Virtual Bangladesh : Religion

Overview

About 80 percent of Bangladeshis are Muslims, making Bangladesh one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. The Muslim community in Bangladesh tends to be accomodating to other faiths and beliefs and Bangladesh is known for its lack of communal strife.

Hinduism is professed by about 13 percent of the population. There are also significant numbers of Buddhists in Bangladesh.

Bangladesh also has a very small Christian community.

Islam in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. Most Bangladeshi Muslims are Sunnis, but there is a small Shia community. Among religious festivals of Muslims are the Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Eid-e-Miladunnabi, Muharram etc.

The region of what is now Bangladesh saw wholesale conversions to Islam that began in the thirteenth century and continued on for hundreds of years. Muslim missionaries and mystics who wandered about the villages and towns were responsible for much of the conversions.

Hinduism in Bangladesh

Hinduism is the second largest religious affiliation in Bangladesh, covering more than 9.2% of the population. Hindus in Bangladesh are almost evenly distributed in all regions, with concentrations in Khulna, Jessore, Dinajpur, Faridpur, and Barisal. According to the 2001 census there are 11,379,000 Hindus in Bangladesh

Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Kali Puja etc. are some of the importanr Hindu festivals in Bangladesh.

Buddhism in Bangladesh

In the Chittagong Hills, Buddhist tribes formed the majority of the population.

There are approximately 1 million Buddhists in Bangladesh, representing less than 1 percent of the population.

Christianity

There are less than a million Christians in Bangladesh, mostly Roman Catholic. Christians account for approximately only 0.3% of the total population