Where to Stay in Dhaka, Dhaka Division

What is Dhaka known for?

It stands as the great city of the historical region of Bengal, with a long past as a Bengali capital and a centre of trade and culture across South Asia. People call it the City of Mosques for its skyline of minarets, and the Venice of the East for the riverfront along the Buriganga. It carries another name too.

As the Rickshaw Capital of the World, its streets fill with cycle rickshaws, while parks and gardens still open between them.

What are the main landmarks in Dhaka?

Dhaka wears its landmarks openly. The Shaheed Minar rises as the country's memorial column to its martyrs, while the Bangladesh National Museum and the Museum of Independence hold its history indoors. Bangabhaban serves as the official residence at the heart of the state.

Older communities left their mark in the Armenian Church, the Holy Rosary Church, and St. Mary's Cathedral. Suhrawardy Udyan gives green relief, and the plaza of Shapla Square anchors the commercial core near the river.

What is the history of Dhaka?

Dhaka is an old Bengali capital. The city grew in the historical region of Bengal, on the banks of the Buriganga, where the river carried the trade that made it rich. Under earlier rule it was written Dacca, the older spelling of the same name.

Its mosques rose in such number that it took the title City of Mosques, while its riverfront brought the name Venice of the East. Merchants, faiths, and rulers alike all left their mark on the growing river city. The modern chapter tied Dhaka to the birth of Bangladesh.

When the country took its present form, Dhaka became its capital, the seat of government and the centre of national memory. The Museum of Independence and the Bangabandhu Memorial Museum keep that national story, while the Shaheed Minar stands as a memorial to the city's martyrs. Older communities are remembered too, in the Armenian Church and the Greek Memorial that recall foreign traders long settled here.

From a river port in Bengal to the capital of a nation, Dhaka has held the thread of Bengali city life across the centuries.

Where is Dhaka?

Dhaka lies on the Ganges Delta, in the low and river-laced heart of Bangladesh. Four rivers frame the city: the Buriganga along its old southern edge, with the Turag, the Dhaleshwari, and the Shitalakshya around the others. The Buriganga is the historic waterfront, the river of the old port.

Water sits close on every side. That setting, more than any hill, has shaped where the capital of Dhaka Division could grow, among the channels of the delta.

What is the climate of Dhaka?

Dhaka has a warm, subtropical climate marked by a heavy wet season. Hot, damp months build through spring. Through the height of the monsoon, downpours swell the Buriganga and the other rivers around the city, and flooding is a fact of life on the delta.

Winters are short, dry, and pleasantly mild. Humidity hangs over the city for much of the year, eased only by those cooler dry months.

How do you get to Dhaka?

Dhaka is the country's main point of arrival. As the capital of Bangladesh, it draws the busiest air, road, and rail links, and most journeys within the country pass through it. The rivers still carry traffic too.

Launches and ferries work the Buriganga and the wider delta, a reminder of the old water routes. From Dhaka the roads run out across Dhaka Division and on to the rest of Bangladesh.