China, India, United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan. It does not come as a surprise that those are the six most populated countries in the world.

What does seem to surprise people is the seventh nation on the list. Roughly the same size as Florida, Bangladesh has a population of over 160 million people. Greatly overlooked by many western societies, this rather tiny country has a rich history laden with civil war and political unrest.

Bangladesh is an infant in age compared to many countries such as the United States and England. Formerly known as East Pakistan, Bangladesh became an official country in 1971, after a bloody civil war with West Pakistan (now known as Pakistan). Traveling further in Bangladesh's past, the region was under British control from 1747 until 1947.

Although young in age, Bangladesh is a country rooted in a millennium old culture and tradition. Bangladesh's culture, like all other cultures, is a result of a blend of geography and religion. The effect of geography and religion can be seen in everything from cuisine to entertainment to marital rituals.

Bangladesh is a primarily Muslim country which affects it in all aspects of its culture. For instance, Bengali cuisine will never feature any pork dishes, nor will one ever see wine as an ingredient to any dish.

One ingredient prevalent in Bengali cuisine is spice. Almost all main dishes with Bengali influence contain some sort of spice for flavor. The emphasis of spice on Bengali cuisine is indicative of the region, which is notorious for its spices. Although spices are a staple in Bengali cuisine, they are not the most significant part of the Bengali diet.

The crop that has been a staple for people of that region since it was first inhabited is rice. Rice is such a staple in Bengali culture that I once heard the joke that if a Bengali was found after being lost in a desert for a week, his first request would be a plate of rice glazed over with curried chicken, and only after he had eaten his fair share of that would he ask for a glass of water.

The film and entertainment industry is rapidly growing in Bangladesh. You will not find any 3-D films, nor will you see a movie with top-of-the-line special effects. Instead, you are most likely to see a simple story line that emphasizes how the good guys always beat the bad guys.

One aspect of Bengali films that Westerners might find a little strange is the fact that almost all Bengali movies feature several singing pieces that serve mainly as transitions from one point in the movie to another. The entertainment industry in Bangladesh is one that is generations behind what Hollywood has to offer.

Not by any means would the Bengali culture be considered taboo to the Western world, but there is one aspect of the Bengali culture that tends to draw frowns from more socially advanced western counterparts. Bangladesh, like many Muslim countries, practices arranged marriage. Arranged marriage is a ritual in which the families make the decision on who their children are to marry.

It is not uncommon for the bride and groom's first encounter to take place on their wedding day. One would assume that those who partake in arranged marriage would have a very high probability of divorce, but that is not the case. If a bride and groom are to divorce each other it instantly brings a great deal of shame to both family names, which is unacceptable in a culture that is fixated with family pride and honor.

Although still prevalent in that region of the world, the concept of arranged marriage is starting to be replaced with the more modern philosophy of one picking his or her own spouse.

Bangladesh, the country I was born in, is a 40-year-old, third world country, that has yet to catch up to the technological world of today. Although it is not a world power everyone is familiar with, what this undersized country lacks in economic wealth, it more than makes up for with its rich history and culture.