Chhagalnaiya Upazila

Chhagalnaiya (ছাগলনাইয়া) is an upazila of Feni District in the Division of Chittagong, Bangladesh.

Chhagalnaiya lies in the southern part of the district, bordering Tripura and Mirsharai Upazila of Chittagong. It is rich in history and culture. The great medieval warrior Shamsher Gazi hailed from Chhagalnaiya. It is also the birthplace of many other noted historical figures including Sir A. F. Rahman, first Muslim Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University, journalist Abdus Salam, Gaziul Haque, and Riaz Rahman (former Foreign Secretary).

Etymology
Despite some beliefs, the origin of the word (ছাগল) in Chhagalnaiya has no connection to the Gandhi's goat stealing incident of 1946. The Chhagalnaya-Parshuram region, located in this relatively ancient part of Noakhali, had a large portion of its area submerged underwater in the distant past. This body of water was known as either or , according to different opinions. Numerous boat wrecks have been discovered in this area once inhabited by boatmen, referred to as (সাগরের নাইয়া) in Bengali. Over time, evolved into  in folk language, and eventually into, the term used today. Some accounts suggest that during the early British period, the word (sea) was mistakenly transcribed as, resulting in  or Chhagalnaiya.

Geography and history
Chhagalnaiya is located at 23.0361°N, 91.5194°W. It has 36,744 household units and a total area of 139.59 km2.

Chagalnaiya is an Upazila in the Feni district in Bangladesh.

Demographics
As of the 2011 Bangladesh census, Chhagalnaiya upazila had 36,744 households and a population of 187,156. 41,904 (22.39%) were under 10 years of age. Chhagalnaiya had an average literacy rate of 63.38%, compared to the national average of 51.8%, and a sex ratio of 1091 females per 1000 males. 48,243 (25.78%) of the population lived in urban areas.

Administration
Chhagalnaiya Upazila is divided into Chhagalnaiya Municipality and five union parishads: Gopal, Mohamaya, Pathannagar, Radhanagar, and Shubhapur. The union parishads are subdivided into 54 mauzas and 58 villages.

Chhagalnaiya Municipality is subdivided into 9 wards and 11 mahallas.

Notable people

 * Abdus Salam, journalist and editor
 * Shamsher Ghazi,Warlord and ruler of Tippera
 * Kazi Fazlul Karim, Sub Deputy Magistrate during British rule, awarded with the title "Khan Shahib"
 * Kazi Fazlul Haque, Renowned lawyer, journalist and civil society leader.
 * Kazi Mozammel Haque, Historian and writer.