Sylhet Division located to the north-east of Bangladesh and with an area of 12595.95 sq km, is bounded by Meghalaya State of India on the north, Tripura State on the south, Assam State of India on the east and dhaka and chittagong divisions on the west. Main rivers- surma, kushiyara, khowai, Kalni, Manu, etc. There are many hills, hillocks, haors, baors, beels and jheels in this division.

Sylhet (Town) consists of 27 wards and 210 mahallas (Statistical Year Book of Bangladesh 2001). The area of the town is 10.49 sq km. The town has a population of 285308; male 54.68%, female 45.32%; density of population is 27198 per sq km. Literacy rate among the town people is 66.9%.

Administration Sylhet division consists of 4 districts, 14 municipalities, 145 wards, 619 mahallas, 35 upazilas, 323 union parishads, 5521 mouzas and 10185 villages. The districts are sylhet, sunamganj, maulvi bazar and habiganj.

Religious institutions Mosque 6144, temple 960, pagoda 7, church 52, tomb 45 and sacred place 2.

Population 7899816; male 50.47%, female 49.53%; Muslim 81.16%, Hindu 17.80%, Christian 0.06%, Buddhist 0.02% and others 0.96%.

Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 27.9%; male 33.7%, female 21.8%. Educational institutions: university 1, medical college 4, polytechnic institute 4, teacher's training college 5, government college 19, non-government college 78, law college 2, vocational training institute 2, government high school 21, non-government high school 622, junior high school 37, primary school 5016, madrasa 402, satellite school 108, community school 68 and music school 7.

Main occupations Agriculture 36.93%, fishing 3.07%, agricultural labourer 18.81%, wage labourer 7.49%, commerce 9.24%, transport 1.94%, service 6.43%, industry 1.33%, house renting out 3.1% and others 11.66%.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, tea, mustard seed, onion, garlic, betel leaf, vegetables.

Main fruits Orange, pineapple, mango, jackfruit, litchi.

Health centres Hospital and clinic 52, upazila health complex 29, union health and family planning centre 76, satellite clinic 30, maternity and child welfare centre 5, mission hospital 4, leprosy hospital 3, family welfare centre 37 and veterinary hospital 10. [Sajahan Miah]