A közelben mintegy 120 km hosszú homokos tengerpart húzódik, amely a világ egyik leghosszabb strandja, így a város a belföldi és külföldi turisták kedvelt célpontja, a legnagyobb üdülőhely Bangladesben.
Az itt található, – főként [[rohingják]]kal benépesült – Kutupalong menekülttábor 2020 táján a világ legnagyobbikalegnagyobb menekülttábora.<ref name="the_biggest_refugee_camp_2018_03_14_nytimes_com">Sengupta, Somini and Henry Fountain: [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/03/14/climate/bangladesh-rohingya-refugee-camp.html "The Biggest Refugee Camp Braces for Rain: 'This Is Going to Be a Catastrophe'; More than half a million Rohingya refugees face looming disaster from floods and landslides...,"] March 14, 2018, ''[[New York Times]],'' retrieved May 26, 2020</ref><ref name="decade_review_2019_12_27_un_org">[https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/05/1037891 ''The 2010 – 2020 UN News Decade in Review,'' part three], December 27, 2019, ''[[UN News]],'' [[United Nations]], retrieved May 26, 2020</ref><ref name="two_test_positive_2020_05_14_bbc">[https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-52669299 "Coronavirus: Two Rohingya test positive in refugee camp. Two Rohingya refugees have tested positive for coronavirus in the world's largest refugee camp in Bangladesh, officials say."] May 14, 2020, ''[[BBC News]],'' retrieved May 26, 2020</ref>
