Kumarkhali Upazila

Kumarkhali is an upazila located in the Kushtia District of Bangladesh's Khulna Division. It spans an area of 258.18 km² and has a population of 328,457 as recorded in the 2011 census, with 79,008 households. The region is bounded by Pabna Sadar Upazila and the Padma River to the north, Shailkupa Upazila to the south, Khoksa Upazila to the east, and Kushtia Sadar Upazila to the west. Notably, Kumarkhali is associated with the Shelaidaha area, where the renowned poet Rabindranath Tagore spent a significant portion of his youth.

The upazila has an average literacy rate of 45.3% (compared to the national average of 51.8%) and a sex ratio of 1009 females per 1000 males. In the 2011 census, 70,884 individuals were under the age of 10, and 21,914 people lived in urban areas. As of the 1991 census, the population was 269,008, with an average literacy rate of 24.9%. The area is administered through Kumarkhali Municipality and 11 union parishads, which are further subdivided into 187 mauzas and 201 villages.

Kumarkhali Thana was established in 1855 and later upgraded to a sub division of Pabna District in 1857. It underwent several administrative changes before being designated as an upazila in 1983. The municipality, formed in 1869, is one of the earliest in undivided Bengal.

Among its notable residents is Akbar Hossain, a prominent novelist born in Kaya village.