Bangladesh is divided into 8 divisions (bibhag) and 64 districts (jela, zila, zela), although these have only a limited role in public policy. For the purposes of local government, the country is divided into upazilas (sub-districts), "municipalities" or town councils (pourashova), city corporations (i.e. metropolitan municipal corporations) and union councils (i.e. rural councils). The diagram below outlines the five tiers of government in Bangladesh. Regions Traditionally Bangladesh is divided between four regions by the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra delta; formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma or Pôdda), Brahmaputra (Jamuna or Jomuna), and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. Northern Bengal: comprising Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Eastern Bengal: also known as eastern Bangladesh, comprising Chittagong Division, Sylhet Division and proposed Comilla Division, known for the Surma-Meghna River System. Central Bengal: also known as Central Bengal Region, comprising Mymensingh Division and Dhaka Division, excluding proposed Faridpur Division. Southern Bengal: comprising Barisal Division, Khulna Division and proposed Faridpur Division. Divisions Bangladesh is divided into eight major administrative divisions. Each division is named after the major city within its jurisdiction that serves as the administrative capital of that division: Barishal Chattogram Dhaka Khulna Mymensingh Rajshahi Rangpur Sylhet Proposed divisions Cumilla Division – proposed to consist six northwestern districts of the existing Chittagong Division. Faridpur Division – proposed to consist five southern districts of the existing Dhaka Division. Districts The divisions are divided into 64 districts. Each district is run by a Deputy Commissioner (popularly abbreviated to "DC") who is appointed by the government from a Deputy secretary of BCS Administration Cadre. Upazilas The districts are divided into sub-districts called upazilas. Upazilas are similar to the county subdivisions found in some Western countries. Bangladesh has 495 upazilas (as of 31 August 2021). The upazilas are the second lowest tier of regional administration in Bangladesh. Like India, City corporations do not fit neatly into upazilas, despite some deemed as "sadar", indicating urban characteristics. Upazilas were formerly known as thana which literally means police station. Despite the meaning, thanas functioned much as an administrative and geographic region, much as today's upazilas. In 1982 thanas were re-termed to as upazilas with provisions for semi-autonomous local governance. This system was reverted to the thana system in 1992. Later in 1999 geographic regions under administrations of thanas were converted into upazilas. All administrative terms in this level were renamed from thana to upazila. For instance, Thana Nirbahi