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Chittagong
চট্টগ্রাম | |
|---|---|
Metropolis | |
| Chattogram | |
Agrabad Central Chittagong Shah Amanat Bridge Chittagong War Cemetery Foy's Lake Port of Chittagong Patenga Beach PK Sen Bhaban Jamboree Park The Karnaphuli River | |
| Nickname(s): Queen of the East[1] Commercial Capital of Bangladesh Land of twelve Sufi saints | |
  Chittagong Location of Chittagong in Bangladesh  Chittagong Chittagong (Bangladesh)  Chittagong Chittagong (Asia) | |
| Coordinates: 22°20′06″N 91°49′57″E / 22.33500°N 91.83250°E | |
| Country |  Bangladesh |
| Division | Chittagong |
| District | Chittagong |
| Establishment | 1340 |
| Granted city status | 1863[3] |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–Council |
| • Body | Chattogram City Corporation |
| • Mayor | Rezaul Karim Chowdhury (Awami League) |
| • Police Commissioner | Krishna Pada Roy |
| Area [4] | |
| • Metropolis | 168.07 km2 (64.89 sq mi) |
| • Urban | 272.03 km2 (105.03 sq mi) |
| • Metro | 655.74 km2 (253.18 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 29 m (95 ft) |
| Population (2023) | |
| • Metropolis | 5,379,660[2] |
| • Density | 32,008/km2 (82,900/sq mi) |
| • Urban | 7,000,000 |
| • Metro | 8,254,000 |
| • Population growth rate | 2.4% |
| Demonym(s) | Chittagonian, Chatgaiya, Sitainga |
| Time zone | UTC+6 (BST) |
| Postal code | 4000, 4100, 42xx |
| HDI (2019) | 0.654[5] medium |
| Police | Chattogram Metropolitan Police |
| Metro GDP/PPP (2020) |  $60 billion (2022)[6] |
| International airport | Shah Amanat International Airport |
| Website | Chittagong City Corporation |
Chittagong (/ˈtʃɪtəɡɒŋ/ CHIT-ə-gong),[7] officially Chattogram[8] (Bengali: চট্টগ্রাম, romanized: Côṭṭôgrām [ˈtʃɔʈːoɡram], Chittagonian: চাটগাঁও romanized: Chāṭgão), 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.[9] 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 5.2 million in 2022.[10] In 2020, the city area had a population of more than 3.9 million.[11] 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,[12] 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.[13][14] 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.[15] 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".[16] The Mughal Empire expelled the Portuguese and Arakanese in 1666.
The Nawab of Bengal ceded the port to the British East India Company in 1793. The Port of Chittagong was re-organized in 1887 and its busiest shipping links were with British Burma. In 1928, Chittagong was declared a "Major Port" of British India. During World War II, Chittagong was a base for Allied Forces engaged in the Burma Campaign. The port city began to expand and industrialize during the 1940s, particularly after the Partition of British India. The city was the historic terminus of the Assam Bengal Railway and Pakistan Eastern Railway. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, Chittagong was the site of the Bangladeshi declaration of independence. The port city has benefited from the growth of heavy industry, logistics, and manufacturing in Bangladesh. Trade unionism was strong during the 1990s.
Chittagong accounts for 12% of Bangladesh's GDP, including 40% of industrial output, 80% of international trade, and 50% of tax revenue. The port city is home to many of the oldest and largest companies in the country. The Port of Chittagong is one of the busiest ports in South Asia. The largest base of the Bangladesh Navy is located in Chittagong, along with an air base of the Bangladesh Air Force, garrisons of the Bangladesh Army and the main base of the Bangladesh Coast Guard. The eastern zone of the Bangladesh Railway is based in Chittagong. The Chittagong Stock Exchange is one of the twin stock markets of Bangladesh with over 700 listed companies. The Chittagong Tea Auction is a commodity exchange dealing with Bangladeshi tea. The CEPZ and KEPZ are key industrial zones with foreign direct investments. The city is served by Shah Amanat International Airport for domestic and external flights. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Tunnel, the first and only underwater tunnel of South Asia, is located in Chittagong. The city is the hometown of prominent Bengali economists, a Nobel laureate, scientists, freedom fighters and entrepreneurs. Chittagong has a high degree of religious and ethnic diversity among Bangladeshi cities, despite having a great Bengali Muslim majority. Minorities include Bengali Hindus, Bengali Christians, Bengali Buddhists, Chakmas, Marmas, Tripuris, Garos and others.
- ^ "Protect the Queen of the East". The Daily Star. 10 July 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2021.
- ^ "Chittagong Population 2023". Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ "History of Chittagong City Corporation". Chittagong City Corporation. Archived from the original on 13 August 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2013.
- ^ "Area, Population and Literacy Rate by Paurashava −2001" (PDF). Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2007. Retrieved 18 September 2009.
- ^ "Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
- ^ "Economics Landscape of Chittagong". chittagongchamber.com. Chittagong Chamber. Retrieved 16 October 2019.
- ^ "Definition of Chittagong". Dictionary.com. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
dt2Apr2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
thedailystar.netwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Chittagong · Population". population.city. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Chattogram, Bangladesh Population (2023) – Population Stat". populationstat.com. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
- ^ Ring, Trudy; Watson, Noelle; Schellinger, Paul (12 November 2012). Asia and Oceania: International Dictionary of Historic Places. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-136-63979-1.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
bp-arabswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Islam, Shariful; Hoque, Muhammad Manirul. "Unpublished Umayyad and Abbasid Silver Coins in the Bangladesh National Museum" (PDF). Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Hum.). 62 (2): 205–231. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
- ^ "Mint Towns". Banglapedia. 5 August 2021. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
- ^ "Chittagong | History, Population, & Facts". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 23 February 2022.