One of the world's oldest ports with a functional natural harbor for centuries, Chittagong appeared on ancient Greek and Roman maps, including on Ptolemy's world map. It was located on the southern branch of the Silk Road. In the 9th century, merchants from the Abbasid Caliphate established a trading post in Chittagong. The port fell to the Muslim conquest of Bengal during the 14th century. It was the site of a royal mint under the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Empire. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Chittagong was also a center of administrative, literary, commercial and maritime activities in Arakan, a narrow strip of land along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal which was under strong Bengali influence for 350 years. During the 16th century, the port became a Portuguese trading post and João de Barros described it as "the most famous and wealthy city of the Kingdom of Bengal". The Mughal Empire expelled the Portuguese and Arakanese in 1666. (Full article...)
The Bengal Subah (Persian: صوبه بنگاله), also referred to as Mughal Bengal, was the largest subdivision of Mughal India encompassing much of the Bengal region, which includes modern-day Bangladesh, the Indian state of West Bengal, and some parts of the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha between the 16th and 18th centuries. The state was established following the dissolution of the Bengal Sultanate, a major trading nation in the world, when the region was absorbed into the Mughal Empire. Bengal was the wealthiest region in the Indian subcontinent.
Bengal Subah has been variously described the "Paradise of Nations" and the "Golden Age of Bengal". It alone accounted for 40% of Dutch imports from Asia. The eastern part of Bengal was globally prominent in industries such as textile manufacturing and shipbuilding, and it was a major exporter of silk and cotton textiles, steel, saltpeter, and agricultural and industrial produce in the world. The region was also the basis of the Anglo-Bengal War. (Full article...)
They speak Sylheti, an eastern Indo-Aryan language that is considered "a distinct language by many and a dialect of Bengali by some others". Sylheti identity is associated primarily with its regional culture and language, alongside a broader cultural and ethnic Bengali identity. (Full article...)
The Padma Oil Company Limited (Bengali: পদ্মা অয়েল কোম্পানী লিমিটেড) formerly known as Burmah Eastern Limited, is a subsidiary of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC), a statutory organization of the government under the Ministry of Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources. It is registered with the joint-stock company as a public limited company under the Company Act 1913. The company's head office is located on Strand Road in Chittagong, officially known as Chattogram. It is one of three state owned oil distribution companies in Bangladesh with the others being Jamuna Oil Company and Meghna Petroleum Limited. (Full article...)
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Location of airport in Bangladesh
Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport (Bengali: হযরত শাহ্জালাল আন্তর্জাতিক বিমানবন্দর, Romanized: Hôzrôt Shahjalal Antôrjatik Bimanbôndôr) (IATA: DAC, ICAO: VGHS, formerly VGZR) is the main international airport serving Dhaka City, the capital city of Bangladesh, and it is the largest airport in Bangladesh. It is located in Kurmitola, 17 km (11 mi) from the city centre, in the northern part of Dhaka. The airport is also used as a base for the Bangladesh Air Force, named BAF Base Bangabandhu. The airport has an area of 802 hectares (1,981 acres). The Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) operates and maintains the airport. It started operations in 1980, taking over from Tejgaon Airport as the principal international airport of the country. The airport was formerly known as Dacca International Airport and later as Zia International Airport, before being named in honour of Shah Jalal, who is one of the most respected Sufi saints of Bangladesh. The IATA code of the airport "DAC" is derived from "Dacca", which is the previously used spelling for "Dhaka".
It is the primary hub of most of airlines in Bangladesh including Air Astra, Novoair, US-Bangla Airlines, and the national flag carrier Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The annual passenger handling capacity of the airport is 18.5 million passengers, and this passenger handling capacity is predicted by CAAB to be sufficient until 2026. In 2014, the airport handled 9.1 million passengers and 248,000 tonnes of cargo. Average aircraft movement per day is around 190 flights. Ground handling at the airport is provided by Biman Ground Handling, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Biman Bangladesh Airlines. The airport has complete Wi-Fi Internet coverage and all the terminals of the airport have multiple First Class and Business Class executive lounges operated by Five Star hotels, such as Intercontinental Dhaka; Bangladeshi companies such as Eastern Bank Skylounge or City Bank American Express Lounge; as well as local and foreign airlines. Passengers travelling on First Class or Business Class air tickets, as well as economy passengers who are Priority Pass card holders, have complimentary access to select lounges. (Full article...)
"Bangla Desh" is a song by English musician George Harrison. It was released as a non-album single in July 1971, to raise awareness for the millions of refugees from the country Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan, following the 1970 Bhola cyclone and the outbreak of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Harrison's inspiration for the song came from his friend Ravi Shankar, an Indian-Bengali musician, who approached Harrison for help in trying to alleviate the suffering. "Bangla Desh" has been described as "one of the most cogent social statements in music history" and helped gain international support for Bangladeshi independence by establishing the name of the fledgling nation around the world. In 2005, United Nations Secretary-GeneralKofi Annan identified the song's success in personalising the Bangladesh crisis, through its emotive description of Shankar's request for help.
"Bangla Desh" appeared at the height of Harrison's popularity as a solo artist, following the break-up of the Beatles and the acclaim afforded his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. It was pop music's first charity single, and its release took place three days before the Harrison-sponsored Concert for Bangladesh shows at New York's Madison Square Garden. The single became a top ten hit in the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Europe, and peaked at number 23 on America's Billboard Hot 100. The recording was co-produced by Phil Spector and features contributions from Leon Russell, Jim Horn, Ringo Starr and Jim Keltner. The Los Angeles session for the song marked the start of two enduring musical associations in Harrison's solo career, with Keltner and Horn. (Full article...)
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Satellite image of the cyclone nearing peak intensity on November 29
The 1988 Bangladesh cyclone (designated as Tropical Cyclone 04B by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center) was one of the worst tropical cyclones in Bangladesh history. Striking in November 1988, the tropical system exacerbated the catastrophic damage from what was then considered the worst floods in Bangladesh's history. The tropical cyclone originated from a disturbance that developed within the Strait of Malacca on November 21. Tracking slowly westward, the initial tropical depression reached tropical storm status in the Andaman Sea. On November 26, the storm reached an intensity equivalent to that of a modern-day severe cyclonic storm and subsequently turned northward. Gradually intensifying as it had previously, the tropical cyclone reached peak intensity with winds of 125 mph (201 km/h) as it was making landfall near the Bangladesh–India border on November 29. Although the storm retained strong winds well inland, it was last monitored over central Bangladesh as a moderate cyclonic storm-equivalent on November 30.
The brunt of the tropical cyclone's damage was inflicted upon coastal areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal. A total of 6,240 people were killed as a result of the storm, with 5,708 in Bangladesh and 538 in West Bengal. Many of the deaths were a result of the destruction of homes or electrocution after strong winds toppled power poles across the region. Along the coast of Bangladesh, strong storm surge caused heavy infrastructure damage and contributed in wiping out an estimated 70% of all harvestable Bangladeshi crops, with an estimated 200,000 tonnes (220,000 tons) of crops being lost. Widespread power outages cut telecommunications across Bangladesh; in Dhaka, Bangladesh's capital city, debris-laden streets paralyzed traffic while electrical outages caused water shortages. (Full article...)
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Banglapedia:theNational Encyclopedia of Bangladesh is the first Bangladeshi encyclopedia. It is available in print, CD-ROM format and online, in both Bengali and English. The print version comprises fourteen 500-page volumes. The first edition was published in January 2003 in ten volumes by the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh. with a plan to update it every two years. The second edition was issued in 2012 in fourteen volumes.
Banglapedia was not designed as a general encyclopedia but as a specialized encyclopedia on Bangladesh-related topics. For the encyclopedia's purposes, Bangladesh is defined as the territory comprising ancient Eastern India, Bengal Sultanate, Bengal Subah, Bengal Presidency, East Bengal, East Pakistan, and the independent Bangladesh, in historical succession. (Full article...)
Industrialisation in Bangladesh received a strong impetus after the partition of India due to labour reforms and new industries. Between 1947 and 1971, East Bengal generated between 70% and 50% of Pakistan's exports. Modern Bangladesh embarked on economic reforms in the late 1970s which promoted free markets and foreign direct investment. By the 1990s, the country had a booming ready-made garments industry. As of 16 March 2024, Bangladesh has the highest number of green garment factories in the world with Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification from the United States Green Building Council (USGBC), where 80 are platinum-rated, 119 are gold-rated, 10 are silver, and four are without any rating. As of 6 March 2024, Bangladesh is home to 54 of the top 100 LEED Green Garment Factories globally, including 9 out of the top 10, and 18 out of the top 20. As of 27 April 2024, Bangladesh has a growing pharmaceutical industry with 12 percent average annual growth rate. Bangladesh is the only nation among the 48 least-developed countries that is almost self-sufficient when it comes to medicine production as local companies meet 98 percent of the domestic demand for pharmaceuticals. Remittances from the large Bangladeshi diaspora became a vital source of foreign exchange reserves. Agriculture in Bangladesh is supported by government subsidies and ensures self-sufficiency in food production. Bangladesh has pursued export-oriented industrialisation. (Full article...)
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Remi Holdings highest scoring LEED-certified Garment factories in Bangladesh and highest in the world. The textile and clothing industries provide a single source of growth in Bangladesh's rapidly developingeconomy. Exports of textiles and garments are the principal source of foreign exchange earnings. By 2002 exports of textiles, clothing, and ready-made garments (RMG) accounted for 77% of Bangladesh's total merchandise exports. Emerging as the world's second-largest exporter of ready-made garment (RMG) products, Bangladesh significantly bolstered employment within the manufacturing sector.
In 1972, the World Bank approximated the gross domestic product (GDP) of Bangladesh at US$6.29 billion, and it grew to $368 billion by 2021, with $46 billion of that generated by exports, 82% of which was ready-made garments. As of 2016 Bangladesh held the 2nd place in producing garments just after China. Bangladesh is the world's second-largest apparel exporter of Western fast fashion brands. Sixty percent of the export contracts of Western brands are with European buyers and about thirty percent with American buyers and ten percent to others. Only 5% of textile factories are owned by foreign investors, with most of the production being controlled by local investors. In the financial year 2016-2017 the RMG industry generated US$28.14 billion, which was 80.7% of the total export earnings in exports and 12.36% of the GDP; the industry was also taking on green manufacturing practices. (Full article...)
The Bangladeshi government has begun to implement a foreign policy that pursues regional economic integration in South Asia and aims to establish Bangladesh as a regional hub of transit trade in Asia. (Full article...)
![Image 1 Shah Amanat Bridge Chittagong (/ˈtʃɪtəɡɒŋ/ CHIT-ə-gong), officially Chattogram (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম, romanized: Côṭṭôgrām [ˈtʃɔʈːoɡram], Chittagonian: চাটগাঁও/চিটাং romanized: Sāṭgão/Siṭāṅ), is the second-largest city in Bangladesh. Home to the Port of Chittagong, it is the busiest port in Bangladesh and the Bay of Bengal. The city is also known as business capital of Bangladesh. It is the administrative seat of an eponymous division and district. The city is located on the banks of the Karnaphuli River between the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Bay of Bengal. The Greater Chittagong Area had a population of more than 8.2 million in 2022. In 2020, the city area had a population of more than 5.2 million. The city is home to many large local businesses and plays an important role in the Bangladeshi economy. One of the world's oldest ports with a functional natural harbor for centuries, Chittagong appeared on ancient Greek and Roman maps, including on Ptolemy's world map. It was located on the southern branch of the Silk Road. In the 9th century, merchants from the Abbasid Caliphate established a trading post in Chittagong. The port fell to the Muslim conquest of Bengal during the 14th century. It was the site of a royal mint under the Delhi Sultanate, Bengal Sultanate and Mughal Empire. Between the 15th and 17th centuries, Chittagong was also a center of administrative, literary, commercial and maritime activities in Arakan, a narrow strip of land along the eastern coast of the Bay of Bengal which was under strong Bengali influence for 350 years. During the 16th century, the port became a Portuguese trading post and João de Barros described it as "the most famous and wealthy city of the Kingdom of Bengal". The Mughal Empire expelled the Portuguese and Arakanese in 1666. (Full article...)](/wiki/File:Blank.png)
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