Pahela Baishakh first day of the Bangla year. Pahela Baishakh is celebrated in a festive manner in both Bangladesh and West Bengal. In Bangladesh Pahela Baishakh is a national holiday. Pahela Baisakh falls on April 14 or 15.
In the sixteenth century Christianity brought to the historic region of Bengal (now divided between Bangladesh and India) by Portuguese traders and missionaries. Aside from Bengali Christians, a significant number of the population in Bangladesh are Christians.
A vast majority (98 percent) of the people of Bangladesh are Bengalis and they speak the Bengali language. Minorities include Biharis numbering 250,000 and other tribes numbering about a million, with the Chakma being most numerous in number.