Chittagong is a city and port in the southeast of Bangladesh, located on the Karnaphuli river, near the Bay of Bengal. It acts as the commercial centre for the surrounding agricultural region, which produces rice, jute, gunny, tea, petroleum, and bamboo. The bamboo is harvested primarily from the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a rugged, thick forest inhabited by a number of tribes. It's population in 1991 was 1,566,070.
Originally part of the Arakan Empire, Chittagong was later claimed by the emperor of Burma. This was a major cause of the First Burmese-British War in 1824. It became an important trading centre under Portugese rule in the 16th century, eventually becoming controlled by the English East India Company from 1760 to 1765. Chittagong University, established in 1966, is located at Fatehpur 22km away from the city centre, on a 1300 acre campus.