Bangladesh is a Bengali-speaking nation where English operates as a secondary administrative and commercial language. Bengali (Bangla) is the sole official language under Article 3 of the Constitution of Bangladesh, adopted in 1972. Approximately 98 percent of the country's 170 million people speak Bengali as their first language, making Bangladesh one of the most linguistically homogeneous large nations. The language holds constitutional supremacy following the Language Movement of 1952, when students in Dhaka were killed protesting the Pakistani government's attempt to impose Urdu as the sole state language. February 21, the date of the 1952 police shootings, became International Mother Language Day under UNESCO recognition in 1999. Bengali script is an abugida derived from Brahmi script, written left to right, containing 11 vowels and 39 consonants. The language shares mutual intelligibility with Bengali spoken in the Indian state of West Bengal but contains distinct phonetic features and vocabulary borrowings from Arabic and Persian due to Islamic administrative history.
English functions as a lingua franca in government offices, courts, universities, and corporate environments in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh conducts proceedings in both Bengali and English, with legal documents often drafted in English. All road signs in major cities display Bengali text with English transliterations. Government forms at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka appear in both languages. English-medium education exists in private schools across Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet, following either the British O-Level/A-Level system or American International Baccalaureate curricula. Approximately 18 percent of Bangladeshis have functional English literacy, concentrated in urban centers. Daily newspapers including The Daily Star (circulation approximately 50,000) and Dhaka Tribune publish entirely in English. Television news channels such as Jamuna TV broadcast English news bulletins at 8:00 PM daily. Corporate offices of multinational companies in Dhaka's Gulshan and Banani neighborhoods conduct internal communication in English. Bank ATMs in Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet offer English-language interfaces alongside Bengali.
Rural Bangladesh operates almost exclusively in Bengali. In Rangpur Division, Rajshahi Division, and Barisal Division, English comprehension drops below 5 percent outside district capitals. Agricultural markets in Mymensingh Division and char islands of the Brahmaputra River conduct all transactions in Bengali. Riverboat operators on routes between Dhaka and Barisal speak no English. Village shops in Tanguar Haor wetlands and the Sundarbans periphery use Bengali for all signage. Health clinics in Sylhet Division's tea-growing regions employ Bengali-speaking staff exclusively. Government land offices (tahsil) in Khulna Division process documents in Bengali despite English being permitted. Police stations in Cox's Bazar town employ Bengali for filing reports, with English available only at the main tourist police office near the beach. Hotel staff outside Dhaka, Chittagong, and Sylhet rarely speak English beyond basic greetings.
The Chittagong Hill Tracts present distinct linguistic geography. Eleven indigenous groups including Chakma (population approximately 400,000), Marma (population approximately 210,000), and Tripura (population approximately 90,000) speak Tibeto-Burman languages unrelated to Bengali. The Chakma language uses a modified Indo-Aryan script distinct from Bengali. Marma speakers use a script derived from Burmese. Rangamati, Bandarban, and Khagrachari districts contain populations where Bengali is a second language learned for administrative interaction. Government primary schools in the Hill Tracts teach in Bengali from grade one, though UNESCO documented this as contributing to dropout rates exceeding 40 percent among indigenous children in a 2008 study. Markets in Bandarban town operate in a mixture of Marma, Chakma, and Bengali depending on vendor ethnicity. The Bangladesh Army maintains checkpoints throughout the Hill Tracts where Bengali is the required language for document inspection. Tour operators in Bandarban and Rangamati employ Bengali-speaking guides who may have limited communication ability with indigenous village residents.
Sylhet Division contains approximately 100,000 speakers of Sylheti, a language with disputed classification. Linguists debate whether Sylheti constitutes a distinct language or a dialect of Bengali. Sylheti uses a phonetic inventory differing from standard Bengali by approximately 15 phonemes. The Sylhet Nagri script, historically used for writing Sylheti, became nearly extinct after the 1947 partition but has seen minor revival efforts since 2001. Sylhet city residents speak standard Bengali in formal contexts and Sylheti in domestic settings. Tea plantation workers in Sreemangal speak Sylheti with vocabulary borrowed from tribal languages of Meghalaya state in India. The Shrine of Hazrat Shah Jalal in Sylhet city attracts Bengali-speaking pilgrims nationwide who may struggle with local Sylheti directions from residents. Bus station announcements in Sylhet use standard Bengali. Restaurants in Jaflong near the Indian border display menus in Bengali script but staff converse in Sylheti among themselves.
Dhaka operates as a bilingual city with geographic stratification. Gulshan, Banani, and Baridhara neighborhoods contain English signage for restaurants, clinics, and retail stores. Real estate agencies in Gulshan advertise properties in English. The Gulshan-Badda Link Road contains approximately 200 meters of consecutive storefronts with English-only signage. Dhanmondi and Uttara neighborhoods display mixed Bengali-English signage with Bengali dominant. Old Dhaka areas including Sadarghat, Chawkbazar, and Lalbagh operate in Bengali exclusively. Wholesale markets near Baitul Mukarram Mosque use Bengali for price negotiation. Rickshaw drivers throughout Dhaka speak Bengali only, with rare exceptions in Gulshan area. The Dhaka Metro Rail, opened in December 2022, displays station names and announcements in both Bengali and English. Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport announcements alternate between Bengali and English. Domestic terminal signage at the airport appears in Bengali with smaller English subtitles. International airlines' check-in counters operate in English. Bangladesh Biman counters use Bengali as the primary language with English available upon request.
Chittagong city presents stronger English presence than most Bangladeshi cities outside Dhaka. The Port of Chittagong, handling approximately 92 percent of Bangladesh's maritime trade, employs English for shipping documentation and customs processes. Shipping agents in the Agrabad Commercial Area conduct business in English. Chittagong Stock Exchange floor traders use English financial terminology mixed with Bengali sentences. The University of Chittagong and BUET Chittagong campus conduct engineering lectures in English. Agrabad and GEC Circle neighborhoods contain English-medium schools including Chittagong Grammar School and Sunnydale School. Coastal areas near Patenga Beach revert to Bengali dominance. Fish markets in Fishery Ghat operate in Bengali and Chittagonian dialect. Chittagonian is a regional variety differing from standard Bengali in pronunciation and vocabulary, spoken by approximately 13 million people. Speakers of standard Bengali from Dhaka report difficulty understanding Chittagonian dialect without exposure. CNG autorickshaw drivers in Chittagong speak Chittagonian dialect as default.
Tourism zones show variable English capacity. Cox's Bazar town contains hotel staff with functional English at properties along the beachfront Marine Drive Road. Restaurants in Kolatoli and Sugandha Beach areas employ English-speaking waiters. Small tea stalls and local food vendors along Cox's Bazar beach speak Bengali only. Tour operators offering trips to Himchari National Park provide English-speaking guides for groups booking through Dhaka agencies but use Bengali for walk-in local customers. Teknaf Peninsula hotels near the Myanmar border employ minimal English. Saint Martin's Island guesthouses operated by local families use Bengali, while the few resort-style hotels employ English-speaking reception staff during peak season (November through February). Sundarbans tour operators departing from Khulna and Mongla ports provide Bengali-speaking boatmen. Tour packages booked through Dhaka travel agencies include English-speaking naturalist guides as an add-on service costing approximately 2,000-3,000 taka additional per day.