59 Fun Facts About Bangladesh

What is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh?

Dhaka is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh; its metropolitan area of more than 20 million people is among the most densely populated on Earth.

Bangladesh shares its only land borders with India and which other country?

It is otherwise almost entirely surrounded by India, and lies within a few dozen kilometres of Nepal, Bhutan and China.

With almost 176 million people, Bangladesh ranks where among the world's most populous countries?

Eighth in the world by population, Bangladesh packs about 175 million people into an area smaller than the US state of Florida.

Before its independence in 1971, what was Bangladesh known as?

As East Pakistan from 1947 to 1971, the territory was separated from its country's western wing by more than 1,000 miles of a neighbour's land.

Bangladesh celebrates Victory Day on which date, marking the surrender that ended the 1971 war?

On 16 December 1971 the eastern command of the occupying army surrendered in the capital, ending the Liberation War; roughly 93,000 troops laid down their arms.

Why is the red disc on Bangladesh's flag placed slightly off-centre toward the hoist?

So it looks centred when fluttering: the disc is shifted toward the hoist. The 1971 wartime flag also carried a yellow map inside the disc, dropped in 1972.

Which Nobel laureate wrote "Amar Sonar Bangla", the national anthem of Bangladesh?

Rabindranath Tagore wrote "Amar Sonar Bangla" in 1905, during the first partition of Bengal; its opening ten lines became the national anthem after independence.

Which is the national sport of Bangladesh, even though cricket is far more popular?

Kabaddi, known locally as ha-du-du, was declared the national sport in 1972, the year after independence.

Which fish is the national fish of Bangladesh?

Hilsa (ilish), a herring relative usually cooked with mustard, was granted Geographical Indication status in Bangladesh in 2017.

Which flower is the national flower of Bangladesh (and also of Sri Lanka)?

Water lily (shapla) grows wild in ponds and flooded fields across the country during the monsoon and appears on the national emblem.

Which is the national animal of Bangladesh?

The Bengal tiger is the national animal; those living in the mangrove delta are unusually small, with adult females weighing only about 75–80 kg.

The oriental magpie-robin, known locally as the doyel, is Bangladesh's national what?

A doyel monument stands in Dhaka near the university, and the bird appears on the two-taka coin.

Bangladesh contains most of which forest, the largest mangrove forest in the world?

The Sundarbans lies about 60% inside Bangladesh; that part has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997 and shelters tigers, saltwater crocodiles and fishing cats.

Which island is the only coral island in Bangladesh?

St. Martin's Island, about 9 km south of the tip of the Teknaf peninsula, is the only coral island in Bangladesh; locals call it Narikel Jinjira, 'coconut island'.

Which three great rivers meet to form the delta that makes up most of Bangladesh?

The Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna merge to build the world's largest river delta; the Brahmaputra's main channel through the country is called the Jamuna.

Which city in northwestern Bangladesh is nicknamed Silk City?

Rajshahi, on the lower Ganges near the western border, is nicknamed Silk City for its mulberry-silk industry and is equally famous for its mangoes.

Which district is the northernmost in Bangladesh?

Panchagarh is the northernmost district; its Tetulia upazila forms the country's northern tip, wedged against the narrow Siliguri corridor.

Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh's famous sea beach on the Bay of Bengal, stretches roughly how far?

About 120 km: the unbroken sandy beach at Cox's Bazar runs south from the town toward Teknaf, making it one of the longest natural sea beaches in the world.

Which 1970 storm, the deadliest tropical cyclone ever recorded, killed up to half a million in the Ganges Delta?

The Bhola cyclone struck on 12 November 1970; anger at the central government's slow relief helped the Awami League sweep the election a month later and fed the independence movement.

Language Movement Day remembers students killed in 1952 for demanding Bengali instead of which language?

Urdu had been imposed as the sole state language; on 21 February 1952 police fired on students protesting at the university in the capital, killing several.

UNESCO adopted 21 February, the day Bangladesh honours its 1952 martyrs, as what worldwide observance in 1999?

International Mother Language Day was proclaimed by UNESCO's General Conference in November 1999 and first observed in 2000, in tribute to linguistic rights everywhere.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Bangladesh's founding leader, is honoured with which title meaning "Friend of Bengal"?

Bangabandhu, 'Friend of Bengal', was conferred on him at a rally in the capital in 1969; he was assassinated with most of his family in an army coup in August 1975.

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's 7 March 1971 speech is listed on which UNESCO register?

Memory of the World: UNESCO added the 7 March 1971 speech to that documentary-heritage register in 2017; it rallied Bengalis weeks before Operation Searchlight.

Which 1757 battle began British colonial rule over Bengal?

At Plassey on 23 June 1757, Nawab Siraj-ud-Daulah was defeated by British forces under Robert Clive after his own general Mir Jafar defected.

Under the Mughals, Bengal was famous worldwide as a producer of which luxury cotton fabric?

Dhaka's muslin was so fine it was nicknamed "woven air"; the industry collapsed under British rule.

Jamdani, the fine cotton textile woven near Dhaka, was recognised by UNESCO in 2013 as what?

Intangible Cultural Heritage: UNESCO inscribed jamdani weaving on its representative list in 2013; the cloth is hand-woven around Rupganj and Sonargaon on the Shitalakshya River.

Muhammad Yunus won the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for pioneering what?

Microcredit: his experiment of lending tiny sums to the poor began in 1976 in the village of Jobra; in 2024 he became chief adviser of the interim government.

Which bank, founded by Muhammad Yunus, shared his 2006 Nobel Peace Prize?

Grameen Bank, set up as an independent bank in 1983, lends tiny sums without collateral, mostly to rural women, and its model has been copied in dozens of countries.

Which American architect designed Bangladesh's national parliament building in Dhaka?

Louis Kahn designed the complex, commissioned in 1962 as a second capital for the country's then rulers; it opened in 1982, long after his death in 1974.

Bangladesh's Sixty Dome Mosque in Bagerhat, a World Heritage Site, actually has how many domes?

81: the roof carries 77 domes plus one on each of the four corner towers. The name refers to its sixty stone pillars; Khan Jahan Ali built it in the 15th century.

Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur was a great monastery of which religion?

Buddhism: the Pala king Dharmapala founded the monastery in the late 8th century, and it was among the largest Buddhist viharas on the subcontinent.

Bangladesh's currency, the taka, replaced which currency at par in March 1972?

The Pakistani rupee was swapped for the taka at par from 4 March 1972; during the war, nationalists had overstamped rupee notes with "BANGLA DESH" in protest.

Bengali New Year, Pohela Boishakh, is celebrated in Bangladesh on which date?

14 April is fixed as Pohela Boishakh, the first day of the Bangla year, under the revised calendar Bangladesh adopted in 1987.

Which Mughal emperor introduced the Bengali calendar, timing the tax year to the harvest?

Akbar ordered the calendar in the 1580s; his astronomer Fathullah Shirazi blended the lunar Islamic year with the solar Hindu one so taxes fell after the harvest.

Bangladesh's national cricket team caused a famous World Cup upset in 1999 by beating which team?

Bangladesh beat Pakistan by 62 runs at Northampton on 31 May 1999, a result that helped speed their promotion to Test status the following year.

Bangladesh became the 10th Test-playing nation in 2000 and played its first Test against which team?

India were the opponents for Bangladesh's inaugural Test, played in the capital in November 2000; the first Test win came only in 2005, against Zimbabwe.

Who captained Bangladesh to its first Test win over England, in 2016?

Mushfiqur Rahim led Bangladesh to the 108-run win in the capital in October 2016, with off-spinner Mehedi Hasan Miraz taking 12 wickets in the match.

Which tournament did Bangladesh's youth cricketers win in 2020, the country's first global cricket title?

Under-19 World Cup: Bangladesh beat the defending champions by three wickets (DLS) in the February 2020 final at Potchefstroom, South Africa.

Which city is Bangladesh's second largest and its busiest port?

Chittagong, officially Chattogram since 2018, sits on the Karnaphuli River and handles most of the country's seaborne trade.

A Greek ship stranded by a 1960 cyclone spawned which huge industry at Sitakunda?

Recycled steel from the yards now covers about a fifth of Bangladesh's needs.

Which northeastern Bangladeshi city is known for its tea plantations and the shrine of Shah Jalal?

Sylhet holds the shrine of the 14th-century saint Shah Jalal and is ringed by tea gardens; a large share of Britain's Bangladeshi community traces its roots to the region.

Which Bangladeshi bridge, opened in 2022, has the deepest piles of any bridge in the world at 127 m?

The Padma Bridge, 6.15 km long, opened in June 2022 and was financed domestically after the World Bank withdrew in 2012 over corruption allegations.

Bangladesh's first satellite, launched in 2018, was the first payload for which rocket variant?

SpaceX Falcon 9 Block 5 made its maiden flight on 11 May 2018 from Kennedy Space Center, carrying Bangladesh's first communications satellite to geostationary transfer orbit.

Which building houses Bangladesh's national parliament?

Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital, opened in 1982 and is the seat of the country's unicameral parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad.

Dhaka was the Mughal capital of Bengal for 75 years and was renamed in honour of which emperor?

Jahangir, the fourth Mughal emperor, gave his name to Jahangirnagar, as the city was called from 1608; it grew rich on the fine-cotton trade.

Pari Bibi, whose death halted Dhaka's Lalbagh Fort, was which Mughal governor's daughter?

Shaista Khan took his daughter's death in 1684 as a bad omen and halted the work; Pari Bibi's tomb stands inside the fort.

Ahsan Manzil, the Pink Palace on the Buriganga River, was the seat of which title-holders?

The Nawabs of Dhaka, the Khwaja family, lived at Ahsan Manzil from 1872; the Indo-Saracenic palace was restored and opened as a museum in 1992.

Which Bangladeshi poet, author of "Bidrohi" ("The Rebel"), is the country's national poet?

Kazi Nazrul Islam, born in 1899 in Bengal's Burdwan district, was brought to the new country's capital in 1972 and granted citizenship in 1976, months before his death.

Which curdled-milk sweet is among the classic Bengali sweets listed alongside chomchom and mishti doi?

Roshogolla is a ball of chhena (curdled-milk cheese) boiled in light syrup; its origin is disputed between Odisha and West Bengal, which both hold GI tags for their versions.

Which rice-and-lentil dish is Bangladesh's classic rainy-day comfort food?

Khichuri, rice and lentils simmered together with spices, is the classic rainy-day comfort food in Bangladesh, often served with an omelette or fried eggplant.

Which Bangladeshi city hosts Kaptai Lake, the country's largest artificial lake?

Rangamati sits on Kaptai Lake, created when the Karnaphuli River was dammed in 1962; the reservoir displaced around 100,000 people, most of them indigenous Chakma.

Into how many divisions is Bangladesh administratively divided?

Eight divisions sit above the country's 64 districts; Mymensingh was added in 2015, the first new division since Rangpur in 2010.

What is the highest point in Bangladesh, at 1,064 metres near the Myanmar border?

Keokradong was long claimed as the highest peak before surveys pointed to Saka Haphong in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Which dictator ruled Bangladesh through the 1980s until a mass uprising in 1990?

Hussain Muhammad Ershad seized power in a March 1982 coup and resigned in December 1990 after weeks of street protests; his rule made Islam the state religion in 1988.

On what date in 2024 was Sheikh Hasina forced to resign and flee to India?

On 5 August 2024, after weeks of student-led protests, Sheikh Hasina resigned and flew out of the country; Muhammad Yunus was sworn in as chief adviser of an interim government three days later.

Which political organisation did Ziaur Rahman found on 1 September 1978?

Bangladesh Nationalist Party was launched by Ziaur Rahman on 1 September 1978, a year after he became president; he was assassinated in a 1981 coup attempt and his widow Khaleda Zia later led the party.

Who united Bengal in 1352 and took the title Shah-i-Bangalah?

Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, who had seized Lakhnauti in 1342, captured Sonargaon in 1352 and styled himself Shah-i-Bangalah, founding the Ilyas Shahi dynasty.

How many of East Pakistan's 169 National Assembly seats did the Awami League win in December 1970?

167 of 169: the Awami League took 160 of the 162 general seats plus all seven women's seats, and the refusal to hand over power led to the 1971 crackdown and Liberation War.

The Awami League leader's 1966 programme for federal parliamentary democracy was known as what?

The six-point movement, announced by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Lahore in February 1966, demanded a federation with autonomy for the eastern wing, including separate currencies and fiscal powers.