 and Madrasas: 25. More importantly, institutions offering quality education are extremely scarce.
There are no large industrial establishments in this district. There are about 12 medium and small industries and factories, 23 micro-industries, and 85 cottage industries, totaling 120 medium, small, micro, and cottage industries. The district has two cold storages and one high-tech company.
An analysis of the economic activities of Meherpur district shows that since Meherpur district is an agricultural area, the economic development and growth of this region has been centered on agriculture. The alluvial soil of this region is very suitable for agriculture. The produced agricultural products are being sent to other areas of the country after meeting the local demand. A vegetable village has been established in Saharbati of Gangni upazila of the district. The safe vegetable cabbage produced by the farmers is being exported outside the country. Animal husbandry is a very important economic activity of the district. Cows and Black Bengal goats are being reared on a commercial basis in almost all the villages of the district. In addition, biogas is being produced from cow dung in Meherpur district. There is also great potential in fruit cultivation in this district. Total area of cultivable land is 58,507 hectares, where Single-crop land: 2,236 hectares, Double-crop land: 3,629 hectares, Triple-crop land: 50,010 hectares and more than triple-crop land: 2,632 hectares. The area of gross cultivated land is 170,052 hectares. Cropping intensity is 290%. GI-tagged products: 2 (Mehersagar Banana and Himsagar Mango).
There are two Upazila Health Complex (50 beds) at Meherpur and Gangni upazila in this district. 72 nos. Community Clinics, 33 nos. Private Clinics, 12 nos. Sub-Health Centers and 1 Missionary Hospital stands in Meherpur.
The communication system is well developed. Total length of Paved roads: 1,246 km and Unpaved roads: 591 km. Total number of Bridges/Culverts: 1,751 (total length 5,764 m). Meherpur is connected by paved roads to Dhaka and neighboring districts—Kushtia, Chuadanga, Jhenaidah, Magura, and Faridpur. Distance from Dhaka to Meherpur by road is 283 km. Most upazilas and unions can be reached throughout the year via paved or usable roads. However, the rivers flowing through the district have lost navigability due to siltation.
There is a possibility of becoming a history-centered international standard tourism center here. In addition, various development activities such as universities, rail connections, road expansion, etc. are under process. This project has been taken up with the aim of integrating all these development activities, formulating a disaster-tolerant land use plan keeping in mind natural disasters and protecting valuable agricultural land from unplanned transformation.
