Dacca, scene of the reported sharp clashes between Pakistani Government troops and East Bengal separatists, is Pakistan's third largest city, with an estimated population of 800,000.

A sprawling, dusty metropolis baking in tropical heat most of the year, Dacca is a throng with barefooted cycle drivers who pedal bicycles that pull gaily decorated passenger carts.

There are some high rise buildings of ten stories or more--chief among them the luxurious Dacca Intercontinental Hotel--but most of the city consists of one-story and two-story structures, scattered along wide boulevards. Near the airport and in the heart of the old city, slums of shacks built of odd pieces of wood and paper provide some of the highest population concentrations in the world.

Chittagong, also reported to be the scene of fighting between troops and Bengalis, is East Pakistan's chief port, with a population under 70,000. It is largely rural with few tall buildings and much tropical vegetation.

Last November, Chittagong was the southern center for relief operations after the cyclone and tidal wave that killed more than 200,000 people.