Khulna
Gateway to Sundarbans: world's largest mangrove forest, last Bengal Tiger habitat. Jute mills collapsed; shrimp farming replaced them but destroys the mangroves that block cyclones. Cyclone Aila (2009): 300+ dead, millions displaced. Climate migration to Dhaka.
Khulna is the gateway to the Sundarbans—the world's largest mangrove forest, shared between Bangladesh and India, and the last habitat of the Royal Bengal Tiger. The city's economy, culture, and vulnerability all flow from that adjacency: the mangroves protect Khulna from cyclones while the cyclones periodically destroy Khulna.
Located on the Rupsha and Bhairab rivers in southwestern Bangladesh, Khulna grew as a colonial trade center for jute, the "golden fiber" that dominated Bengal's exports. Jute mills lined the riverbanks, processing raw fiber into sacking, carpet backing, and rope. When synthetic materials replaced jute in the 1960s and 1970s, Khulna's mills closed and never fully recovered.
The shrimp industry replaced jute as the primary export. Khulna division's coastal zones now produce the majority of Bangladesh's farmed shrimp, exported to Europe and Japan. But shrimp farming has devastating environmental consequences: converting rice paddies and mangrove forest to shrimp ponds increases soil salinity, destroys biodiversity, and weakens the natural storm barriers that protect inland areas.
The Sundarbans function as a biological shield. The mangrove forest absorbs cyclone energy—Cyclone Aila (2009) killed over 300 people and displaced millions, but the death toll would have been far higher without the mangroves. Climate change threatens both the forest and the city: rising sea levels push saltwater further inland, and increased cyclone intensity tests the mangroves' absorptive capacity.
Khulna Shipyard, established in 1957, builds small vessels for Bangladesh's river-dependent economy. The University of Khulna (founded 1991) anchors the education sector.
Khulna's population growth has slowed as climate migration pushes people toward Dhaka. The city illustrates a paradox: the people who most depend on the mangroves for protection are the same people whose shrimp farms destroy them.
Khulna tests whether a city can protect the ecosystem that protects it—or whether short-term economics always wins.