Bangladeshis (Bengali: বাংলাদেশী[52] [ˈbaŋladeʃi]) are the citizens and nationals of Bangladesh, a South Asian country centred on the transnational historical region of Bengal along the eponymous bay.

The country's highlands, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts and parts of the Sylhet Division, are home to various tribal minorities.

[54][55][56] The minority Bengali Hindu population made up approximately 7.95% of the population of the country according to the 2022 Census[57][58] Non-Bengali Muslims make up the largest immigrant community; while the Tibeto-Burman Chakmas, who speak the Indo-Aryan Chakma language, are the largest indigenous ethnic group after Indo-Aryan Bengalis.

The region of Bengal was settled by people of diverse origins, including Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Tibeto-Burman and Austroasiatic ancestry, with the most ancient settlements traced back to 4000 BCE.

The Bengali population is concentrated in Bengal delta, the coastal areas of Chittagong Division and the river valleys of Sylhet-Division.

[69] On 28 September 2018, at the 73rd United Nations General Assembly, Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said there are 1.1–1.3 million Rohingya refugees now settled in Bangladesh.

The basic social unit in a village is the family (poribar or gushti), generally consisting of a complete or incomplete patrilineally extended household (chula) and residing in a homestead (bari).

Above the bari level, patrilineal kin ties are linked into sequentially larger groups based on real, fictional, or assumed relationships.

[99] A significant unit larger than that of close kin is the voluntary religious and mutual benefit association known as "the society" (shomaj or milat).

The traditional character of rural villages was changing in the latter half of the 20th century with the addition of brick structures of one or more stories scattered among the more common thatched bamboo huts.

[99] Although farming has traditionally been ranked among the most desirable occupations, villagers in the 1980s began to encourage their children to leave the increasingly overcrowded countryside to seek more secure employment in the towns.

Traditional sources of prestige, such as landholding, distinguished lineage, and religious piety were beginning to be replaced by modern education, higher income, and steadier work.

Other important cities include Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Rajshahi, Bogura, Jessore, Barisal, Comilla, Narayanganj and Mymensingh.

Urban centres grew in number and population during the 1980s as a result of an administrative decentralization program that featured the creation of upazilas.

[citation needed] The Bengali Language Movement sowed the seeds of East Pakistani nationalism, ultimately culminating in the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971.

Military coups ushered a sixteen-year presidential regime, which restored the free market and promoted moderate Islamism.

However, the deletion in 1977 of Bangalee as the nationality term for the country's citizens, in order to be inclusive of non-Bengali minorities, also reflects attempts to build a more cosmopolitan Bangladeshi society.

The official language of Bangladesh is Bengali, which is shared with the neighbouring Indian states of West Bengal, Assam, and Tripura.

It is commemorated by UNESCO as International Mother Language Day, as part of worldwide efforts to preserve linguistic heritage.