Chittagong Division, Bangladeshi

Regional Level Types
Chittagong Division	Division
Bangladesh	Country

Chittagong Division is the largest administrative division of Bangladesh, covering approximately 33,900 km². It occupies the south-eastern part of the country and borders India (Tripura and Mizoram) to the north and east, Myanmar to the south-east, the Bay of Bengal to the south, and other Bangladeshi divisions to the west and north-west. The principal city and administrative centre is Chattogram (Chittagong), Bangladesh’s main seaport and second-largest city.

Geographically, Chittagong Division is the most topographically diverse region of Bangladesh. In contrast to the country’s extensive low-lying alluvial plains, the division includes significant upland and hilly terrain, especially within the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Rangamati, Khagrachhari, and Bandarban districts), where narrow ridges and deep valleys dominate. The division also includes Cox’s Bazar, home to the longest natural sandy beach in the world, extending for approximately 120 km, formed by coastal sedimentation along the Bay of Bengal. Numerous short, steep rivers such as the Karnaphuli, Sangu, and Feni drain the hills toward the coast. The climate is tropical monsoonal, with very high annual rainfall.

Geologically, Chittagong Division lies within the Indo-Burman Fold Belt, a tectonically active zone produced by the oblique collision of the Indian Plate with the Burmese microplate. The upland areas are underlain by Cenozoic sedimentary rocks, including sandstones, shales, mudstones, and turbidites, which are strongly folded and faulted, creating the characteristic ridge-and-valley topography. To the west, these rocks pass beneath thick Quaternary alluvial deposits of the Bengal Basin. Offshore and coastal areas are influenced by rapid sediment accumulation from major river systems and active deltaic processes.

A unique geological and ecological feature of the division is St Martin’s Island, located in the Bay of Bengal south of Cox’s Bazar. It is the only coral reef island in Bangladesh, developed on shallow marine carbonate sediments. The island hosts coral communities, calcareous algae, and shell-rich beach deposits, making it of particular interest for studies of tropical reef development, coastal geomorphology, and sea-level change in the northern Indian Ocean.

The mineral and extractive heritage of Chittagong Division is limited and focused mainly on industrial and construction materials. Limestone, sand, gravel, clay, and sandstone are quarried locally, particularly in the hill tracts and river valleys. Metallic mineralisation is minimal, but the region is strategically important for energy infrastructure, with offshore natural gas fields in the Bay of Bengal connected to processing and transport facilities near Chattogram.

Historically, Chittagong has been a major maritime gateway linking Bengal with South and Southeast Asia. The region was influenced by Arakanese, Mughal, and British rule before becoming part of East Pakistan and later independent Bangladesh in 1971. The Chittagong Hill Tracts retain a distinct cultural and historical identity, shaped by their upland geography and Indigenous communities.

Administratively, Chittagong Division is subdivided into districts (zilas), including the autonomous hill districts. Its combination of fold-belt geology, active tectonics, coastal sedimentary systems, and reef development makes Chittagong Division geologically unique within Bangladesh and important for understanding interactions between orogenic belts, deltaic environments, and tropical coastal systems.

Fossils

There are 1 fossil locality from the PaleoBioDB database within this region.

These data are provided on an experimental basis and are taken from external databases. Mindat.org has no control currently over the accuracy of these data.

Occurrences	1
Youngest Fossil Listed	5.33 Ma (Miocene)
Oldest Fossil Listed	23.0 Ma (Miocene)
Stratigraphic Units	Unit No. Occurrences Age Tipam 1 23.03 - 5.333 Ma (Miocene)
Fossils from Region	Click here to show the list.
Accepted Name Hierarchy Age Cetotheriidae family Animalia : Chordata : Mammalia : Cetacea : Cetotheriidae 23.03 - 5.333 Ma Miocene
Fossil Localities	Click to show 1 fossil locality

Other Databases

Wikipedia:	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chittagong_Division
Wikidata ID:	Q158087
GeoNames ID:	1337200

Localities in this Region

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