Chittagong
Meet Bangladesh - Major Cities:
Chittagong,
city and port in southeastern Bangladesh, on the Karnaphuli River, near the Bay of Bengal. The city is the commercial center for the
surrounding agricultural region, which produces rice, jute, gunny (a coarse
fabric), tea, and hides. The University of Chittagong (1966) is here. Chittagong
became an important commercial center under the Portuguese in the 16th century.
It became a possession of the English East India Company between 1760 and 1765.
Originally a part of Arakan, it was claimed 60 years later by the emperor of
Burma (now known as Myanmar) as a dependency of that territory. The claim was
one of the causes of the First Burmese-British War in 1824. Chittagong was part
of Pakistan from 1947 until 1971, when it became part of the new nation of
Bangladesh. Population (1991) 1,566,070.
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