The population of Bangladesh numbers approximately 170 million people within 148,460 square kilometers, yielding one of the highest population densities on Earth at roughly 1,145 people per square kilometer. Bengali people constitute 98 percent of the population, speaking Bangla, an Indo-Aryan language written in Bengali script descended from Brahmi. The remaining two percent includes ethnic minorities concentrated primarily in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, where communities such as the Chakma, Marma, Tripura, and Mro peoples maintain distinct languages and cultural practices. Approximately 90 percent of Bangladeshis identify as Muslim, predominantly Sunni, while Hindus comprise about eight percent, with smaller populations of Buddhists, Christians, and adherents of indigenous faiths. The median age stands at 27 years. Literacy rates reached 74.7 percent according to 2019 data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Dhaka contains more than 21 million people in its metropolitan area, making it one of the most densely populated cities globally.
The earliest evidence of human settlement in the Bengal delta dates to approximately 20,000 years ago, though systematic agriculture and permanent settlements emerged during the Chalcolithic period around 2000 BCE. The region formed part of successive kingdoms including Gangaridai, which Greek historians recorded as a powerful state that deterred Alexander the Great from advancing eastward in 326 BCE. The Mauryan Empire incorporated Bengal in the third century BCE under Ashoka, who promoted Buddhism across the territory. Following Mauryan decline, the Gupta Empire controlled Bengal from the fourth to sixth centuries CE, a period that produced significant developments in mathematics, astronomy, and Sanskrit literature. The Pala Empire ruled Bengal from 750 to 1161 CE, establishing Buddhism as the dominant religion and constructing monastic universities including Somapura Mahavihara at Paharpur, which covered 27 acres and housed thousands of monks. The Sena dynasty displaced the Palas in 1161, reinstating Hindu Brahmanical practices until Muslim conquest began in 1204 when Bakhtiar Khalji captured the Sena capital.
Islamic rule transformed Bengal over the following six centuries. The Bengal Sultanate operated as an independent Muslim kingdom from 1352 to 1576, minting its own currency and conducting diplomatic relations with Ming China and the Abbasid Caliphate. Sultan Ghiyasuddin Azam Shah reigned from 1389 to 1409, corresponding with Persian poets and inviting scholars from across the Islamic world. His successor Jalaluddin Muhammad Shah commissioned the construction of the Adina Mosque in 1375, which measured 524 feet by 320 feet, making it the largest mosque in the Indian subcontinent at that time. The Sixty Dome Mosque in Bagerhat was built around 1459 by Khan Jahan Ali, featuring 77 domes and thick walls designed to withstand cyclones. The Mughal Empire absorbed Bengal in 1576 under Emperor Akbar, appointing governors who administered the region from Dhaka, designated as the provincial capital in 1608 by Mughal governor Islam Khan Chishti. Mughal Bengal became the empire's wealthiest province, producing approximately 50 percent of imperial revenue by the mid-17th century through rice cultivation, silk production, and muslin textile manufacturing. European traders established factories along the coast starting with Portuguese merchants in Chittagong in 1517, followed by Dutch, French, and British East India Company posts.
The British East India Company secured control of Bengal following the Battle of Plassey on June 23, 1757, where Robert Clive's forces defeated Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah through a conspiracy with defecting generals. The Company imposed direct taxation, disrupted traditional agricultural systems, and redirected trade to British manufacturing interests. The Bengal Famine of 1770 killed approximately ten million people, roughly one-third of the regional population, due to Company policies that prioritized revenue extraction over food security. The British Crown assumed direct governance in 1858 after the Sepoy Mutiny. Colonial administrators partitioned Bengal in 1905, separating Muslim-majority eastern districts from Hindu-majority western regions, a decision reversed in 1911 following widespread protests. The partition created lasting communal tensions that intensified during the 1940s independence movement.
The Muslim League, led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, advocated for a separate Muslim state, while the Indian National Congress pursued unified independence. A.K. Fazlul Huq, Chief Minister of Bengal from 1937 to 1943, presented the Lahore Resolution in 1940, calling for independent states in Muslim-majority regions. The Great Bengal Famine of 1943 killed between two and three million people due to British wartime policies, including rice export mandates and denial of food relief. Winston Churchill's War Cabinet refused to divert grain shipments to Bengal despite urgent requests from Viceroy Archibald Wavell. When British India achieved independence on August 15, 1947, the Radcliffe Line divided Bengal into West Bengal, which joined India, and East Bengal, which became the eastern wing of Pakistan. Cyril Radcliffe drew the boundary in five weeks without visiting Bengal, separating Hindu-majority districts westward and Muslim-majority districts eastward, displacing approximately 3.5 million people during communal violence that killed between 200,000 and two million.
East Pakistan faced systematic discrimination from West Pakistan despite containing 56 percent of the combined population. The Pakistani government declared Urdu the sole national language in 1948, though only 3 percent of East Pakistanis spoke Urdu while 98 percent spoke Bangla. Students at Dhaka University protested on February 21, 1952, demanding recognition of Bengali. Police opened fire, killing students Abul Barkat, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdus Salam, and Abdul Jabbar. The Language Movement succeeded in 1956 when the constitution recognized Bengali alongside Urdu. Economic disparities widened as West Pakistan received 75 percent of development spending despite East Pakistan generating 59 percent of export earnings, primarily through jute exports. Political power remained concentrated in West Pakistan, which supplied all military leadership and most civil service positions. Bengali participation in the armed forces remained below 10 percent.
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman emerged as the leading Bengali nationalist politician, forming the Awami League in 1949 and articulating demands for regional autonomy. His Six Point Movement in 1966 called for parliamentary democracy, separate currencies, independent fiscal policy, and provincial control over foreign exchange earnings. The Pakistani government arrested Mujib in 1968 on sedition charges in the Agartala Conspiracy Case, triggering mass protests that forced his release in 1969. The Awami League won 160 of 162 East Pakistan seats in the 1970 general election, securing an absolute majority in the combined parliament. Pakistani President Yahya Khan refused to convene the National Assembly, instead initiating Operation Searchlight on March 25, 1971, a military campaign targeting Bengali civilians, students, intellectuals, and Hindu minorities. Soldiers killed between 300,000 and three million people during the nine-month conflict, according to estimates that vary between Bangladeshi government figures and independent researchers. The military systematically executed professors at Dhaka University, killing 11 faculty members on March 25. Approximately 200,000 to 400,000 women were raped during organized campaigns.
Mujib declared independence on March 26, 1971, before his arrest by Pakistani forces. The Mukti Bahini, Bengali resistance fighters, conducted guerrilla operations with support from India, which provided training camps, weapons, and sanctuary for ten million refugees who fled into West Bengal and Assam. India intervened militarily on December 3, 1971, following Pakistani air strikes on Indian airfields. The joint Indian-Bangladeshi force advanced rapidly, surrounding Dhaka by December 14. Pakistani General A.A.K. Niazi surrendered on December 16, 1971, signing the Instrument of Surrender and ending the war. Bangladesh emerged as an independent nation with Sheikh Mujibur Rahman returning from Pakistani imprisonment to assume leadership as Prime Minister on January 10, 1972, and later as President.