ABSTRACT
The author compares the various sociological data pertaining to Dhaka city for 1985 and 2005, and explains the inter-temporal trends noted. He executes the task by conducting a General Household Survey (GHS) in both years. Linguistically, Dhaka had become less cosmopolitan and more homogeneous over the two decades, with Bengali further displacing other languages. In both 1985 and 2005, office workers and business persons dominated Dhaka city, although the percentage of office workers declined and the percentage of business persons increased over the two decades. The average number of sons and daughters increased slightly over the two decades. However, the average number of dependants increased quite appreciably during the same period. Therefore more love marriages, less hang-ups about certain districts, better inter-district communications, spread of education, longer stay in Dhaka city and personal qualities of the bride/groom were the main factors for the increase in inter-district mobility through marriage in Dhaka city.
