Chittagong

Bangladesh's second-largest city, Chittagong, is also its principal seaport - with almost all the country's imports and exports passing through its busy harbour. The city is also a major commercial and manufacturing centre that generates vast revenues for a generally poor country that only came into existence in 1971 (the independence of former East Pakistan being declared in Chittagong).




It is perhaps unfortunate that one of those industries - the extraordinary ship-breaking operations that take place on the shores of the Bay of Bengal rather than in a proper shipyard - have given Chittagong something of a negative image, for this dangerous business is definitely not on the agenda for visitors, who are not welcome in the vicinity of this polluting activity.

Actually, Chittagong itself is relatively clean, with plenty of green hills within its boundaries to offer relief from the bustle of city life. The highest point within city limits is the Batali Hill, with panoramic views of sea, port and city. There are a number of interesting old buidings, such as the East India Company's massive 18th century Court Building standing on Fairy Hill with a commanding bird's-eye view of the city.

Chittagong College is one of the oldest and most prestigious academies in Bangladesh. Chandanpura Mosque in the old city is a multi-domed architectural wonder. Baitul Falah is the largest masjid (mosque) in Chittagong. But for all its visible history, this is a boom city, with rapid development completely transforming its traditional face as endless new buildings shoot up to join those but recently completed.

The streets are clogged with traffic - buses, cars, scooters and rickshaws - and the inevitable beggars and hawkers swarm everywhere. Many visitors are almost relieved to leave the city for nearby beaches, or to journey into the unspoiled hinterland.

Many Chittagong natives speak Chittagonian, an Indo-European language of the Eastern Indic group. Many speakers consider their language to be a dialect of standard Bengali, the official language of Bangladesh. However, the two languages are not mutually intelligible, meaning that those who only know how to speak Standard Bengali will not understand Chittagonian speakers, and vice versa - normally the metric for languagehood among linguists.

There is, however, a dialect continuum between Chittagonian and neighboring dialects of Bengali, meaning that speakers of each neighboring dialect can largely understand each other, while speakers of more distant dialects cannot. Chittagonian has approximately 14 million speakers.According to the status of Top 100 Languages by Population by Ethnologue, Chittagong ranked in 67th Language of the world.

Transport in Chittagong is similar to that of the country's capital Dhaka. There are various bus systems, taxis, and as well as smaller 'Baby' or 'CNG' taxis which are basically tricycle-structured motor vehicles. Also, there are the traditional manual rickshaws which are very common.