Bangladeshis are the citizens of Bangladesh. The country is named after the historical region of Bengal, of which it constitutes the largest and easternmost part. Bangladeshi citizenship was formed in 1971, when the permanent residents of the former East Pakistan were transformed into citizens of a new republic. Bangladesh is the world’s eighth most populous nation. The vast majority of Bangladeshis are ethnolingustically Indo-Aryan people who speak Bengali and other related Bengali–Assamese languages and follow the Islamic religion. The population of Bangladesh is concentrated in the fertile Bengal delta, which has been the center of urban and agrarian civilizations for millennia. The country’s highlands, including the Chittagong Hill Tracts and the Sylhet Division, are home to various tribal minorities.

Bengali Muslims are the predominant ethnoreligious group of Bangladesh with a population of 146 million, which makes up majority of the country’s population. The minority Bengali Hindu population made up approximately 9.5% of the population of the country in 2011. Non-Bengali Muslims make up the largest immigrant community; while the Tibeto-Burman Chakmas, who speak the Indo-Aryan Chakma language, are the largest indigenous ethnic group after Indo-Aryan Bengalis. The Austroasiatic Santhals are the largest aboriginal community.