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Bangladesh has been in the news for its devastating cyclones. Yet, look beyond weather’s ravages and you’ll find the nation’s rivers and rituals, mosques and muslin, art and crafts have much to recommend it. Don’t be fooled by the smooth and urbane capital city, Dhaka – the smaller cities and villages are simple and even behind times. Bangladeshis are renowned for their hospitality and warmth – they’ll invite you home and treat you to their delectable cuisine. They are passionate about food, football, cricket, theatre and music – and if you’re wondering about the strange combination, their social ambit is wide and they are a broad-minded nation. Bangladesh is among the few Asian nations where religions coexist in harmony.

If you’ve got a sweet tooth, this is the place to be. Bengali cooking is also known for it's wide array of sweets made from milk. Rasho-gollah, kalo-jam, shandesh, mishti doi, shemai, chamcham......the names go on and on.

Historically Speaking

Prior to 1905, Bangladesh was a part of Bengal in British-governed India. The British split Bengal into East and West in keeping with their "divide and rule" policy, which was based on economic and religious divisions. Today’s Bangladesh was the erstwhile East Bengal with a majority Muslim population. In economic terms it was poorer than West Bengal, the Hindu majority province. When the British left India in 1947, India was partitioned into Pakistan and India. East Bengal being a Muslim majority state was attached to Pakistan despite the thousands of miles that separated the two. It was renamed East Pakistan and its governance was the responsibility of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. A large number of reasons, especially economic and linguistic, caused the people of East Pakistan to rise in revolt against their merger with Pakistan. Movement for autonomy started with the Language movement of 1952 that demanded recognition of "Bangla" as the official language. Bangladesh came into being as a sovereign independent country in 1971 after a nine month long war with Pakistan. In this war, the "Mukti Bahini", or the army fighting for independence, freed East Pakistan from Pakistani dominance and renamed the country "Bangladesh". The leader of the revolution, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman became the first independent head of the country. He was later assassinated but immortalized as the father of the nation ("Banga Bandhu"). Since its independence, Bangladesh has been reeling under political instability - emergencies, political assassinations and military coups. In the 1996 elections, the political party called "Awami League" won the largest number of seats in the parliament and their leader, Sheikh Haseena Wajed was sworn in as the Prime Minister. Incidentally, she is the daughter of the national hero, Sheikh Mujibur Rehman. In 2001, Bangladesh Nationalist Party won the elections and Khaleda Zia was sworn in as the PM.

Habitat

Bangladesh is an Asian state, lying between the latitudes 20° and 27° north and longitudes 88° and 93° east. In the north, the country is bound is by the Great Himalayas and in the south by the Bay of Bengal. There are bamboo-forested hills in the southeast, and most of the country is an alluvial plain with a network of navigable rivers: the eastern arms of the Ganges, Jamuna (or Brahmaputra) and Meghna rivers. Deltas of the three main rivers, together with many islands, form Bangladesh's coastline on Bay of Bengal. The Chittagong Hills in eastern and southeastern Bangladesh include the highest and most rugged parts of the nation, with elevations rising to more than 1,200 m (4,000 ft) above sea level. The remainder of Bangladesh is generally low-lying. About 6% of the total land area of Bangladesh is permanently under water, and two-thirds is flooded for part of the year. The floods often result in great loss of life, crops, and property damage but are, nonetheless, of special value to agricultural Bangladesh for the fertile soil (alluvium) that the floodwaters deposit on the land. These alluvial soils are rich in minerals and other nutrients needed for plant growth. The principal resources of Bangladesh are the fertile soils of the delta region, the long growing season, and the heavy rainfall suitably distributed over the year for growing rice and jute. The nation's abundant water supplies are used to produce hydroelectric power and for irrigating farmlands during the dry season. Although minerals have been economically unimportant, the country has large reserves of natural gas and some petroleum deposits. Natural gas is piped into Dhaka and Chittagong for industrial use. There are also large deposits of low-grade coal, mined at Jamalpur. About 15% of Bangladesh is still forested; the three principal forest regions are the Madhupur jungle, the tidal forest in the coastal Sundarbans (a swamp region in the Ganges delta), and the tropical rain forest of the Chittagong Hills. Bamboo and rattan grow abundantly in these tropical climes. Bangladesh is home to the Royal Bengal tiger, leopards, Asiatic elephants (mostly migratory herds from Bihar), and a few remaining black bears. Plenty of monkeys, langurs, gibbons (the only ape on the subcontinent), otters and mongooses can also be seen. Reptiles include the sea tortoise, mud turtle, river tortoise, pythons, crocodiles and a variety of unpleasant poisonous snakes. There are more than 600 species of birds: the best known is the mynah, but the most spectacular are the kingfishers and fishing eagles.