Local government in Bangladesh

Local government in Bangladesh
Category	Unitary state
Location	Bangladesh
Number	8 Divisional Commissionerates 64 District Councils 495 Sub-district Councils 4,573 Union Councils 329 Town Councils 12 City Councils
Populations	3,212 (Union Councils) – 36,054,418 (Divisions)[citation needed]
Areas	9 km2 (Union Councils) – 7,468 km2 (Divisions)[citation needed]
Government	Council government
Subdivisions	Villages and Wards

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There are 8 divisions and 64 districts in Bangladesh, each district further subdivided into upazila (lit. subdistricts). The area within each subdistrict, except for those in metropolitan areas, is divided into several unions, with each union consisting of multiple villages. Direct elections are held for each union (or ward), electing a chairperson and a number of members. In 1997, a parliamentary act was passed to reserve three seats (out of 12) in every union for female candidates.^[1] Following elections in the 2014–16 period, 25.2% (14,763/ 58,543) of councillors were women, up from 23.4% in the 2011–13 period.^[2]

In Bangladesh, the rural and regional local government have four tiers:

• Divisional administration
• District administration
• Sub-district administration
• Rural, Municipal and City councils