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Bangladesh

BD

South Asia

Bangladesh is home to 7 documented ethnic groups in South Asia — led by Bengali Bangladeshi (~98%), Rohingya Bangladesh (~1%), Chakma (~0%), Marma (~0%). This page blends their phenotype and demographic data into one weighted reference: skin tone, facial features, hair texture and build, drawn from published census and ancestry sources.

Demographic Composition

Composition weights are derived from self-identification in published census and demographic surveys. Each row links to the source ethnic-group atlas page.

Ethnic groupWeightSource
Bengali BangladeshiBengali Bangladeshi98.4%Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 2022 Population and Housing Census, self-identified Bengali (~98.4%, ~165M+ of ~169M total); among the most demographically homogeneous national populations globally. Bangladesh enumerates Bengali / Bangali as a single ethnic-national category with sub-regional and religious variation but minimal alternative ethnic self-identification at the national level
Rohingya BangladeshRohingya Bangladesh0.5%UNHCR 2024 demographic estimates plus Bangladesh government enumeration; Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh (~1M+, predominantly in the Cox's Bazar refugee camps including Kutupalong-Balukhali, the world's largest refugee settlement). The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group of Rakhine State, Myanmar, who fled to Bangladesh during multiple expulsion waves culminating in the August 2017 Myanmar military operation that the UN Independent International Fact-Finding Mission characterized as genocide
ChakmaChakma0.4%Bangladesh 2022 Census, self-identified Chakma (~0.4%, ~700,000); the largest Indigenous ethnic group, concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region. Tibeto-Burman language family (the Chakma language is now closely related to but distinct from Bengali in some respects, with Tibeto-Burman substrate)
MarmaMarma0.2%Bangladesh 2022 Census, self-identified Marma (~0.2%, ~330,000); concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Marma are a Tibeto-Burman-speaking Buddhist ethnic group closely related to the Rakhine of Myanmar
Tripuri BangladeshiTripuri Bangladeshi0.2%Bangladesh 2022 Census, self-identified Tripuri (~0.2%, ~340,000); Tibeto-Burman-speaking, primarily Hindu and Christian. Cross-border population shared with Indian state of Tripura
Bangladeshi OtherBangladeshi Other0.2%Bangladesh 2022 Census residual; includes Garo, Khasi, Manipuri, Mro, Khumi, Bawm, Lushai, Pangkho, Tanchangya, Khyang, Chak, Pangkhua, Mahato, Munda, Oraon, Dhamai, Kanda, Buno, Kol, Patro, plus the Bihari Urdu-speaking community (descendants of post-1947 Partition Muslim refugees from Bihar who remained in East Pakistan / Bangladesh after the 1971 independence war), and other smaller ethnic communities
Santhal BangladeshiSanthal Bangladeshi0.1%Bangladesh 2022 Census, self-identified Santhal in Bangladesh (~0.1%, ~150,000+); concentrated in northern Bangladesh (Rajshahi, Rangpur divisions). The Santhal are an Austroasiatic-speaking ethnic group of the broader Munda language family. Cross-border population shared with India where Santhals are the third-largest tribal community

Bangladesh Phenotype Profile

Bangladesh is among the most demographically homogeneous national populations in South Asia — approximately 98.4% Bengali Bangladeshi per the 2022 Census, with smaller Indigenous (Chakma, Marma, Tripuri, Santhal, plus ~30+ smaller groups, totaling ~1%), refugee (Rohingya ~0.5%), and other (Bihari Urdu-speakers, smaller communities, ~0.2%) sub-populations. The country's demographic structure reflects the consolidation of the Bengali ethnic-linguistic group across the historically Bengal region (Bangladesh + Indian West Bengal + Tripura + parts of Assam) plus the post-1947 Partition religious sorting (Hindu Bengalis to India, Muslim Bengalis to East Pakistan / Bangladesh) plus the post-1971 Bangladesh independence war demographic and political restructuring.

The Indigenous populations of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Chakma, Marma, Tripuri, Mro, Khumi, Bawm, Lushai, Pangkho, Tanchangya, Khyang, Chak, Pangkhua) plus the Garo, Khasi, Manipuri, and other smaller communities are substantially distinct from the broader Bengali population through Tibeto-Burman / Austroasiatic / Sino-Tibetan linguistic and cultural source populations and predominantly Buddhist (Chakma, Marma, Mro), Hindu (Tripuri, some Manipuri), and Christian (Garo, Khasi, some Tripuri) religious traditions distinct from the Bengali-Muslim majority. The Rohingya refugee population of approximately 1 million in the Cox's Bazar camps (since 2017) is a unique demographic feature reflecting the ongoing humanitarian crisis stemming from Myanmar-state genocide.

Genome-wide patterns in the broader Bengali Bangladeshi population are similar to broader Eastern Indo-Aryan populations of West Bengal and Bangladesh — Reich et al. 2009 and subsequent studies place Bengalis in a distinct Eastern Indian cluster with some Sino-Tibetan / Tibeto-Burman admixture in northern and northeastern Bangladeshi populations.

Skin tone across the population spans Fitzpatrick III-VI with IV-V the modal value nationally — among the darker-skinned South Asian populations on average, similar to other Eastern Indian populations. Hair is overwhelmingly straight to wavy (Andre Walker 1A-2B) and uniformly black or very dark brown across the broader Bengali population. Eye color is uniformly brown to dark brown across the broader population. Facial features track Eastern South Asian source populations with subtle Sino-Tibetan admixture in some sub-populations. The Indigenous CHT and Northeast-Bangladesh populations show characteristic Tibeto-Burman / East Asian features distinct from the broader Bengali population. Build is intermediate; adult Bengali Bangladeshi male mean stature is approximately 165-168 cm in 2010s-2020s urban cohorts. Within-population variance is small in absolute terms relative to the country's broader homogeneity but the Indigenous CHT population provides substantial localized phenotype-distribution variation.

A descriptive view, not a claim about individuals

This page shows a weighted aggregate of phenotype observations across the Bangladesh population, based on demographic composition from published census and ancestry sources. Phenotypes within any country are far more varied than the aggregate suggests; this is a descriptive reference, not a deterministic claim about any individual. For source-level detail on individual ethnic groups, see the constituent atlas pages linked below.

Methodology Notes

Composition weights are derived from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 2022 Population and Housing Census, the most recent comprehensive Bangladeshi census, plus UNHCR 2024 estimates for the Rohingya refugee population. Caveats: (1) Bangladesh enumerates Bengali / Bangali as a single ethnic-national category — religious-community identity (Muslim Bengali, Hindu Bengali, Christian Bengali, Buddhist Bengali) is enumerated separately rather than as ethnic sub-categories; (2) the Indigenous CHT and Northeast Bangladesh populations are partially documented under various ethnic categories with overlapping classifications; (3) the Rohingya refugee population is technically refugee-resident-not-citizen and is enumerated separately from the Bangladeshi national population in some statistical frameworks; (4) the Bihari Urdu-speaking community has been substantially marginalized since 1971 with limited public-document enumeration; (5) the various Tibeto-Burman peoples of the CHT and Northeast Bangladesh maintain meaningful linguistic and cultural distinctness within the umbrella enumerations.

See full project methodology →

Primary Sources

  1. 1.Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Population and Housing Census 2022: National Report. Dhaka: BBS; 2023.
  2. 2.Mey W. They Are Now Burning Village After Village: Genocide in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Copenhagen: IWGIA; 1984.
  3. 3.Reich D, Thangaraj K, Patterson N, et al. Reconstructing Indian population history. Nature. 2009;461(7263):489-494.
  4. 4.Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Myanmar. Report of the detailed findings (A/HRC/39/CRP.2). Geneva: UN OHCHR; 2018.
  5. 5.van Schendel W. A History of Bangladesh. Cambridge University Press; 2009.

Other countries in South Asia

Aggregate phenotype references for neighbouring South Asia nations, weighted by demographic composition.

Browse all South Asiaethnic groups & countries →