Bengalis

This article is about the ethnic group. For the citizens of Bangladesh, see Bangladeshis.

Bengali
This article contains Bengali text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols.

Bengalis
  • বাঙ্গালী
  • বাঙালি
Total population
c. 285 million[1][2][3]
Regions with significant populations
 Bangladesh163,508,457 (2022 census)[4]
 India97,228,917 (2011 census)[5][6]
 Pakistan2,000,000[7]
 Saudi Arabia2,116,192[8]
 UAE1,090,000[9][10]
 Malaysia1,000,000[11]
 Oman680,242[12]
 United Kingdom662,145[note 1][14][15][16]
 Qatar400,000[17]
 Italy400,000[18]
 Kuwait350,000[19]
 South Africa300,000[20]
 United States304,425[21]
 Bahrain180,000[22]
 Lebanon160,000[23]
 Jordan150,000[24]
 Singapore150,000[25]
 Maldives150,000[26]
 Canada75,425[27]
 Australia51,491[28]
 Greece80,000[29]
 Portugal70,000 (2024)[30][31][32][33]
 Spain50,000[18][34]
 Brunei30,000–40,000[35]
 Japan27,962[36]
 Mauritius25,000[37]
 South Korea22,000[38]
 Libya20,000[39]
 Poland18,000[40]
 Germany16,410[41]
 Egypt15,000[42]
 France15,000[43]
 Sweden12,279[44]
 Finland7,000[45]
 Brazil6,000[46]
 Netherlands6,000[29]
 Belgium5,000[29]
 Austria3,300[47]
 New Zealand2,337[48]
 Russia2,000[49]
Languages
Bengali
Religion
[50][51][52][53][54][55]
Related ethnic groups
Indo-Aryan peoples
a. Spoken by a significant number of Pakistani Bengalis and some old Dhakaiyas as L1
Part of a series on
Bengalis
Bengali history
Bengali homeland
Bengali people
Bengali culture
Bengali symbols
Bengali nationalism
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Culture of Bengal
History
People
Languages
Traditions
Mythology and folklore
Myths

Lores
Cuisine
Festivals
Art
Literature

Genres

Institutions

Awards

Music and performing arts

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Devotional

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Bengalis (Bengali: বাঙ্গালী, বাঙালি [baŋgali, baŋali] ⓘ), also rendered as endonym Bangalee,[56][57] are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. The population is divided between the sovereign country Bangladesh and the Indian regions of West Bengal, Tripura, Barak Valley, Goalpara, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and parts of Meghalaya, Manipur and Jharkhand.[58] Most speak Bengali, a language from the Indo-Aryan language family. Sub-section 2 of Article 6 of the Constitution of Bangladesh states, "The people of Bangladesh shall be known as Bengalis as a nation and as Bangladeshis as citizens."[59]

Bengalis are the third-largest ethnic group in the world, after the Han Chinese and Arabs.[60] They are the largest ethnic group within the Indo–European linguistic family and the largest ethnic group in South Asia. Apart from Bangladesh and the Indian states of West Bengal, Tripura, Manipur, and Assam's Barak Valley, Bengali-majority populations also reside in India's union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with significant populations in the Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Delhi, Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Mizoram, Nagaland and Uttarakhand as well as Nepal's Province No. 1.[61][62] The global Bengali diaspora have well-established communities in the Middle East, Pakistan, Myanmar, the United Kingdom, the United States, Malaysia, Italy, Singapore, Maldives, Canada, Australia, Japan and South Korea.

Bengalis are a diverse group in terms of religious affiliations and practices. Approximately 70% are adherents of Islam with a large Hindu minority and sizeable communities of Christians and Buddhists. Bengali Muslims, who live mainly in Bangladesh, primarily belong to the Sunni denomination. Bengali Hindus, who live primarily in West Bengal, Tripura, Assam's Barak Valley, Jharkhand and Andaman and Nicobar Islands, generally follow Shaktism or Vaishnavism, in addition to worshipping regional deities.[63][64][65] There exist small numbers of Bengali Christians, a large number of whom are descendants of Portuguese voyagers, as well as Bengali Buddhists, the bulk of whom belong to the Bengali-speaking Barua group in Chittagong and Rakhine.

Bengalis have influenced and contributed to diverse fields, notably the arts and architecture, language, folklore, literature, politics, military, business, science and technology.

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  50. ^ Datta, Romita (13 November 2020). "The great Hindu vote trick". India Today. Archived from the original on 17 February 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2022. Hindus add up to about 70 million in Bengal's 100 million population, of which around 55 million are Bengalis.
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  60. ^ roughly 163 million in Bangladesh and 100 million in India (CIA Factbook 2014 estimates, numbers subject to rapid population growth); about 3 million Bangladeshis in the Middle East, 2 million Bengalis in Pakistan, 0.4 million British Bangladeshi.
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  63. ^ McDermott, Rachel Fell (2005). "Bengali religions". In Lindsay Jones (ed.). Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 2 (2nd ed.). MacMillan Reference USA. p. 826. ISBN 0-02-865735-7.
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