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Bangladeshi Australians refers to Australian citizens or residents who have full or partial Bangladeshi heritage or people who emigrated from Bangladesh and reside in Australia. There are around 53,000 Bangladeshis in Australia, according to the census in 2012. The largest Bangladeshi communities are mainly present in the states of New South Wales and Victoria, with large concentrations in the cities of Sydney and Melbourne.
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History
During the British partition of Bengal in 1947, East Bengal became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed nation of Pakistan. East Pakistan was governed by West Pakistan, which was situated about 1500 kilometres to the west, separated by India. Differences between the two led to an outbreak of Bengali nationalism. After liberation war, the independent state of Bangladesh - meaning “Bengali nation” - was proclaimed on 26 March 1971. The new country became a parliamentary democracy under a 1972 constitution. The Bangladesh-born are relatively new migrants to Australia. Since 1970, migration from Bangladesh has steadily increased with the majority arriving under the Skilled Migration Program. Most Bangladesh-born have settled in the urban areas of New South Wales while smaller numbers settled in other states and territories.
2011 census
The latest Census in 2011 recorded 27,809 Bangladesh-born people in Australia, an increase of 72.8 per cent from the 2006 Census. The 2011 distribution by state and territory showed New South Wales had the largest number with 17 007 followed by Victoria (5114), Queensland (1672) and Western Australia (1496).