The history behind its naming is traced back to a canal that was dug in the 1660s in response to devastating floods which had affected the area's agricultural activities.

After its excavation, locals began calling it "Noakhali" (a new small canal) and a town with this name emerged around it in Sudharam.

According to local Hindu mythology, the etymology of Bhulua is related to an incident experienced by Adi Sura's ninth son, Bishwambhar Sur, who had passed through the region during his travels.

[7] Noakhali is situated on relatively young alluvial deposits, therefore its human history dates from a more recent time than other parts of Bengal.

Of the total 544,943[8] holdings of the district 65.37% of the holdings are farms that produce varieties of crops, namely: local and hybrid rice, wheat, vegetables, spices, cash crops, pulses, betel leaves, boro and Aman paddy, peanut, varieties of pulses, chili, sugarcane, potato, and others.

On three sides of Noakhali, an alluvial plain that is inundated annually and fertilised by silt deposits from the Meghna estuary.

Flora Noakhali is one of the coastal districts at the fringe of the Bay of Bengal with vast char land of recent origin in the south.

Plantlife is confined generally to variations belonging to the lower Gangetic plane and of other districts in the southern region of the country.

Betel nut palm or supari (Areca catechu) plantations are more and more abundant towards the north and the west of the district and grow almost lie forests.

In the marshes are found sola (Aeschynomene aspera) and murta or mostak (Schumannianthus dichotomus ) which is extensively used for making various types of mats famously known as shital pati and baskets.

The most common type of planted tree species on the island is keora, also known as kerfa, which has fast growing roots holding the sandy land.

The tree occurs on newly accreted soil in moderately to strongly saline areas and is considered as a pioneer species in ecological succession.

Fauna Owing to the absence of organized forest and other natural conditions, no large or medium-sized carnivores are seen in the district.

However, the following mammals have still seen the district although their number is gradually decreasing: jackal (Canis aureus), fox (Vulpes bengalensis), large Indian civet or bagdas (Viverra zibetha), otter or uud (Lutra lutra), Irrawaddy, kath biral (Callosciuruspy gerythrus), Bengal mongoose or beji (Herpestes edwards), different kinds of rats and several species of bats.

Raptors include: white-rumped vulture (Gyps bengalensis), lanner falcon or baj (Falco biarmicus), marsh harrier or gochila (Circus aeruginesus), pariah cheel (Milvus migyans lineatas), several species of stork like pond heron or kani boga (Ardeola greyii), cattle egret or go boga (Babulcus ibis) and black bittern or kala boga (Dupeter plovicollis), crows (Corvus splendens) and kingfisher (Alcedo atthis), etc.

Water birds include: the little cormorant or pankawri (Phalacrocorax niger), waterhen or dahuk (Amaurornis phonicurus), kora (Gallicrex cinarea).

Cuckoo or kokil (Cuculus micropterus), black-hooded oriole or halde pakhi (Oriolus xanthornus), kingcrow or finge (Dicrurus adsimilis), moyna (Sturnus malabarica), shalik (Acridotheres tristis), redvented bulbuli (Pycnotus cafer), tuntuni (Orthotomus sutorious), shayma (Copsyehus malabaricus), sparrow (Passer domesticus), flowerpecker (Dicacum erythrochynchos), babui (Plocus phillippinus) famous for their artistic nest building, and several species of pheasant quails (Eudynamis scolopscea), pigeons and doves are also present.

Although Noakhali is coastal district, most of the fish supply comes from ponds and tanks, canals and low-lying areas inundated by rain water, popular varieties include: the carp tribe (Cyprinidoes), ruhi (Labeo rohita), katla (Catla catla), mrigel (Cirrhinus mrigala) and kalabaush (labeo calbasu), airh (Sperata aor), pangas (Pangasius pangasius), tengra (Mystus vittatus) of several types, magur (Clarias batrschus), singi (Saccobranchus fossilis) and koi (Mystus vittatus) are considered to be delicious, shoul (Channa striatus), boal (Wallago attu), gozar (Channa marulius), chitol (Chitala chitala), foli (Notopterus notopterus) and pabda (Ompok pabda) are available in abundance.

Tilapia, Muralla, Punti, Khoksha, Kajuli, Kakila, Khailsha, Bain and Chela are small fish like Mola, Kachki are found all over the district in abundance.

Noakhailla dialect is also spoken in Feni, Lakshmipur, southern Comilla, Mirsharai and Hajiganj, and is very much mutually intelligible with Sandwipi.

[11] Bengali literature in Noakhali dates back several centuries, with the puthi tradition being one of the principal genres and Muhammad Qasim of Jogdia being a prominent 18th-century poet.

Shaykh Basania of Asadia composed the Chowdhurir Larai, a ballad written in the local dialect Noakhailla dealing with a historic battle fought by Zamindar Raj Chandra Chowdhury of Babupur.

In the 20th century, Mukarrim Billah Chowdhury wrote Noakhalir Itihas, an important work relating to the history of Noakhali.

The Rajganj Mia Bari in Begumganj is a prominent zamindar palace in the district and was built by honorary magistrate Syed Sultan Alam Chowdhury.

Nowka Bais is a common traditional rowing competition during the monsoon season when rivers are filled up, and much of the land is under water.

Noakhali District had a literacy rate (age 7 and over) of 75.52%, compared to the national average of 74.80%, and a sex ratio of 1094 females per 1,000 males.

At the beginning of the Mughal and British rule, the education system was generally dependent on ‘tol’ schools and maktabs.

A number of independent transport companies operate buses, trucks and other vehicles from different parts of Noakhali to Feni, Chandpur, Comilla, Dhaka and Chittagong.

The dam was constructed applying workforce of around 6,000 labourers and is supposed to prevent salinity to about 1.30 lakh hectares of cropland under 14 upazilas in Noakhali, Comilla and Chandpur districts.

However, a certain portion of the dam was washed away within three hours of its construction; later with the joint efforts of locals and the Water Development Board (WDB) here, the erosion could be prevented.