Sister cities of Dhaka

Dhaka (Bengali: ঢাকা, pronounced: [ˈɖʱaka]; English /dɑːkə/, /dækə/; formerly spelled Dacca) is the capital city of Bangladesh. It is a megacity and one of the major cities of South Asia. Located on the east banks of the Buriganga River in the heart of the Bengal delta, Dhaka has an estimated population of more than 15 million people, making it the largest city in Bangladesh and the 9th largest city in the world. It is known as the City of Mosques, and with 400,000 cycle-rickshaws running on its streets every day, the city is described as the Rickshaw Capital of the World. Dhaka is also one of the world's most densely populated cites.

Under the Mughal Empire in the 17th-century, the city was known as Jahangir Nagar (City of Jahangir). It served as the capital of Bengal and prospered as the centre of the worldwide muslin trade. The modern city, however, developed chiefly under British rule in the 19th-century. It was the capital of Eastern Bengal and Assam between 1905 and 1911. After the Partition of British India, Dhaka became the administrative capital of East Pakistan, and later, in 1971, the capital of independent Bangladesh. During the intervening period, the city witnessed widespread turmoil; this included many impositions of martial law, the declaration of Bangladesh's independence, military suppression, devastation during war, poverty and natural calamities.

Modern Dhaka is the seat of the Bangladeshi republic and home to the Parliament of Bangladesh, the Government of Bangladesh and the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. Along with Chittagong, Dhaka is one of the command centres of the Bangladeshi economy. It is a centre of the nation's cultural life, flourishing in the arts and hosts a thriving contemporary and modern art scene. Although its urban infrastructure is among the most developed in the country, the city suffers from chronic urban challenges of poverty, pollution and overpopulation. It is modernizing its transport and communications, and has been attracting large volumes of foreign investments in recent years. Dhaka has also emerged as one of the fastest growing cities in the world.