Union councils of Bangladesh

Union council (Bengali: ইউনিয়ন পরিষদ, romanized: iuniẏana pariṣada), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit in Bangladesh. Each union council is made up of nine wards. Usually one village is designated as a ward. There are 4,562 unions in Bangladesh. A union council consists of a chairman and twelve members including three members exclusively reserved for women. Union councils are formed under the Local Government (Union Parishads) Act, 2009. The boundary of each union council is demarcated by the Deputy Commissioner of the District. A union council is the body primarily responsible for agricultural, industrial and community development within the local limits of the union.