Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh. Located on the Buriganga River in the heart of the Bengal delta, Dhaka has an estimated population of more than 15 million people, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and one of the largest cities in the world. Dhaka is one of the major cities of South Asia. It is known as the City of Mosques, and with 400,000 cycle-rickshaws running on its streets every day, the city is described as the Rickshaw Capital of the World. Dhaka is also one of the world's most densely populated cities.
The Old City of Dhaka was the Mughal capital of Bengal in the 17th-century. It was named in honour of Emperor Jahangir. The city flourished as a centre of the worldwide muslin trade and attracted merchants from across the world. The modern city developed during the British Raj in the 19th-century and was dominated by the Nawabs of Dhaka. After the Partition of British India in 1947, Dhaka became the administrative capital of East Pakistan. It became the focal point of nationalist, civil disobedience and pro-democracy movements throughout the 1950s-60s, which culminated in the Liberation of Bangladesh in 1971.
Dhaka is Bangladesh's seat of government. It plays a central role in the Bangladeshi economy, alongside the port city of Chittagong. The city constitutes the political cultural and scientific heart of the nation. It is home to acclaimed national landmarks, including the Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban, the University of Dhaka (once known as the Oxford of the East), the Liberation War Museum, the National Museum, the Shaheed Minar and the Lalbagh Fort .[14]
In recent decades, Dhaka has been experiencing an influx of people from across the nation, making it one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the world. The city has been attracting greater volumes of foreign investment and trade; and has been witnessing the modernization of transport and communications, with the Dhaka Metro and the Dhaka Elevated Expressway under-construction. However, the city continues to face substantial challenges of congestion, poverty, overpopulation and pollution.
