About Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Introduction
Europeans began to set up trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century; eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part of British India. In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. A military-backed, emergency caretaker regime suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption. In contrast to the strikes and violent street rallies that had marked Bangladeshi politics in previous years, the parliamentary elections finally held in late December 2008 were mostly peaceful and Sheikh HASINA Wajed was reelected prime minister. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.
Geography
Location
Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
Geographic Coordinates: 24 00 N, 90 00 E
Area
Total Area: 143,998 sq km Rank: 94
Land Area: 130,168 sq km
Water Area: 13,830 sq km
Comparison: slightly smaller than Iowa
Land Boundaries: 4,246 km
Bordering Countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
Coastline: 580 km
Climate
tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
Terrain
mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
Elevations
Lowest Point: Indian Ocean 0 m
Highest Point: Keokradong 1,230 m
Natural Resources
natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
Land Use
Arable land: 55.39%
Permanent Crops: 3.08%
Other: 41.53% (2005)
Irrigated Land: 47,250 sq km (2003)
Renewable Water Resources: 1,210.6 cu km (1999)
Total Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%)
Freshwater Withdrawal Per Capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)
Environment
Natural Hazards: droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season
Environmental Issues: many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; waterborne diseases prevalent in surface water; water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation
Environmental Agreements: Party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
Geography Notes
most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal
People
Population: 156,050,883 (July 2010 est.) Rank: 7
Age Structure
0-14 years: 34.6% (male 27,065,625/female 26,913,961)
15-64 years: 61.4% (male 45,222,182/female 50,537,052)
65 years and over: 4% (male 3,057,255/female 3,254,808) (2010 est.)
Median Age: 22.4 years
Population Growth
Growth Rate: 1.292% (2010 est.) Rank: 104
Birth Rate: 24.68 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 73
Death Rate: 9.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) Rank: 76
Net Migration Rate: -2.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) Rank: 138
Urbanization
Urban Population: 27% of total population (2008)
Rate of Urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
Life and Death
Infant Mortality Rate: 59.02 deaths/1,000 live births Rank: 38
Life Expectancy at Birth: 60.25 years Rank: 184
Fertility Rate: 2.65 children born/woman (2010 est.) Rank: 84
Health and Disease
HIV/AIDS - Adult Prevalence Rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.) Rank: 139
People living with HIV/AIDS: 12,000 (2007 est.) Rank: 95
HIV/AIDS Deaths: fewer than 500 (2007 est.) Rank: 82
Degree of Risk for Major Infectious Diseases: high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne Diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations
Water Contact Diseases: leptospirosis
Animal Contact Diseases: rabies
Note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
Nationality and Culture
Noun: Bangladeshi(s)
Adjective: Bangladeshi
Ethnic Groups: Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998)
Religion: Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9% (2004)
Languages: Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
Education
Literacy (Meaning, age 15 and over can read and write): 47.9% Male: 54% Female: 41.4% (2001 Census)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education): 8 years Male: 8 years Female: 8 years (2004)
Education expenditures: 2.7% of GDP (2005) Rank: 151
Government
Country Name
Conventional Long Form: People's Republic of Bangladesh
Conventional Short Form: Bangladesh
Local Long Form: Gana Prajatantri Banladesh
Local Short Form: Banladesh
Formerly: East Bengal, East Pakistan
Government Type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Dhaka Geographic Coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 24 E
Administrative divisions
7 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet
Independence: 16 December 1971 (from West Pakistan); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is known as Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh
National holiday: Independence Day, 26 March (1971); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh
Constitution: 4 November 1972; effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982; restored 10 November 1986; amended many times
Legal system: based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive Branch
Chief of State: President Zillur RAHMAN (since 12 February 2009)
Head of Government: Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA Wajed (since 6 January 2009)
Cabinet: Cabinet selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president
Elections: president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last election held on 11 February 2009 (next to be held in 2014)
Election Results: Zillur RAHMAN declared president-elect by the Election Commission on 11 February 2009 (sworn in on 12 February); he ran unopposed as president; percent of National Parliament vote - NA
Legislative Branch
unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies; members serve five-year terms
Elections: last held on 29 December 2008 (next to be held in 2013)
Election Results: percent of vote by party - AL 49%, BNP 33.2%, JP 7%, JIB 4.6%, other 6.2%; seats by party - AL 230, BNP 30, JP 27, JIB 2, other 11
Judicial branch
Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president)
Politics
Political Parties and Leaders: Awami League or AL [Sheikh HASINA]; Bangladesh Communist Party or BCP [Manjurul A. KHAN]; Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP [Khaleda ZIA]; Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh or BDB [Badrudozza CHOWDHURY]; Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI]; Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh or JIB [Matiur Rahman NIZAMI]; Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Oli AHMED]
Political pressure groups and leaders: Advocacy to End Gender-based Violence through the MoWCA (Ministry of Women's and Children's Affairs)
Other: environmentalists; Islamist groups; religious leaders; teachers; union leaders
International Organization Participation: ADB, ARF, BIMSTEC, C, CP, D-8, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Flag Description: green field with a large red disk shifted slightly to the hoist side of center; the red disk represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh
Economy
Economy Overview: The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite political instability, poor infrastructure, corruption, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, about 45% of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Bangladesh's growth was resilient during the 2008-09 global financial crisis and recession. Garment exports, totaling $12.3 billion in FY09 and remittances from overseas Bangladeshis totaling $9.7 billion in FY09 accounted for almost 25% of GDP.
Gross Domestic Product
GDP (purchasing power parity): $241.1 billion (2009 est.) Rank: 49
GDP - real growth rate: 5.6% (2009 est.) Rank: 21
GDP - per capita (PPP): $1,500 (2009 est.) Rank: 198
GDP - Composition by Sector: Agriculture: 18.6% Industry: 28.6% Services: 52.8% (2009 est.)
Labor Force
Labor Force: 72.35 million Rank: 8
Note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2009 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: Agriculture: 45% Industry: 30% Services: 25% (2008)
Unemployment Rate: 5.1% (2009 est.) Rank: 4% (2008 est.)
Note: about 40% of the population is underemployed; many participants in the labor force work only a few hours a week, at low wages
Poverty
Population below poverty line: 36.3% (2008 est.)
Transnational Issues
International Disputes: discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange territory for 51 small Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 small Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's fencing and walling off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary commission resurveyed and reconstructed 92 missing pillars in 2007; after 21 years, Bangladesh resumes talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary
Refugees and internally displaced persons - refugees (country of origin): 26,268 (Burma)
International Displaced Persons: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007)
