Dhaka (previously Dacca); is the capital of Bangladesh. The city is situated on Buriganga, a channel of the Dhaleswari River, in the heart of the world's largest jute growing region. It is the industrial, commercial, and administrative center of Bangladesh, with trade in jute, rice, oilseeds, sugar and tea. Manufactures include textiles and jute products. Dhaka is famous for its handicrafts.

Dhaka's history dates back to the year 1000, but the city achieved glory as the capital of Mughal Bengal. At that time, it was also known as Jahangir Nagar in honor of Mughal Emperor Jahangir. The city passed to British rule in 1765. It became the capital of East Pakistan in 1947. In 1971, the city became capital of the newly independent country Bangladesh. It was formerly known under the spelling Dacca.

Founded in 1608 as the Seat of the Imperial Mughal Viceroys of Bengal and known the world over for centuries for its fine silk and muslin, Dhaka as the capital of Bangladesh has grown into busy city of about four mi lion people.

Having a happy blending of the old and new architectural trends, Dhaka has been developing fast as a modem city since 1982 and is throbbing with activities in all spheres of life, be it industrial, commercial, cultural or political.

Dhaka is home to over 4 million people and covers about 816 square kilometers. The climate is tropical as in the rest of Bangladesh; for most of the year it is warm with bright sunshine, but during the Monsoons there's heavy rainfall. During the winter months (November to March) it is cool and pleasant.

Typical summer temperatures range between 30 to 37 degrees Celsius while in the winter it is a lot milder, ranging between 10 to 20 degrees. Annual rainfall is about 250cm and humidity around 80%.

GENERAL INFORMATION :
Area            :  815.85 Sq. kilometers (approx.)
Population  :  Seven million (approx.)
Climate       :  Tropical, with heavy rainfall and bright sunshine in the monsoon and warm for the greater part of the year. The winter months, from November to March, are however, most likeable, cool and pleasant.

Temperature:      Max         Min
          summer     36.7°C      21.1°c
          Winter       31.7°C      10.5°c

Rainfall : 2540 mm annually.
Humidity : 80 percent (approx.)

DHAKA AS THE CAPITAL OF BANGLADESH (SINCE 1971)

After the independence of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971, the city’s population rose suddenly to about 15,00,000 and in 1974 it was about 16,100,000 (Census of Bangladesh, 1974). The urbanization activities have been achieving tremendous growth for the needs of the newly independent country’s capital. The city began to expand in all directions including over the low-lying areas on the eastern side, such as in Jurain, Goran, Badda, Khilgaon, Rampura, and in the western side, areas like Kamrangirchar, Shyamoli, Western Mohammadpur, Kallyanpur through the earth filling (Chowdhury, 1991).

In 1995, The new Master Plan for Dhaka was prepared for the further development of Dhaka City. As very rapid urban growth along with the fast increase in population and structural development started to take place in the city, this new structure plan was a must. The population had leapt to 3 million within one decade of the independence of the country and the city covered an area of about 70 sq. km. in 1980. The swamps and wetlands of the city started to disappear fast. New areas of residential, administrational, business and commercial importance began to develop. At the same time, numerous slums and unplanned low-income residential areas or squatters also grew up in different areas of the city. Keeping pace with the magnitudes of these urban growth, the new urbanized areas were being encroached in the low-lying areas in the city and even in some of the adjacent distant areas.