After Bangladesh gained independence, Cox's Bazar began to receive administrative attention. A pilot plant was established at Kalatali in 1975, in order to assess the visibility of heavy mineral content in the area. Soon after, in 1984, Cox's Bazar subdivision was upgraded to a district, and in 1989, the city's municipality was promoted to B-grade. The Marine Fisheries and Technology Station was built in 1994, and covers a land area of 4 hactor which is home to 5 specialized laboratories. In early 2007, Bangladesh became linked to the submarine cable network, due to Cox's Bazar being selected as the landing station for the submarine cable.
The name Cox's Bazar/Bazaar originated from the name of a British East India Company officer, Captain Hiram Cox who was appointed as the Superintendent of Palonki (today's Cox's Bazar) outpost after Warren Hastings became the Governor of Bengal following the British East India Company Act in 1773. Captain Cox was especially mobilized to deal with a century long conflict between Arakan refugees & local Rakhains at Palonki. The Captain made significant progress in rehabilitation of refugees in the area, but had died (in 1799) before he could finish his work. To commemorate his role in rehabilitation work a market / bazaar was established and was named after him as Cox's Bazaar (market of Cox). Cox's Bazar thana was first established in 1854 and a municipality was constituted in 1869.
Cox's Bazar District is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar, which is one of the world's longest natural sea beaches (120 km) including mud flats. It is located 150 km south of Chittagong. Cox’s Bazar is also known by the name “Panowa”, the literal translation of which means “yellow flower”. Its other old name was “Palongkee”.
