Bangladesh Facts for Kids

Bangladesh Facts: Kingfisher - University of Dhaka - Bride

Here are fun and interesting Bangladesh Facts which were chosen and researched by children especially for children.

Bangladesh Facts | Country Facts

Flag of Bangladesh

Continent: Asia
Population: 173 million inhabitants (2025)
Capital city: Dhaka home to about 11 million people
Official Name: People's Republic of Bangladesh

Government: Unitary parliamentary republic
Language: Bangla (Bengali)

Religion: mainly Islam (91%), Hinduism (8%)
Currency: Bangladeshi taka
National Symbols: The shapla or white waterlily (national flower), the royal bengal tiger (national animal) and the mango tree (national tree)

Anthem

National Day: 26 March (Independence Day 1971)
National Anthem: "My Golden Bengal"
History: The region was rule by Buddhist and Hindu monarchies, until the Muslim Conquest, after which it was part of the Bengal Sultanate and the Mughal Empire. After the British colonisation of Bengal, East Bengal became part of the Dominion of Pakistan and at that time, Bangladesh was referred to as East Pakistan between 1956 and 1971. A war of independence followed and Bangladesh finally proclaimed independence in March 1971.

Bangladesh Facts for Kids
Bangladesh Geography

Bangladesh is a country in south-central Asia. The country shares land borders with India to the West, North and North East and Myanmar to the South East. The country also borders the Gulf of Bengal, which is part of the Indian Ocean, to the South.

Map of Bangladesh

The low-lying country is located in the Delta of the Padma (Ganges) and Jamuna (Brahmaputra) rivers. The coastline along the Bay of Bengal is 580 km/ 360 miles long.

Bangladesh is one of the most populous countries in Asia, actually the fifth most populous after India, China, Indonesia and Pakistan. This country ranks also as one of the most populous in the world (8th) while the land area is only ranked at 92th place of all countries worldwide. Thus the country is very densely populated.

Bangladesh is slightly smaller in land area than the state of Colorado/ USA or about the size of Greece or England/ UK.

It takes a 12-hour flight from London/ UK to reach Dhaka/ Bangladesh, and 15 hours from Sydney/ Australia.

Bangladesh Geography Superlatives

1. Bangladesh is the most densely populated large country in the world. Most of the population lives in rural areas, but the cities are amongst the world's most densely populated.

Dhaka cityscape - image by Mamunur Rashid/ shutterstock.com

2. Dhaka is a megacity and is the largest city of the most populated cities in the world. The second most densely populated megacity is Mumbai in India! More than 1,300 people per km²/ 3,450 people per mile² live here, this is about the population density an average U.S. city would have, but here this is a huge country!

3. The fertile flood plains of the three main rivers Padma (Ganges), Jamuna (Brahmaputra) and Meghna, and their tributaries cover almost 80% of the land area of the country. There are about 700 rivers in Bangladesh, but the main river systems feed down from the Himalayas.

4. The longest river in Bangladesh is the Padma River (Ganges) with 549 km/ 341 miles. The longest bridge of Bangladesh also crosses over this river south of Dhaka and has a length of 6.15 km/ 3.82 miles. This is a two-level bridge with 4 lanes of road and railway tracks.

Did you know that padma means Lotus flower in Sanskrit?

Fishing by the Palma (Ganges) River - image by Muzahid Karim

While the Padma is the longest river, the Jamuna is the fastest flowing and the Meghna is the widest river.

5. The Bangladesh Plain is located at the Tropic of Cancer and as such has a monsoon climate which comes with heavy seasonal rainfalls and hot temperatures as well as high humidity. Bangladesh is thus one of the world's countries that is most vulnerable to flooding.

bangladesh flooding 2024 HMShahidulIslam/ssk

Flooding in Sylhet in 2024 - image by HM Shahidul Islam/ shutterstock.com

6. Although only about 14% of the country is forested, the southern parts of Bangladesh are covered by the world's largest tidal mangrove forest called the Sundarbans.

Sundarbans Mangrove Forest

The area of this mangrove forest is almost as large as the US state of Delaware/ USA or as big as Luxembourg or Mauritius.

7. The highest place in Bangladesh is in the Chittagong Hills and called Saka Haphong, which is also referred to as Modowk Taung. The mountain is 1,052 m/ 3,451 ft tall.

Chittagong Hills in Bangladesh

8. Cox's Bazar in eastern Bangladesh is the longest natural beach in the world stretching over 125 km/ 75 miles.

Traditional fishing boats in Cox's Bazar

Bangladesh Facts for Kids
Landmarks and Attractions

Martyrs' monument in Dhaka

Ahsan Manzil or Pink Palace

Bangladesh National Mosque Baitul Mukarram

Lalbagh Fort Tomb House of Pori Bibi - image by Aminul H/ shutterstock.com

201-dome mosque in northern Bangladesh

Dhakeswari temple

Bangladesh Facts | Animals in Bangladesh

Bangladesh has a rich wildlife and is one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. There are more than 820 bird species in Bangladesh and colourful birds such as the bee-eaters are common sight.

Blue-tailed bee-eater

The mangrove forests of the Sundarbans are home to the endangered Bengal tiger, the elusive clouded leopards as well as the black panther and the Asian black bear and the Asian elephant. There are wild boars and macaque monkeys.

Domesticated elephants are still used to haul logs in the Sundarbans. The sambar deer is the largest but also most endangered deer species in Bangladesh. The chital or spotted deer is found in the Sundarbans.

Chital in Nijhum Dwip National Park in Bangladesh

St. Martin’s Island is the only coral-bearing island of Bangladesh and as such is protected as a marine park housing endangered turtles and some unique coral species. Among the marine wildlife are also spinner and Irrawaddy dolphins and the endangered species such as the giant grouper or the knife-tooth sawfish.

This island south of Cox's Bazar has imposed tourist restrictions recently to preserve the pristine nature.

Deforestation and habitat loss due to pollution, especially plastic pollution, wildfires and mining activities are the main threats to biodiversity in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Facts for Kids
People

About 60% of the people in Bangladesh live in rural areas, while 40% live in the densely populated cities.

The largest city of Bangladesh is the capital city Dhaka with about 11 million inhabitants. Dhaka is also the main business hub of the country. The largest cities are Dhaka, Chittagong and Gazipur, which is the main centre for the textile industry in Bangladesh.

Textile factory in Chittagong - image by zakir1346/ shutterstock.com

Islam is the state religion and the capital city is often referred to as the 'city of mosques'. There are less than 500,000 Christians in Bangladesh, their largest annual event is Boro Din, that is how they call Christmas in Bengali. The Bengali Christmas is celebrated on 25 December.

Amongst the major traditional festivals in Bangladesh are the Bengali New Year celebrations called pahela baishakh celebrated on 14 April, the spring festival pohela falgun on 14 February and shakrain, a unique kite festival celebrated in Dhaka on 14 January.

bangladesh festival mdaslamhossain6600 / Shutterstock.com

Bangladesh celebrations on 14 April - image by mdaslamhossain6600 / Shutterstock.com

Although the official language is Bengali, English plays and important role in businesses and schools.

Cricket and soccer (football) are the most popular sports in Bangladesh, while kabaddi is the national game played in Bangladesh. This is a contact and team sport that involves catching and tagging each other.

Bangladesh Facts for Kids
Bangladeshi Food

The cuisine of Bangladesh is varied due to the many influences in the region, but staple food is steamed white rice and fish as well as stir-fried and curried vegetables. The national dish is called hilsa.

Assorted Bangladeshi dishes - image by Muzahid Karim/ shutterstock.com

Typical Bengali Food:

Hilsa: This specific fish curry is made with smoked fish that is also referred to as "ilish", a herring species. The oily fish is smoked and then prepared with a yellow mustard seed paste.

Hilsa

Kala Bhuna: This beef or mutton stew is in a special spicy sauce made with cardamon, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, turmeric, cumin, chilli and mustard oil.
Biryani is an Asian rice dish popular also in Bangladesh made with a variety of ingredients such as meat, seafood and vegetables.
Rasmalai: Bengali desert which includes cottage cheese balls soaked in clotted cream sauce

Rasmalai

Rasmalai: cheese balls soaked in clotted cream sauce
Nakshi pitha: Fried rice flour cakes made with jaggery and dipped in sweet sugar syrup, designed in a variety of shapes

Nakshi pitha

Chomchom: sweet desert made with cottage cheese and sugary syrup.

Chom Chom

Bangladesh Economy

Bangladesh is rich in petroleum and natural gas and has a fast growing economy. Most people work in the manufacturing sector. The main exports are clothing, footwear and textiles in general.

The main trading partners are China, India, USA and Germany.

The main agricultural products are rice, maize, sugarcane and tropical fruit as well as dried chilli. Bangladesh is the world's second largest producer of dried chilli peppers (2023).

Drying chillis

Resources
Bangladesh Facts for Kids

Central Intelligence Agency. "Bangladesh". CIA World Fact Book. Last updated 26 August 2025. Last accessed 29 August 2025
Beautiful Bangladesh Tourism: "Bangladesh". BeautifulBangladesh. Last accessed 29 August 2025
Bangladesh Tourism Board. "Culture and Festivals" Tourismboard.gov.bd. Last accessed 29 August 2025
Dilara Akter Jabin. "An Invaluable Gem of Biodiversity." Bengal Discover. 17 November 2024. Last accessed 29 August 2025

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Images on Bangladesh Facts for Kids: mainly shutterstock.com and canna.com, others from sxc.hu and own images.

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