Dhaka, formerly known as Dacca, is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. It is one of the largest and most densely populated cities in the world, with a population of 18.2 million people in the Greater Dhaka Area as of 2016, while the city itself has a population of 8.9 million inhabitants as of 2011. Dhaka is the economic, political and cultural center of Bangladesh. It is one of the major cities of South Asia, the largest city in Eastern South Asia and among the Bay of Bengal countries; and one of the largest cities among OIC countries. As part of the Bengal plain, the city is bounded by the Buriganga River, Turag River, Dhaleshwari River and Shitalakshya River. The city is located in an eponymous district and division.
The market-based economy of Bangladesh is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. It's the 39th largest in the world in nominal terms, and 29th largest by purchasing power parity; it is classified among the Next Eleven emerging market middle income economies and a Frontier market. According to the IMF, Bangladesh's economy is the second fastest growing major economy of 2016, with a rate of 7.1%. Dhaka and Chittagong are the principal financial centers of the country, being home to the Dhaka Stock Exchange and the Chittagong Stock Exchange. The financial sector of Bangladesh is the second largest in the subcontinent.
The foreign relations share the Bangladeshi government's policies in its external relations with the international community. The country pursues a moderate foreign policy that places heavy reliance on multinational diplomacy, especially at the United Nations and World Trade Organization (WTO). Since independence in 1971, the country has stressed its principle of "Friendship towards all, malice towards none" in dictating its diplomacy. As a member of the Non-Aligned Movement, Bangladesh has tended to not take sides with major powers. Since the end of the Cold War, the country has pursued better relations with regional neighbours.
Biman Bangladesh Airlines, commonly known as Biman, pronounced, is the national flag carrier of Bangladesh, having its main hub at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka with its flights also operating from its secondary hubs at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong as well as Osmani International Airport in Sylhet. The airline provides international passenger and cargo services to multiple destinations and has air service agreements with 42 countries. The headquarters of the airline, Balaka Bhaban, is located in Kurmitola, in the northern part of Dhaka. Annual Hajj flights; transporting tourists, migrants and non-resident Bangladeshi workers; and the activities of its subsidiaries form an integral part of the corporate business of the airline. Bangladesh's air transport sector, which is experiencing an 8% annual growth rate thanks to a large number of outbound tourists, domestic tourists and non-resident Bangladeshi travellers, is very competitive with stiff competition among a number of domestic Bangladeshi private airlines as well as Biman.
The Bangladeshi taka is the currency of the People's Republic of Bangladesh. In Unicode, it is encoded at U+09F3৳BANGLADESHI TAKA SIGN (HTML ৳).
Sheikh Hasina Wazed is a Bangladeshi politician serving as the 10th Prime Minister of Bangladesh, having held the office since January 2009. She is the longest serving prime minister in the history of Bangladesh.
The Bangladesh men's national cricket team, popularly known as, The Tigers is administered by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). It is a Full Member of the International Cricket Council (ICC) with Test and One-Day International (ODI) status. It played its first Test match in November 2000 against India in Dhaka, becoming the tenth Test-playing nation.
The Bangladesh National Football Team is the nation's frontline football team in Bangladesh and is controlled by the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF). It is a member of the Asian Football Confederation, and became a member of FIFA in 1974 even though the Bangladesh Football Federation was first founded in 1972. Bangladesh was elected as a member of the AFC Executive Committee 1982–1986 and 1998–2002. The current Executive Committee was elected democratically, under an AFC approved constitution and direct supervision of FIFA & AFC, in April 2008.
Mashrafe Bin Mortaza is a Bangladeshi international cricketer and politician who is the current captain of the One Day Internationals for the Bangladesh national cricket team and member of the parliament Jatiya Sangsad from Narail-2. He was ranked as one of the world's most famous athletes by ESPN “WORLD FAME 100” in 2019. He also captained Bangladesh in Twenty20 Internationals. He broke into the national side in late 2001 against Zimbabwe and represented Bangladesh before having played a single first-class match. Mortaza captained his country in one Test and seven One Day Internationals (ODIs) between 2009 and 2010, however injury meant he was in and out of the side and Shakib Al Hasan was appointed captain in Mortaza's absence. Mortaza used to be considered one of the fastest bowlers produced by Bangladesh, previously bowling in the mid-135s-145s km/h in the 2000s, and regularly opens the bowling. He is a useful lower-middle order batsman, with a first-class century and three Test half centuries to his name. Mortaza's career has been hampered by fifteen injuries and he has undergone a total of ten operations on his knees and ankles.
The Ninth National Parliamentary Elections 2008 were held in Bangladesh on 29 December 2008. The two main parties in the election were the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), led by Khaleda Zia, and the Bangladesh Awami League Party, led by Sheikh Hasina. The Bangladesh Awami League Party formed a fourteen-party Grand Alliance including Ershad's Jatiya Party, while the BNP formed a four-party alliance which included the Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami. The election was originally scheduled for January 2007, but it was postponed by a military-controlled caretaker government for an extended period of time.
Shakib Al Hasan is a Bangladeshi international cricketer who holds the record for being ranked first as an all rounder in the One Day International (ODI) format for 10 years and is still among the top 3 in highest current rankings in all three formats of the game. He was ranked as one of the world's most famous athletes by ESPN 'WORLD FAME 100' in 2019. His aggressive left-handed batting style in the middle order, controlled slow left-arm orthodox bowling, and athletic fielding has helped him win trophies in top leagues across the world.
The Asiatic Society of Bangladesh was established as the Asiatic Society of East Pakistan in Dhaka in 1952, and renamed in 1972. Ahmed Hasan Dani, a noted historian and archaeologist of Pakistan played an important role in founding this society. He was assisted by Muhammad Shahidullah, a Bengali linguist. The society is housed in Nimtali locality of Old Dhaka.
British Bangladeshis are people of Bangladeshi origin who have attained citizenship in the United Kingdom, through immigration and historical naturalisation. During the 1970s, large numbers of Bangladeshis immigrated to the UK, primarily from the Sylhet Division. The largest concentration live in east London boroughs, such as Tower Hamlets. This large diaspora in London leads people in Bangladesh to refer to British Bangladeshis as "Londonis".
Bengali, also known by its endonym Bangla, is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Bengalis in South Asia. It is the official and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and second most widely spoken of the 22 scheduled languages of India, behind Hindi. In 2015, 160 million speakers were reported for Bangladesh, and the 2011 Indian census counted another 100 million. With approximately 260–300 million total speakers worldwide, Bengali is the 6th most spoken language by number of native speakers and 7th most spoken language by total number of speakers in the world.
Rajshahi-2 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2008 by Fazle Hossain Badsha of the Workers Party of Bangladesh.
Dhaka-8 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2008 by Rashed Khan Menon of the Workers Party of Bangladesh.
Dhaka-9 is a constituency represented in the Jatiya Sangsad of Bangladesh since 2008 by Saber Hossain Chowdhury of the Awami League.
