Bangladeshi woman joins world’s most traveled individuals
From Samoa to Bahamas, Bangladeshi solo traveller completes visits to 184 countries, becoming first from nation to achieve global milestone
DHAKA, Bangladesh (MNTV) — Najmun Nahar has etched her name into global travel history after becoming the first Bangladeshi to visit 184 countries, a milestone that places her among a rare circle of the world’s most traveled individuals and one of the most widely traveled Muslim women internationally.
The landmark was completed in December 2025 with her visit to Bahamas, where she received public recognition for the achievement, including congratulations from the country’s first lady. Her final leg capped an intensive six-month journey across multiple regions, spanning Oceania, Southeast Asia, the Caribbean, and South America.
Between June and December 2025, Najmun Nahar traveled through Samoa, Timor-Leste, Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Venezuela, and the Bahamas—often navigating complex visa regimes, border crossings, and security checks that remain significant barriers for travelers from South Asia.
Her journey, however, is not defined solely by numbers. Over more than two decades, Najmun Nahar has traveled primarily by road, often alone, across conflict-affected zones, remote geographies, deserts, mountains, and island states—experiences she describes as physically demanding and, at times, life-threatening.
Her travel story began in 2000 through India’s International Adventure Programme, setting her on a path that would steadily expand beyond tourism into cultural diplomacy. Carrying Bangladesh’s red-and-green flag across continents, she has consistently framed her journeys as a way to project a positive image of her country while engaging with global conversations on peace, environmental protection, and ending child marriage.
Milestones along the way marked the scale of her progress: her 100th country in Zambia and Zimbabwe in 2018, her 150th in São Tomé and Príncipe in 2021, and her 175th in 2024, before reaching 184 countries last month.
Reflecting on her travels in Venezuela, Najmun Nahar described it as her most demanding expedition, citing extensive police checks, long overland routes, and visits across 17 cities. She has often highlighted how landscapes—from the Andes to island coastlines—are matched by the generosity of local communities she encounters.
Her work has drawn attention from international media across Latin America, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Europe, and she has received more than 50 awards, including the Peace Torch Bearer Award in the United States.
Born in Lakshmipur district in Bangladesh, Najmun Nahar pursued higher education in Sweden and South Korea, earning degrees in human rights and Asian studies. Today, she works as a researcher, motivational speaker, and goodwill ambassador, focusing particularly on inspiring young people—especially girls—to imagine lives beyond social and geographic constraints.
With a small number of countries still left on her list, Najmun Nahar says her journey is far from over.
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