Sylhet Overview

Sylhet is one of the major city of Bangladesh. Which is situated in north-eastern region of the country and located on the northern bank of the Surma River and surrounded by the Jaintia, Khasi and Tripura hills. It was previously known as Shilhat, Sreehatta, and Jalalabad. Sylhet is nestled among picturesque tea plantations and lush green tropical forests. Sylhet (City) consists of 27 wards and 210 mahallas. The area of the town is 57.64 km. It has a population of 369425; male 54.68%, female 45.32%; density of population is 11,936 per km. Literacy rate among the town people is 66.9%. The rapid growth and expansion of Sylhet occurred during the colonial period. Sylhet Municipality was established in 1878. A devastated earthquake demolished almost the entire town on 12 June 1897. On the wreckage, a modern and European model new town was built later on. Many new roads were constructed in late 1890s. Sylhet became really connected to the other parts of the country with the establishment of an extension line of Assam-Bengal Railway in 1912-15. From the very beginning of the 20th century, importance of Sylhet city increased with the establishment of tea industry. In 1950s and 1960s, rapid urbanization took place in the town by the expatriate Sylhetis and still the process is going on. At present, Sylhet is the district-headquarter as well as the divisional headquarter of the districts of Sunamganj, Habibganj, Moulvibazar and Sylhet.    More info