Bangladesh
OFFICIAL NAME:
People's Republic of Bangladesh
Geography
Area: 147, 570 sq. km. (55,813 sq. mi.); about the size of Wisconsin.
Cities: Capital--Dhaka (pop. 10 million). Other cities--Chittagong (2.8 million), Khulna (1.8 million), Rajshahi (1 million).
Terrain: Mainly flat alluvial plain, with hills in the northeast and southeast.
Climate: Semitropical, monsoonal.
People
Nationality: Noun and adjective--Bangladeshi(s).
Population: 147 million.
Annual growth rate: 1.7%.
Ethnic groups: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims.
Religions: Muslim 88.3%; Hindu 10.5%; Christian 0.3%, Buddhist 0.6%, others 0.3%.
Languages: Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English.
Education: Attendance-- 61%. Literacy--62.66%.
Health: Infant mortality rate (below 1)--65/1,000. Life expectancy--61 years (male), 62 years (female).
Work force (60.3 million): Agriculture--62.3%; manufacturing and mining--7.6%; others--30.1%.
Government
Type: Parliamentary democracy.
Independence: 1971 (from Pakistan).
Constitution: 1972; amended 1974, 1979, 1986, 1988, 1991, 1996, 2004.
Branches: Executive--president (chief of state), prime minister (head of government), cabinet. Legislative--unicameral Parliament (345 members). Judicial--civil court system based on British model.
Administrative subdivisions: Divisions, districts, subdistricts, unions, villages.
Political parties: 30-40 active political parties. Largest ones include Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Awami League (AL), the Jatiya Party, and the Jamaat-e-Islami Party.
Suffrage: Universal at age 18.
Economy
Fiscal year: July 1 to June 30.
Annual GDP growth rate (FY 2006): 6.7%; (FY 2007 estimated): 6.5%.
GDP: $62.02 billion.
Per capita GDP (2006): $456.
Inflation (December 2006): 6.77%.
Exchange rate: FY 2003: U.S $1=Taka 57.90; FY 2006: U.S $1=Taka 69.43; FY 2007 (January): U.S $1=Taka 69.69.
Annual budget (FY 2007): $10 billion.
Natural resources: Natural gas, fertile soil, water.
Agriculture (21.8% of GDP): Products--rice, jute, tea, sugar, wheat. Land--cultivable area cropped at rate of 180% in 2004; 176% in 1997; largely subsistence farming dependent on monsoon rainfall, but growing commercial farming and increasing use of irrigation.
Industry (Manufacturing; 17% of GDP): Types--garments and knitwear, jute goods, frozen fish and seafood, textiles, fertilizer, sugar, tea, leather, ship-breaking for scrap, pharmaceuticals, ceramic tableware, newsprint.
Trade (FY 2006): Total imports (FY 2006)--$14.74 billion: capital goods, food grains, petroleum, textiles, chemicals, vegetable oils. Growth rate over previous fiscal year: 12.17%. Total exports (FY 2006)--$10.52 billion: garments and knitwear, frozen fish, jute and jute goods, leather and leather products, tea, urea fertilizer, ceramic tableware. Growth rate over previous fiscal year: 21.63%. Exports to U.S. (FY 2006)--$3 billion. Imports from U.S. (FY 2006)--$300 million.
GEOGRAPHY
Bangladesh is a low-lying, riparian country located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710 kilometers (440 mi.) on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. Formed by a deltaic plain at the confluence of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries, Bangladesh's alluvial soil is highly fertile but vulnerable to flood and drought. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh has a subtropical monsoonal climate characterized by heavy seasonal rainfall, moderately warm temperatures, and high humidity. Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores affect the country almost every year. Bangladesh also is affected by major cyclones--on average 16 times a decade.
Urbanization is proceeding rapidly, and it is estimated that only 30% of the population entering the labor force in the future will be absorbed into agriculture, although many will likely find other kinds of work in rural areas. The areas around Dhaka and Comilla are the most densely settled. The Sundarbans, an area of coastal tropical jungle in the southwest and last wild home of the Bengal Tiger, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts on the southeastern border with Burma and India, are the least densely populated.
PEOPLE
The area that is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and cultural past, combining Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Mongol/Mughul, Arab, Persian, Turkic, and west European cultures. Residents of Bangladesh, about 98% of whom are ethnic Bengali and speak Bangla, are called Bangladeshis. Urdu-speaking, non-Bengali Muslims of Indian origin, and various tribal groups, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprise the remainder. Most Bangladeshis (about 88.3%) are Muslims, but Hindus constitute a sizable (10.5%) minority. There also are a small number of Buddhists, Christians, and animists. English is spoken in urban areas and among the educated.
Sufi religious teachers succeeded in converting many Bengalis to Islam, even before the arrival of Muslim armies from the west. About 1200 AD, Muslim invaders established political control over the Bengal region. This political control also encouraged conversion to Islam. Since then, Islam has played a crucial role in the region's history and politics, with a Muslim majority emerging, particularly in the eastern region of Bengal.
Bangladesh
| HOME | BUY GEAR | ABOUT US | HELP | REQUIREMENTS | PROFILES | NEW | MY HIDEOUT | ADD | SIGN UP | SIGN IN |