What is the difference between a bacterium and a chlamydia?

The other day, someone in our study group asked about the difference between regular bacteria and chlamydia, and it sparked a long discussion. I remembered reading in a microbiology paper that while chlamydia is technically a bacterium, it’s quite unique. This answer clears up the confusion by laying out how chlamydia’s structure, life cycle, and dependency on host cells set it apart.