[4][5] Sandwip Thana's status was upgraded to an upazila (sub-district level) in 1984.

The construction works of a Bangladesh Navy fleet headquarters at the Sandwip Channel with ship berthing facilities is also going on as part of the Forces Goal 2030.

[6] In 2010, the Government of Bangladesh announced a plan to build a dam in Urir Char to reclaim land as it had suffered greatly from Tropical Storm One and the 1991 Bangladesh cyclone among other natural disasters.

[11] Sandwip Upazila is divided into the Sandwip Municipality and 15 union parishads: Amanullah, Azimpur, Bauria, Digghapar, Gachhua, Haramia, Harispur, Kalapania, Magdhara, Maitbhanga, Musapur, Rahmatpur, Santoshpur, Sarikait, and Urirchar.

It also has 295 mosques which serve the majority Sunni Muslim population that inhabit the sub-district.