Benapole

Benapole
Township and Land Port City of Bangladesh
Trucks at Benapole Land Port
Benapole Show map of Khulna division Benapole Show map of Bangladesh
Coordinates: 23°2′31″N 88°53′44″E / 23.04194°N 88.89556°E / 23.04194; 88.89556
Country	Bangladesh
Region	Khulna
District	Jessore
Upazila	Sharsha
Area
• Total	14.22 km2 (5.49 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	36,524
• Density	2,600/km2 (6,700/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+6 (BST)

Benapole (Bengali: বেনাপোল) is a township in Sharsha Upazila in the Jessore District of Bangladesh. The Petrapole Customs station of India is situated across the border and since 1971 (some sources say 1947), many people have travelled between Bangladesh and India through Benapole Customs / Land port station. The railway link between Bangladesh and India through Benapole was discontinued when war broke out between Pakistan and India in September 1965 (during this time, modern day Bangladesh was part of Pakistan, known as East Pakistan).

Urbanization of Benapole started in the 1990s along the Grand Trunk Road. In April 1971, the operational area of the sector 8 comprised the districts of Kushtia, Jessore, Khulna, Barisal, Faridpur and Patuakhali. At the end of May the sector was reconstituted and comprised the districts of Kuhstia, Jessore, Khulna, Satkhira and the northern part of Faridpur district. Benapole served as the headquarters of sector 8 in the liberation war. It has the largest land port in south Asia and Bangladesh.