Cox's Bazar in Bangladesh

Cox's Bazar (Bengali: কক্সবাজার Kaksbājār) is a town, a fishing port and district headquarters in Bangladesh. It is one of the world's longest uninterrupted natural sandy sea beaches, The beach in Cox's Bazar is an unbroken 125 km sandy sea beach with a gentle slope. It is located 150 km south of the industrial port Chittagong. Cox’s Bazar is also known by the name Panowa, whose literal translation means "yellow flower." Its other old name was "Palongkee".

The modern Cox's Bazar derives its name from Captain Hiram Cox (died 1799), an officer serving in British India. An officer of the British East India Company, Captain Cox was appointed Superintendent of Palongkee outpost after Warren Hastings became Governor of Bengal. Captain Cox was specially mobilised to deal with a century-long conflict between Arakan refugees and local Rakhains. He embarked upon the mammoth task of rehabilitating refugees in the area and made significant progress. A premature death took Captain Cox in 1799 before he could finish his work. To commemorate his role in rehabilitation work, a market was established and named Cox's Bazar ("Cox's Market") after him.

Today, Cox's Bazar is one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Bangladesh. It has yet to become a major international tourist destination, and has no international hotel chains, due to lack of publicity and transportation. In 2013, the Bangladesh Government formed the Tourist Police unit to better protect local and foreign tourists, as well as to look after the nature and wildlife in the tourist spots of Cox's Bazar.