Dinajpur District () is a district in Rangpur Division of northern Bangladesh. Dinajpur is the largest among all sixteen northern districts of Bangladesh.
History
Dinajpur was once a part of the ancient state of Pundravardhana. Devkot (now in India) which rotated as the capital of Lakhnauti was located south of Dinajpur town. It is also called "City of Maharajas".
An ancient engraved stone, believed to be from the Gupta era, was recovered from the bank of a pond near Sura Masjid in the Ghoraghat Upazila in Dinajpur in 8 October.
British colonial period
The British administrative control in Dinajpur was established in 1786. Dinajpur was the biggest administrative district of undivided Bengal. In 1765, the British got the Dewani of Bengal and in 1772, an English District Collector and Chief of Revenue was appointed in Dinajpur. The area was then notorious for lawlessness. Mr. Marriott was Collector in 1786. Next to him, Mr. Red Fern and Mr. Vansittart were Collectors for short periods. The next Collector, Mr. Hatch, started to exercise judicial powers too. The District Magistrate's area at that time extended to Malda, Bagura, and Dinajpur. In the last decade of the 18th century, indigo plantation started in the district.
The district Dinajpur in British times included a greater portion of Bagura. Malda and parts of Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Purnea. At the time of Revenue Survey in 1857–1861, the total area of the district was . Between 1795 and 1800, large tracts of land were transferred to Purnea, Rangpur and Rajshahi for administrative convenience and better enforcement of law and order. In 1833, again some estates were transferred to Bagura and Malda. In 1864–65, 1868 and 1870 further transfer of territory from Dinajpur to Malda and Bagura took place. Finally in 1897–98, the whole of Thana Mahadevpur was made over to Rajshahi. At that time, except Thakurgaon Sub division, the rest of Dinajpur district remained under the direct supervision of the collector.
At first, after its formation in 1856, the Dinajpur Municipality used to be run by a town committee presided over by the Deputy Magistrate. This was among the first 40 municipalities in Bengal at that time. Later in 1868, the 'District Town Act' commissioned a chairman of the municipality who replaced the Deputy Magistrate and given a similar rank as a district magistrate. Mr. Patterson was appointed the first chairman of Dinajpur Municipality in 1869.
Recent history
At the time of Partition of India in 1947, part of greater Dinajpur district was included in West Bengal and it was named West Dinajpur district. People of the district took part in the Tebhaga movement and also had significant contribution in the War of Independence of 1971.
Climate
Dinajpur experiences a hot, wet and humid tropical climate. Under the Köppen climate classification, Dinajpur has a humid subtropical climate. The district has a distinct monsoonal season, with an annual average temperature of 25 °C (77 °F) and monthly means varying between 18 °C (64 °F) in January and 29 °C (84 °F) in August.
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Demographics
According to the 2022 census of Bangladesh, Dinajpur District had 836,977 households and a population of 3,315,236, of whom, 19.11% of the inhabitants lived in urban areas. The population density was 963 people per km<sup>2</sup>. 17.20% of the population was under 10 years of age. Dinajpur had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 76.14%, compared to the national average of 74.80%, and a sex ratio of 100.46 males per 100 females.