Khulna

Khulna city is the third largest city in the Bangladesh and also the headquarters of Khulna division. It is located in the south-west of the country and on the banks of the Rupsha and Bhairob rivers in Khulna District. It is one of the major industrial and commercial centers of Bangladesh. The city is 334 km southwest of Bangladesh's capital Dhaka and the district has a total area of 4392.37 square kilometer. It lies south of Jessore and Narail, East of Satkhira, West of Bagerhat and North of the Bay of Bengal. It is part of the largest delta in the world. In the
southern part of the delta lies the Sundarban (The largest mangrove forest in the world). It has a seaport named Mongla on its outskirts, 38 km from Khulna City. The Khulna division borders are the part of the Padma (Ganges) River, the Madhumati River, the Bhairob River, the Rupsha River and the Kopotakkho River. The annual average temperature of Khulna is 35.9 degree Celsius with a record low of 12.3 degree Celsius.

Khulna city has a population of 17, 84, 623 as of 2010 and constituting 2.06% of the national population. The density of the population is 15,429 square kilometer. The rate of literacy is 60.49%. Most of the peoples are Muslims (89%) and other religious groups include Hindus (10%), Buddhists and Christians (01%). People of Khulna’s are very active and hard worker. Many people are working as foreign workers in the Middle East countries.

The Khulna municipality was founded on 1984 and upgraded to "corporation" status in 1990. The Khulna City Corporation is a self-governing corporation which runs the affairs of the city. The Khulna City Corporation is responsible for the services that are provided within the city which includes traffic, roads, garbage collection, water supply, registrations and many others. At present, Khulna is the district-headquarters as well as the divisional headquarters of the districts of Bagerhat, Chuadanga, Jessore, Jhenaidah, Kushtia, Magura, Meherpur, Narail, and Satkhira. Khulna city has some metro thanas (police stations), like Daulatpur Thana, Khalispur Thana, Khan Jahan Ali Thana, Sonadanga Thana, Sadar Thana etc.
Khulna has a very good transport system with links to all the districts of Bangladesh. The main transport system in the city is train, buses, mini buses, cars and rickshaws. Khulna is well connected by highways and railways links to Northern Bangladesh and capital city Dhaka, as well as other parts of Khulna and the whole country. Though Khulna is a busy city, Khulna doesn't have any traffic jams. There is a rail station situated at the main point of Khulna which is linked to Northern Bangladesh & capital city Dhaka. Besides other forms of transport, there is a water transport terminal. Barisal division is mainly connected to Khulna by water vehicles. Khulna city has no any international airport but there is an airport just outside of the city. At presently 2011, Jessore Airport is the main airport of the division. It has domestic flights to the rest of Bangladesh. Khan Jahan Ali Airport is currently under construction in Bagerhat, which is set to serve the city of Khulna and its surrounding areas.

Due to Bangladesh’s third largest city and one of the major commercial cities of Bangladesh, Khulna’s economical environment is very helpful for the country. Khulna is also another port city of Bangladesh. 25% of all trade handled in Bangladesh passes through Mongla, while the rest goes through Chittagong. Mongla Port is the second seaport of Bangladesh. Khulna is also well known as the city of Shrimps, because 72% of all shrimps exported from Bangladesh are cultivated in the Khulna zone. In addition to this, a major portion of the Golden Fiber (Jute) is exported through Khulna Zone.  Khulna Shipyard is the largest shipyard of Bangladesh. It is operated by Bangladesh Navy.

Khulna has also some notable industries like Bangladesh Oxygen Company, Khulna Oxygen Company, Star Jute Mills, Khulna Hardboard Mills, Khulna News print Mills, Platinum Jubilee Jute Mills and Dada Match Factory. Khulna is famous for its fish, coconuts and seafood. Catfish, Shrimp, Prawn, Crab and Lobster are now being exported all over the world. The largest mangrove forest in the World the Sundarban is spread over the three districts of Bagherhat, Khulna and Satkhira.

There are also huge educational facilities into Khulna. The education system of Khulna is under the Jessore Board. Khulna has many notable and famous educational institutions include Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), Khulna University, Darul Ihsan University, Northern University, America Bangladesh University, Asian University of Bangladesh, Khulna Medical College, Khulna Homoeopathic Medical College, Khulna Art College (Institute of Fine Arts), Govt. Sundarban Adarsha College, Khulna Govt. Women's College, Govt. Majid Memorial City College, Govt. B.L. Collage, Govt. Azamkhan Commerce Collage, Haji Mohsin College, Ahsanullah College, Khulna Model School & College, Islamia Degree College, Daulatpur College (Day-Night), Saburunessa Girls' College, Jahanabad Cantonment Public School & College, Sarowar Khan Degree College, Khulna Public College, Bangladesh Navy School & College, Khulna Collegiate Girls' School & College, Rayermohal Degree College, Dr. S.K. Bakar college, Military Collegiate School of Khulna etc.

Besides, Khulna has six IGV (Integrated General and Vocational) schools and a technical school of UCEP (Underprivileged Children's Educational Programs), which is a non-profitable organization. Six IGV schools are: UCEP-K C C School, UCEP-Sonadanga School, UCEP-Wazed Ali School, UCEP-Khalishpur School, UCEP-M A Majid School and UCEP-Zohra Samad School. The technical school is: Khulna Mohsin Technical School. UCEP's Khulna Divisional office is situated at there. Other institutions are Khulna Govt. Polytechnic Institute, Khulna Govt. Women's Polytechnic Institute, City Polytechnic Institute, Mangrove institute of science and technology, ILACS and ILAM.

Khulna’s people are actually using a mixed form of Urdu language, especially mixed with Bengali, Hindi, English and Bhojpuri. Bengali language is the official language of Bangladesh and also all over the Khulna. So, it is considered as a dialect of Bengali, which does not contain a written form, where in this case Bengali is written. But English is widely used as the business language. Most of the educated people can speak and understand English. Munda, Domari, Romani, Telugu, Gujrati, Marwari and other minor languages are used by minority communities usually found in the cities.

So, Khulna is a major industrial and commercial center of Bangladesh and also it is a wonderful part of Bangladesh.

If you want to know more about Khulna, please visit: Khulna Government Web Portal.