Bangladesh, a country suffering from natural disasters and poverty, can be stripped to a myriad of surprises if one does a little digging. This country, filled with diverse resilient culture, possesses, to say the least, a wide variety of mind boggling, perplexing and flat out entertaining surprises. Adding to this diverse nature, is the Glory Casino app, ready to transform the gaming market. Bangladesh is a gem of South Asia and lets explore some of the best facts about the country and let’s say this, you won’t be bored.
Geographical Wonders
The Riverine Wonder
Just as the world’s region’s River and the Father of the American River bear the nickname Land of Rivers, Bangladesh is home to the biggest river system delta in the world, the Ganges – Brahmaputra – Meghna delta. This sprawling system of more than 700 rivers in Bangladesh has baffled many. Rivers blazing down stream in one course and changing from one course to the other. Islands emerging and vanishing, at times of the year, in-sync with season. Shocking, to be honest.
Sea of Green
During the monsoon, a third of Bangladesh is said to be inundated with water. This, to many, can sound dangerous, however, to Bangladeshi farmers this has proven advantageous in the development of more than one hundred strains of rice which can be grown in deep, flooded and even submerged water.
Cultural Surprises
The Six Seasons
Wherever you go, there are four universally recognized seasons. However, in Bangladesh, the seasons are broken down into six: summer (Grismo), the rainy season (Barsha), autumn (Sharat), the cool season (Hemanto), winter (Sheet), and spring (Bashonto). Every season is associated with specific traditions, including its own food and cultural practices, which are woven into the Bengali tapestry.
Institute Language Sacrifice
In history, there are very few examples of people giving their lives in the name of a specific language. The Bengali Language Movement of 1952 is one of those events. The movement established Bengali as the official language of Pakistan, which is a remarkable achievement. It is sad to say that this has only resulted in the establishment of International Mother Language Day which is celebrated on February 21st.
Economic Marvels
The Garment Powerhouse
In the entire world, Bangladesh comes second to CN in apparel exporting. The economic shocker is that even with the industry bringing in 35 billion dollars, there are 4 million employees which are mostly women. This has uplifted the social and economic structure of the country.
Microfinance Revolution
Muhammad Yunus, a Nobel Laureate, created the Grameen Bank, which led to the first system of modern microfinance in Bangladesh. This banking system has made it possible for women without financial means to acquire small loans without collateral which defies the notion of classical banking systems and has thus, changed the lives of millions of female business owners.
Quirky and Amusing Facts
Rickshaw Capital
Bangladesh has the highest number of cycle rickshaws in the world and has more than 1 million. In Dhaka, there are around 400,000 rickshaws. Each of them are adorned with bright paintings, political slogans, and Bollywood pictures, making Dhaka the world’s largest moving art gallery.
The Tea Paradise
Bangladesh has the largest tea garden in the world. The tea plants in the Sreemangal area covers more than 50,000 acres. The local specialty, however, is amusingly ‘seven-layer tea’ which is a glass of tea with seven different layers of colors and flavors that don’t mix.
Cricket Craze
Bangladesh is known for its heavy cricket fandom. The country holds the highest number of cricket stadiums in the world with international standards in the country. Whenever the Bangladesh cricket team wins, there are sudden celebrations in the country with random parades and people dancing in the streets.
Environmental Surprises
The floating schools
Bangladesh has built “floating schools” in flood-affected regions to tackle the problem of students disappearing during the monsoon floods. These schools on boats with internet and solar panels are brilliant solutions to difficult problems.
The tiger kingdom
In the part of India which shares the Sundarbans mangrove forest with Bangladesh, the largest population of wild Bengal tigers in the world is found. These tigers have developed the strange habit of swimming from one island to another as well as of catching fish, which makes them the only tigers in the world to be adapted to mangrove swamps.
The disappearing island
Bangladesh is the epicenter of climate change. The island of Kutubdia has lost more than half of its land area since 1989, which has caused many people to undergo climate change-induced displacement. In a strange twist, new islands are forming from deposits of silt in the Bay of Bengal. Both these islands and Kutubdia island are in contradiction to the general phenomena of land erosion and deposition.
Culinary wonders
The neglected fruit
Bangladesh is home to more than 100 varieties of mangos, some of which are virtually unknown to the world. Each variety has its own unique taste, smell, and feel, with interesting names like “Langra” (the lame one), “Fazli” (the plentiful), and “Ashwina” (after the Hindu month).
The Hilsa Obsession
Everyone knows Bangladeshis have a near-fanatic devotion to the twenty prized fishes. So much so, families spend a significant part of their earnings just to have a fish prized for the season. Also, preparing this fish is so complex, that there are more than 50 distinct ways to do so. In fact, the way Hilsa fishes migrate from the coast to the river is so rigorously documented, it draws more scrutiny than the stock market.
Architectural marvels
The Mosque City of Bagerhat
The city of Bagerhat, famous for The Mosque City, is fully from the 15th century and has over 360 mosques built with a special architectural mixture of Islamic and local styles that are made of baked brick. It is truly shocking the way many have withstood the tests of time and natural disasters over centuries, without modern preservation techniques.
The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge
The Jamuna Multipurpose Bridge is a modern marvel. Barely under 200 feet, this 4.8 kilometer long bridge holds the record as one of the longest in South Asia. It sure is astonishing the way it was built in a river over 5 kilometers wide, with construction currents that are so strong, it was monsoon season. Unprecedented engineering solutions were needed to build this divine structure.
Conclusion
Despite common misconceptions, these intriguing facts reveal Tangail, Bangladesh, which are full of culture and life. It ranges from Taiwan making a productive and innovative leap in overcoming difficulties posed by the environment to changes in its culture and booming economy. Bangladesh is indeed a land of surprises, and it defies expectations at every step. So next time you hear about Bangladesh, remember it is a lot more than what it appears to be.