Cox’s Bazar District

Cox’s Bazar, which is famous for its longest unbroken sandy sea beach, is a District under Chittagong Division. It is located 150 km south of the industrial port- Chittagong. Cox’s Bazar is considered as having the longest sea beach in the world, with a total of 121 kilometer long. The name Cox’s Bazar was derived from its founder, Captain Hiram Cox. He founded the very attractive beach in 1798.

Ancient name of Cox’s Bazar was Bakoli, which changed with Pengwa in Mid 17^th. The Rakhyne word PENGWA means yellow flower. Burmese King Monwaing took up the control of the area by attacking Cox’s Bazar in 1784. He killed the Arakanese King Thamada. So the Arakanese left the area to take shelter in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Patuakhali. The Government of the then East India Company appointed Captain Hiram Cox as Superintendent and assigned him to rehabilitate the Arakanese refugees. On arrival there in 1799, he defeated the Burmese king in a battle and rehabilitated the Arakanese refugees. After the war, he set up a bazar (market) in that place which was named as Cox’s Bazar after him.

Total Area of the district is 2491.86 sq. km with the Population of about 2.2 million. Chakaria, Cox’s Bazar Sadar, Kutubdia, Maheshkhali, Ramu, Teknaf, Ukhia and Pekua are the eight upazilas under this district.

With a long unbroken beach and a small port, Cox’s Bazar is a popular tourist resort, connected by road, rail, and air with Chittagong.

Cox’s Bazar town constituted a municipality in 1869. The flamboyant township at the head of a 120 km long beach with lines of fancy shops on either sides of Cox’s Bazar main road, calm and peaceful Khyangs and Pagodas, Rakhyne quarters, fish harbour of Kostura Ghat, the sights of the rising sun behind the hills and setting of it into the Bay of Bengal- all together gives the aura of a fairy land- a tourist paradise.

Cox’s Bazar district is the home of Major industries in addition to tourism including fish processing, salt production, ice making, printing, and the milling of rice, flour, and wood. Garment production and weaving, woodworking, and metalworking are prominent cottage industries in the land. The East India Company, who ceded the lands in 1760, marks the attractive Sonadia Island, off Cox’s Bazar, as ‘Red Crab Island’ in 1776. For over ten years, surfing has been a developing activity on the beach.

The newly built Marine Drive Road to Teknaf, the southernmost town of Bangladesh, is a colourful journey, with visits to small fishing towns, where large, colourful fishing fleets of unique styled boats create infatuation.

Cox’s Bazar has a great deal of heritage with Animist, Hindu, Jain , Buddhist, Islamic, Christian traditions visible together with Mughal architecture, and the culture of a number of different tribal groups visitable in traditional communities, might well be considered a microcosm of Bangladesh.

In the town of Ramu,the site of boat racing along with the centuries old Buddhist Temples, Lama Para, still practicing wood craftsmen and potters especially close to the Beggars Market fascinate many tourists. The Bakkhali River side is still a centre for trade in upcountry bamboos that are floated down the river, and around November/December. A Hindu Temple extravagantly claimed foundation in 2800 BCE and a Buddhist Temple claimed foundation

by the Emperor Ashoka of 3^rd century BCE in Ramkot still uphold the history of diversity. The Naaf river has the scenic border with Burma (Myanmar). The St. Martin’s Island is one of the most beautiful island of the world.

The mass human exodus that began in August, 2017 from Myanmar to Bangladesh has turned Cox’s Bazar into the world’s largest refugee settlement. Since the 1970s Rohingya refugees, the muslim minority of Myanmar, have been coming to Bangladesh. 723,000 Rohingya have fled to Bangladesh since 25 August 2017 because of the Forcibly Displaced Myanmar Nationals (FDMNs) from Myanmar. Kutupalong, a village of Ukhia upazila is now the largest refugee camp in the world.

Upazilas

• Chakaria Upazila
• Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila
• Kutubdia Upazila
• Maheshkhali Upazila
• Ramu Upazila
• Teknaf Upazila
• Ukhia Upazila
• Pekua Upazila

Rivers:

Naaf, Bakkhali, Matamuhuri, Rezu, Kohalia

Islands:

Moheshkhali, Sonadia, St. Martin’s, Kutubdia, ShahPorir Dip, Chera Dip

Foods:

• Sea foods
• Dried fish(Shutki)
• Crab
• Salt

Interested Places

• Aggmeda Khyang (a large Buddhist monastery)
• Himchari
• Inani Beach
• Dulhazra Safari Park
• Martin’s Island

Famous Personalities

• Mohammad Nurul Huda
• Aye Thein Rakhaine