Sapahar Upazila (naogaon district) with an area of 244.49 sq km, is bounded by West Bengal of India on the north and west, porsha upazila on the south, patnitala upazila on the east. Main river is Punarbhaba; Jaboi Beel is notable.

Sapahar (Town) consists of 4 mouzas. The area of the town is 8.39 sq km. It has a population of 6008; male 55.21%, female 44.79%. Literacy rate among the town people is 40.4%. It has one dakbungalow.

Administration Sapahar thana, now an upazila, was established in 1980. It consists of 6 union parishads 151 mouzas and 228 villages.

Religious institutions Mosque 209, temple 22, church 1.

Population 115320; male 50.68%, female 49.32%; Muslim 91.99%, Hindu 6%, others 2.01%; noted ethnic nationals: Mal and Munda.

Literacy and educational institutions Average literacy 20.24%; male 27.56% and female 12.92%. Educational institutions: government college 1, non-government college 4, government high school 1, non-government high school 23, government primary school 47, non-government primary school 40, community school 6, satellite school 3, madrasa 42.

Cultural organisations Club 2, public library 1, rural club 56, cinema hall 1, theatre 1, theatre group 4, playground 43.

Main occupations Agriculture 52.15%, agricultural labourer 29.58%, wage labourer 3.07%, commerce 5.14%, service 2.47%, others 7.59%.

Land use Total cultivable land 25162 hectares, fallow land 100 hectares; single crop 72%, double crop 19% and treble crop land 9%.

Land control Among the peasants, 27% are landless, 18% small, 35% medium and 20% rich.

Value of land Market value of land of first grade is approximately Tk 2500 per 0.01 hectare.

Main crops Paddy, wheat, water melon and mustard seed.

Extinct or nearly extinct crops Aus paddy, sesame, linseed, arhar.

Main fruits Mango, jackfruit, banana and papaya.

Dairies, poultries and fisheries Dairy 1, poultry 17, fishery 1.

Communication facilities Roads: pucca 16 km, semi pucca 22 km and mud road 325 km.

Manufactories Ice factory 2, flour mill 2, boiler 29, rice mill 17.

Cottage industries Bamboo work 122, goldsmith 12, blacksmith 24, potteries 85, wood work 168, sewing machine 292 and welding 6.

Main exports Paddy, wheat and mustard seed.

Hats and bazars Battali, Bakharpur, Sapahar, Khelnarhat, Khandanpur, Chowmahani Madhail, Patarihat and Tilna Bazar are noted.

NGO activities Operationally importand NGOs are brac, asa, proshika, Ujjiban, caritas and Varendra Prokalpa.

Health centres Upazila health complex 1, union health and family welfare centre (RD) 1, union family welfare centre (FWC) 4, family welfare prokalpa 2. [Md. Mukhlesur Rahman]