Chittagong

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চট্টগ্রাম
Chittagong
Chittagong (Bangladesh)
Red pog.svg
Coordinates 22 ° 19 ′  N , 91 ° 49 ′  E Coordinates: 22 ° 19 ′  N , 91 ° 49 ′  E
Basic data
Country Bangladesh

division

Chittagong
District Chittagong
surface 167.9 km²
Residents 2,592,439 (March 15, 2011)
Metropolitan area 4,009,423 (March 15, 2011)
density 15,441.3  Ew. / km²
Website www.ccc.org.bd (English / Bengali)
Chittagong city skyline.jpg

Chittagong ( Bengali : চট্টগ্রাম , Caṭṭagrām , Chattagram ) is a city in Bangladesh . With 2,592,439 inhabitants in the actual city and 4,009,423 in the agglomeration (as of March 15, 2011), it is the second largest city in the country, after the capital Dhaka and before Khulna . In addition, the city is the administrative seat of the Chittagong district of the same name and the division of the same name . The port of Chittagong is the largest in Bangladesh and one of the largest in the entire Indian subcontinent .

geography

topography

The city of Chittagong is located in southeast Bangladesh in the Chittagong division on the eastern edge of the Chittagong district on the coast of the Bay of Bengal .

The urban area is hilly. The highest elevation within the urban area is Batali Hill, about one kilometer northeast of the city center, with a height of about 85 meters.

The Karnaphuli , which flows into the sea south of the city, forms the eastern and southern borders of the urban area. There are no natural lakes in Chittagong. Numerous smaller ponds were created during the Mughal period . Two larger ponds near the Partali train station and Foys See, a reservoir in a chain of hills, were created between 1920 and 1924.

City structure

As an incorporated local authority, the city is called Chittagong City Corporation . The urban area has an area of ​​about 161 km² and is divided into Thana (police districts).

Chittagong's thananas include Bakalia , Bandar , Bayejid Bostami , Chandgaon , Double Mooring , Halishahar , Kotwali , Khulshi , Patenga , Pahartali and Panchlaish . Part of the neighboring Upazila Hathazari also belongs to the Chittagong City Corporation . The area of Chittagong Metropolitan also includes the Thana Karnaphuli on the left bank of the Karnaphuli River, to which the Shah Amanat Bridge and the Kalurghat Bridge cross.

Neighboring districts

The city of Chittagong borders the Upazilas (sub-districts, comparable to the counties in Germany, clockwise from the north) Sitakunda (with the Sitakunda Botanical Garden and Ecopark ), Hathazari, Raozan, Boalkhali, Patiya and Anwara, which are also all within the Chittagong district .

climate

Temperatures vary between 19 ° C in January and 28 ° C in May. In summer, high rainfall is to be expected. The region is hit at irregular intervals by tropical cyclones , which in the past caused great damage due to the accompanying flooding. The 1991 Bangladesh cyclone killed more than 100,000 people in the Chittagong region. In the cyclone of 1970 , which affected all of Bangladesh, the number of victims is estimated at up to 500,000.

Chittagong
Climate diagram
J F. M. A. M. J J A. S. O N D.
 
 
5
 
26th
14th
 
 
23
 
28
16
 
 
55
 
31
20th
 
 
141
 
32
23
 
 
307
 
32
25th
 
 
600
 
32
25th
 
 
733
 
31
25th
 
 
538
 
31
25th
 
 
263
 
32
25th
 
 
190
 
32
24
 
 
71
 
30th
20th
 
 
13
 
27
16
Temperature in ° Cprecipitation in mm
Source: WMO
Monthly average temperatures and rainfall for Chittagong
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C ) 26.0 28.0 30.6 31.8 32.3 31.5 30.9 31.2 31.7 31.5 29.8 26.9 O 30.2
Min. Temperature (° C) 13.9 16.2 20.3 23.3 24.7 25.2 25.1 25.1 25.0 24.0 20.3 15.5 O 21.6
Precipitation ( mm ) 5.0 23.0 55.0 141.0 307.0 600.0 733.0 538.0 263.0 190.0 71.0 13.0 Σ 2,939
Rainy days ( d ) 0.0 2.0 3.0 7.0 12.0 18.0 22.0 20.0 16.0 9.0 3.0 0.0 Σ 112
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
r
26.0
13.9
28.0
16.2
30.6
20.3
31.8
23.3
32.3
24.7
31.5
25.2
30.9
25.1
31.2
25.1
31.7
25.0
31.5
24.0
29.8
20.3
26.9
15.5
Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
N
i
e
d
e
r
s
c
h
l
a
g
5.0
23.0
55.0
141.0
307.0
600.0
733.0
538.0
263.0
190.0
71.0
13.0
  Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Source: WMO

history

In Sitakunda , about 35 kilometers to the north, tools from the period between 5000 and 3000 BC were found in 1886. BC, so that one assumes a settlement of the region around Chittagong already in the Neolithic . Hand axes and chisels indicate relationships with the production facilities in West Bengal and Bihar . A city with a port can be traced back to the 4th century BC. Trace back to BC. There are further reports from Chinese, Arab and Persian traders. In 1154, al-Idrisi reported a flourishing trade route between Basra and Chittagong.

The region initially belonged to the Bengali empires of Samatata and Harikela ; the Varman , Chandra, and Deva dynasties ruled the area. In 1340, Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah , Sultan of Sonargaon Chittagong, located in what is now the center of Bangladesh, conquered and made the city the sea trade center of his Bengali empire by connecting it to the road to West Bengal and the great trade route of northern India .

The Kadam Mubarak mosque dates from the Middle Ages

In 1517 the Portuguese reached Chittagong for the first time, which they called Porto Grande de Bengala ( German  Great Port of Bengal ). From then on, Portuguese ships came annually to trade. In 1536/37 the Portuguese were allowed to take over the customs house in Chittagong and to set up a trading post.

Arakan's King Min Bin (1531–1554) succeeded in strengthening his empire south of Chittagong again. At his accession to the throne, Arakan had to pay tribute to the Bengali. He used the internal struggles in the Bengali Empire to take Chittagong and Ramu in 1531 . Then the Arakanese marched on Dhaka and forced negotiations. Min Bin moved into the Bengali capital Gaur as a successful conqueror. He made a Bengali princess his queen, for which he renounced Chittagong in favor of the Bengali. The Pashtun ruler Sher Shah Suri (Sher Khan) succeeded in conquering Gaur in 1538, crowning himself sultan there and thus establishing the Surid dynasty, which had its center of power in Delhi . Chittagong was part of this empire.

In 1544, tribes from Tippera , Chittagong and Ramu began raiding. The Surides were unable to defend themselves because of the internal difficulties. Instead, Arakan managed to drive the Raja of Tippera out of Ramu and to conquer Chittagong again. The city likely saw several conquests in the 1550s, but ultimately remained under the rule of Arakan. Bengal was incorporated in 1576 the Mughal Empire, which was a threat to the East Bengali areas Arakans because Mughal emperor Akbar looked quite Bengal as his province. Arakan's king Min Sekkya (Min Setya, 1564–1572) used independent Portuguese traders to protect his border. A risk, because the Portuguese in Chittagong and the offshore island of Sandwip (Sundiva) were in part hostile to Arakan after the Arakanese capture of the city. The first Portuguese settlement founded by Min Sekya was Dianga (today Bunder or Feringhi Bunder), on the south bank of the Karnaphuli River, across from Chittagong.

The Portuguese occupied the fortress of Chittagong and the surrounding islands around Sandwip. Sandwip himself fell to the Portuguese in 1602 through Domingo Carvalho and Manuel de Matos, who established a base there. In 1605 the Portuguese were expelled from Sandwip and in 1607 Min Razagyi , King of Arakan, killed the 600 Portuguese in Dianga. A small group of Portuguese escaped the massacre and settled on a small island in the Ganges estuary . One of them was Sebastião Gonçalves Tibau , who later that year took back the island of Sandwip with 400 Portuguese. With a force of 1000 Portuguese, he practically acted as the independent king of the island and also conquered the islands of Dakhin Shahbazpur and Patelbanga . In 1615, Tibau set out to conquer the kingdom of Arakan and received support from the Portuguese viceroy of Goa . In October, the Portuguese fleet met those of Arakan, which were supported by ships of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The Portuguese lost the battle and most of the force returned to the colonial capital Goa . In 1616, Delwar Khan, an officer from the Mughal Empire, finally drove the Portuguese from Sandwip and ruled the island as an independent ruler for 50 years. The Portuguese who had remained in Dianga and Chittagong allied themselves again with Arakan and committed themselves to piracy. But the troops of Subedar Shaista Khan , who ruled over Bengal for the Mughal Mughal, first took Sandwip in November 1665. He was able to persuade the Portuguese in Chittagong to give up the city in January 1666 with bribes and promises of protection. In 1760 Chittagong fell to the English.

Easter 1930 saw the Chittagong uprising , one of the most important uprisings against British colonial rule, in which two barracks under the leadership of Surya Sen were stormed.

In December 2010 there were violent clashes between textile workers and security forces in Chittagong. Three people died and 185 other people were injured. The riots broke out because some companies did not adhere to the statutory minimum wage.

population

4.7 million people live in the Chittagong metropolitan area. The local dialect has loanwords from Arabic, Persian, English and Portuguese.

The Islam is like everywhere in Bangladesh, the spread most religion. Muslims make up 83.92% of the population. Many Sufi missionaries settled in Chittagong and spread Islam from here. The city is also called the site of the twelve saints because of the important Sufi shrines in Chittagong. The proportion of Hindus and Theravada - Buddhism lies with 13.76% and 2.01% higher than the national average. There are also 0.11% Christians and 0.2% followers of other religions.

Population development of the agglomeration according to the UN

year population
1950 289,000
1960 360,000
1970 723,000
1980 1,340,000
1990 2,032,000
2000 3,308,000
2010 4,106,000
2017 4,721,000

A population of 12 million people is expected in the agglomeration by 2050.

economy

Ship scrapping in Chittagong
Container handling

Chittagong is an important economic center for the country. The city is a special economic zone and there are a steelworks, oil refineries, shipbuilding, cement, as well as textile and leather industries. Chittagong has the largest seaport in Bangladesh. About 75% of Bangladesh's exports and 80% of imports were handled through it in 2002 (together with Chittagong International Airport ). In the last 10 years the port of Chittagong has been expanded significantly with the construction of the New Mooring Container Terminal . In 2015, more than 2 million containers ( TEU ) were handled in the container port . The port was the third largest in South Asia (after Mumbai and Colombo ). Due to its location, the port would also be an attractive transshipment point for goods to or from India ( Tripura , Mizoram , Assam ) or Myanmar . However, the port's growth is hampered by the lack of transport links to the hinterland. For some years now, however, the railway connections from Bangladesh Railway to Chittagong have been expanded and modernized with multiple lanes and agreements have been made with India for connection to the Indian railway network, so that the port of Chittagong is also likely to gain increasing importance as a transit port for northeast India . For a while there were also plans to build a railway line from Kunming in southern China's Yunnan Province across Myanmar to Chittagong. Chittagong would have gained the prospect of a transshipment port on the Indian Ocean for southwest China. These plans have not yet been pursued due to the disinterest of the Myanmar government.

The dismantling yards near Chittagong are among the centers of the dismantling industry worldwide. After rapid growth, the city's smog pollution is very high. A significant part of the population is employed in textile factories.

The Chittagong region generates a disproportionately large share of the gross domestic product of Bangladesh. In 2001 the proportion was 12% (around 5% of the population).

Culture and sights

Cultural monuments

Chandanpura mosque
Chittagong Court Building

The cultural monuments of Chittagong mainly include mosques , but also other religious and civil buildings and other objects. These include:

Recreation

Foys lake

Near the mouth of the Karnaphuli is Patenga Beach , a sandy beach that is also known as a tourist attraction for its spectacular sunsets.

In the northeast of the urban area is Foys See , an artificial lake, in a wooded hill area. At the southern end of the lake there is an amusement park and the Chittagong Zoo .

kitchen

A local dish is "mezban", a curry with beef prepared in a special way that is very popular in Chittagong. Dried fish is also popular. Arakan ( Myanmar ) influences can be found in the kitchen .

sons and daughters of the town

Web links

Commons : Chittagong  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. a b Pangaon container terminal to get a boost. thedailystar.net, January 4, 2016, accessed on January 12, 2016 .
  2. ^ Chittagong City Corporation . In: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Ed.): Banglapedia . 2nd Edition. 2012 (English, banglapedia.org [accessed May 1, 2019]).
  3. ^ Chittagong District . In: Asiatic Society of Bangladesh (Ed.): Banglapedia . 2nd Edition. 2012 (English, banglapedia.org [accessed May 1, 2019]).
  4. NOAA's Top Global Weather, Water and Climate Events of the 20 th Century. (PDF) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association (NOAA), accessed on January 25, 2016 .
  5. a b c The Daily Star: Past of Ctg holds hope for economy ( Memento of April 13, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
  6. Tathya Mantraṇālaẏa. Bahiḥ Pracāra Anubibhāga: Bangladesh towards 21st century. External Publicity Wing, Ministry of Information, Govt. of the People's Republic of Bangladesh, 1994, limited preview in Google Book search.
  7. Custom House Chittagong ( Memento from November 9, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  8. a b Abdul Mannan: Chittagong - looking for a better future ( Memento from September 26, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
  9. Shireen Hasan Osmany: Chittagong City . In: Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh , Second. Edition, Asiatic Society of Bangladesh , 2012.
  10. Stefano Cariolato: The Treasures Ships. Ming China on the seas: history of the fleet that could conquer the world and vanished into thin air. , 2017, limited preview in Google Book Search.
  11. a b c d e Nitish Sengupta: Land of Two Rivers: A History of Bengal from the Mahabharata to Mujib. Penguin UK, 2011, limited preview in Google Book search.
  12. a b c Michael W. Charney: ARAKAN, MIN YAZAGYI, AND THE PORTUGUESE , June 1993 , SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 3, No. 2, Autumn 2005, ISSN  1479-8484 , accessed May 2, 2019.
  13. a b c THE PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENTS IN THE BAY OF BENGAL ( Memento from November 15, 2011 in the Internet Archive )
  14. Inguva Mallikarjuna Sharma: Easter Rebellion in India: the Chittagong Uprising. Hyderabad 1993, OCLC 622641461 . (numerous sources in the appendices, including approx. 100 short biographies of freedom fighters)
  15. ^ A b Deaths in workers protests in Bangladesh. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung . December 12, 2010, accessed December 16, 2010 .
  16. a b c Local Government Engineering Department: About Chittagong , accessed May 2, 2019.
  17. World Urbanization Prospects - Population Division - United Nations. Retrieved July 23, 2018 .
  18. World 101 largest Cities. (PDF) Retrieved July 23, 2018 .
  19. ^ A b Economics Landscape of Chittagong. In: The Chittagong Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 2002, accessed December 2, 2015 .
  20. Agartala-Akhaura rail link gets boost. In: The Times of India. February 10, 2016, accessed March 30, 2016 .
  21. Hasan Jahid Tusher: China shelves Ctg-Kunming rail link plan. In: The Daily Star . June 16, 2012, accessed May 21, 2016 .