Maps of Bangladesh Map number one Map number two Images of Bangladesh Black and white pictures Color pictures

Official name: Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh (People's Republic of Bangladesh).
Form of government: unitary multiparty republic with one legislative house (Parliament).
Chief of state: President.
Head of government: Prime Minister.
Capital: Dhaka.
Official language: Bengali.
Official religion: Islam.
Monetary unit: 1 Bangladesh taka (Tk)=100 paisa; valuation (Oct. 3, 1997) 1 U.S.$=Tk 44.55; 1 £ =Tk 71.81.

Demography

Population (1997): 125,340,000.
Density (1997): persons per sq mi 2,200, persons per sq km 849.4.
Urban-rural (1997): urban 20.0%; rural 80.0%.
Sex distribution (1996): male 51.72%; female 48.28%.
Age breakdown (1996): under 15, 42.0%; 15-29, 26.4%; 30-44, 17.8%; 45-59, 8.9%; 60-74, 3.8%; 75 and over, 1.1%.
Population projection: (2000) 132,081,000; (2010) 153,195,000.
Doubling time: 48 years.
Ethnic composition (1991): Bengali 98.8%; tribal 1.1%, of which Chakma 0.2%, Saontal 0.2%, Marma 0.1%; other 0.1%.
Religious affiliation (1991): Muslim 88.3%; Hindu 10.5%; Buddhist 0.6%; Christian 0.3%; other 0.3%.
Major cities (1991): Dhaka 6,105,160; Chittagong 2,040,663; Khulna 877,388; Rajshahi 517,136; Mymensingh 185,517.

Vital statistics

Birth rate per 1,000 population (1997): 26.8 (world avg. 25.0).
Death rate per 1,000 population (1997): 12.2 (world avg. 9.3).
Natural increase rate per 1,000 population (1997): 14.6 (world avg. 15.7).
Total fertility rate (avg. births per childbearing woman; 1997): 3.2.
Marriage rate per 1,000 population (1995): 10.2.
Divorce rate per 1,000 population (1981): 3.6.
Life expectancy at birth (1997): male 58.0 years; female 58.0 years.
Major causes of death (1990; percentage of recorded deaths): typhoid fever 19.8%; old age 14.8%; tetanus 10.1%; tuberculosis and other respiratory diseases 8.7%; diarrhea 6.4%; suicide, accidents, and poisoning 5.1%; high blood pressure and heart diseases 5.0%.

National economy

Budget (1994-95). Revenue: Tk 216,940,000,000 (revenue receipts 62.9%, of which sales tax 20.2%, customs duties 14.8%, income taxes 9.7%, dividends and profits from public enterprises 7.2%; development receipts 37.1%). Expenditures: Tk 196,084,000,000 (development expenditure 49.0%; employee compensation 22.0%; goods and services 13.8%; transfer payments 12.9%).

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture, forestry, fishing (1996): paddy rice 27,000,000, sugarcane 7,446,000, wheat 1,320,000, jute 770,000, bananas 630,000, pulses 545,000, oilseeds 520,000, mangoes 189,000, pineapples 150,000, tea 51,000; livestock (number of live animals) 30,330,000 goats, 24,340,000 cattle, 1,155,000 sheep, 882,000 buffalo, 123,000,000 chickens, 16,200,000 ducks; roundwood (1995) 32,044,000 cu m; fish catch (1995) 1,170,365. Mining and quarrying (1995): marine salt 350,000; industrial limestone 23,500. Manufacturing (value added in U.S.$'000,000; 1994): textiles 617; chemicals 473; food products 359; wearing apparel 225; tobacco products 225; electrical machinery 88; paper and paper products 86. Construction: n.a. Energy production (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 1994) 10,010,000,000 (10,010,000,000); coal (metric tons; 1994) none (198,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 1994) 134,000 (8,966,000); petroleum products (metric tons; 1994) 1,104,000 (2,006,000); natural gas (cu m; 1994) 6,635,000,000 (6,635,000,000).

Household income: Average household size (1991) 5.6; average annual income per household (1991-92) Tk 40,092 (U.S.$1,061); sources of income (1991-92): self-employment 51.6%, wages and salaries 23.1%, transfer payments 10.3%, other 15.0%; expenditure (1991-92): food and drink 66.6%, housing and rent 10.4%, energy 5.6%, clothing and footwear 4.7%, other 12.7%.

Population economically active (1990): total 51,200,000; activity rate of total population 46.9% (participation rates: over age 10, 69.7%; female 39.3%; unemployed 1.0%).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 1995): U.S.$15,543,000,000.
Gross national product (1995): U.S.$28,599,000,000 (U.S.$240 per capita).
Land use (1994): forest 14.6%; pasture 4.6%; agriculture 74.5%; other 6.3%.
Tourism (1995): receipts U.S.$23,000,000; expenditures U.S.$229,000,000.

Foreign trade

Imports (1994-95): Tk 234,530,000,000 (textile yarn, fabrics, and made-up articles 22.6%; machinery and transport equipment 12.4%; petroleum and products 6.1%; chemicals 5.9%; cereals and preparations 4.2%; iron and steel 3.5%). Major import sources (1993): Japan 12.5%; India 9.5%; Hong Kong 8.0%; South Korea 6.9%; China 5.1%; Singapore 4.6%; U.S. 4.3%.

Exports (1994-95): Tk 131,310,000,000 (ready-made garments 56.6%; jute manufactures 10.4%; fish and prawns 10.1%; hides, skins, and leather 6.7%; fertilizers 2.4%; raw jute 2.0%; tea 1.0%). Major export destinations (1993): Western Europe 40.2%; U.S. 33.6%; Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 4.0%; Hong Kong 2.7%; Japan 2.5%.

Transport and communications

Transport: Railroads (1994-95): route length 1,681 mi, 2,706 km; passenger-mi 2,508,000,000, passenger-km 4,037,000,000; short ton-mi cargo 521,000,000, metric ton-km cargo 760,000,000. Roads (1995): total length 104,709 mi, 168,513 km (paved 9%). Vehicles (1994): passenger cars 82,198; trucks and buses 104,860. Merchant marine (1992): vessels (100 gross tons and over) 301; total deadweight tonnage 566,775. Air transport (1993-94): passenger-mi 1,763,000,000, passenger-km 2,838,000,000; short ton-mi cargo 82,000,000, metric ton-km cargo 121,000,000; airports with scheduled flights (1997) 8.

Education and health

Educational attainment (1991). Percentage of population age 25 and over having: no formal schooling 65.4%; primary education 17.1%; secondary 13.8%; postsecondary 3.7%. Literacy (1991): total population age 15 and over literate 34.8%; males literate 45.2%; females literate 23.7%.

Health (1994): physicians 24,911 (1 per 4,759 persons); hospital beds 35,800 (1 per 3,312 persons); infant mortality rate (1997) 79.

Food (1995): daily per capita caloric intake 2,017 (vegetable products 97%, animal products 3%); 87% of FAO recommended minimum requirement.

Military

Total active duty personnel (1997): 121,000 (army 83.5%, navy 8.7%, air force 7.8%). Military expenditure as percentage of GNP (1995): 1.7% (world 2.8%); per capita expenditure U.S.$4.

Bangladesh, officially PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH, in Bengali GANA PRAJATANTRI BANGLADESH, relatively small coastal country of south-central Asia. The capital is Dhaka (formerly spelled Dacca). The country lies between latitudes 20°34' and 26°38' N (about 390 miles [625 km] from its extreme north and south extensions) and between longitudes 88°01' and 92°41' E (about 190 miles [305 km] from east to west). To the south Bangladesh has an irregular coastline fronting the Bay of Bengal and is bordered on the southeast by Myanmar (Burma). The Indian states of West Bengal to the west and north, Assam and Meghalaya to the northeast, and Tripura and Mizoram to the east line the border between Bangladesh and India. Area 56,977 square miles (147,570 square km). Pop. (1996 est.) 123,063,000.

The land

Bangladesh's low-lying landscape is dominated by the confluence of the Ganges (or Padma, as the united streams of the Ganges and Brahmaputra are known), the Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and the Meghna river systems, which empty into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh constitutes the eastern two-thirds of the Ganges-Brahmaputra deltaic plain, stretches northward to include the triangular wedge of land between the Ganges and the Brahmaputra above their confluence, and extends eastward to embrace the valley plain of the Surma River. Farther east the alluvial plains give place to ridges running mainly north-south that form part of the mountain divide with Myanmar in the southeast.

Excepting small higher areas of old alluvium, the whole plain is a flat surface of new alluvium, having a very gentle slope, generally with an elevation of less than 30 feet (9 m) above sea level. More than 90 percent of the area of Bangladesh is composed of plains. Lakes, swamps, and marshes form the other important aspect of the amphibious landscape. On the flatlands, rivers divide and subdivide themselves into numerous distributaries with raised banks. Hundreds of square miles of land are flooded during the monsoon season.

South-central Bangladesh comprises an old western delta, with dead and decaying rivers, and the eastern new delta, with active rivers carrying on depositional or constructive work. The southern coastal belt, which carries the mangrove forests (Sundarbans), is a salt marsh. The narrow southeastern coastal belt near Noakhali and Chittagong is formed of both old and recent alluvium. East of the southeastern coastal belt lies the hilly area called the Chittagong Hill Tracts, which consists of low hills of soft rocks, mainly clay and shale. Its north-south ranges are generally below 2,000 feet (610 m) in height, the highest peak, Keokradong, rising to 3,041 feet (927 m).

The climate and hydrology of Bangladesh are dramatically affected by the annual monsoon season (June through October); three-quarters of the country's precipitation occurs during this five-month period. During the monsoon season many rivers overflow their banks and inundate the countryside; these floods deposit fertile silt on the nation's farmland but also damage crops and sometimes take a heavy toll of both human and animal life. The hydrology of the Chittagong highlands is also important because the power plant at the Karnaphuli dam (forming the Karnaphuli Reservoir) provides much of the country's hydroelectric capacity. Annual rates of precipitation vary from a low of 40 to 80 inches (1,000 to 2,000 mm) in the western lowlands to more than 150 inches in the Sylhet Hills in the northeast. The temperature varies generally between 70° F (21° C) in the winter and 95° F (35° C) in the summer. In the early summer (April and May) and late in the monsoon season, high-intensity storms, including cyclones with winds exceeding 100 miles per hour (160 km per hour) and waves with crests as high as 20 feet (6 m), have frequently inundated the extensive coastal lowland areas of Bangladesh. Since the early 18th century, when such records were first kept, many more than 1,000,000 people have been killed by such storms, 815,000 of them in three storms in 1737, 1876, and 1970.

More than two-thirds of Bangladesh's land is considered arable and lies primarily in the lowland regions; one-fifth is irrigated. Forests cover about one-sixth of the country. Plant and animal life includes royal Bengal tigers, clouded leopards, and Asian elephants, all endangered species.

The people

The vast majority of the country's population are Bengalis, who speak an eastern Indo-Aryan language related to Sanskrit. More than four-fifths of the population are Muslims of the Sunnite sect, and about one-tenth are Hindus. The Chittagong Hill Tracts in southeastern Bangladesh are inhabited largely by tribal peoples, including the Chakma, the Marma, the Tripura (Tipra), and the Mro, who are predominantly Buddhists.

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, with the highest densities occurring in and around the capital city of Dhaka. It is also a predominantly rural country, with only about one-fourth of the population living in urban areas. Rural areas are often so thickly settled that it is difficult to distinguish any well-defined pattern of individual villages. Bangladesh has a rather high rate of population growth, and almost one-half of the population is under 15 years of age. Both birth and death rates are far above world averages. Life expectancy at birth is only about 56 years for both males and females.

The economy

Bangladesh has a developing mixed economy that is heavily based upon agriculture. Almost two-fifths of the gross domestic product (GDP) originates from agriculture, followed by services, and transportation and communication. Although the gross national product (GNP) is growing somewhat more rapidly than the population, the GNP per capita is among the lowest in the world.

Bangladesh has few natural resources apart from its farmland, which is in any case inadequate to feed the large and rapidly growing population. Cereals, principally rice as well as wheat, are the main crops, occupying most of the cultivated land. Sugarcane, jute, pulses, fruits (bananas, mangoes, and pineapples), roots and tubers, and vegetables are also grown. Other crops include tobacco, sesame seed, and tea. The principal livestock are cattle (including some dairy cattle), goats, water buffalo, and sheep.

Coastal waters of the Bay of Bengal offer excellent marine fishing, and Bangladesh's innumerable rivers, estuaries, and swamps are ideally suited for freshwater fishing, yielding most of the total catch.

Natural gas is the country's richest mineral resource, though still minor in scale. Most petrochemicals and metals must be imported. The manufacturing sector is largely concentrated on processing agricultural materials or imported raw materials. Important manufactures include urea fertilizer (partly derived from natural gas), jute textiles, rerolled-steel products, crude-steel ingots, paper and newsprint, refined sugar, petroleum products, chemicals, tea and other food products, and cotton yarn and cloth. More than nine-tenths of the electric power is produced by thermal plants and the rest by hydroelectric-power stations.

Bangladesh possesses the world's longest beach, 75 miles (120 km) in length at Cox's Bazar, and the cities of Chittagong and Dhaka also attract numerous foreign tourists.

After independence in 1971, Bangladesh nationalized most industries, but by 1983 almost all sectors of the economy had been returned to private control.

Two-thirds of the total workforce of the country is employed in agriculture, followed by manufacturing, trade, and services. In the 1970s and 1980s many Bangladeshis found overseas employment in the construction and petroleum industries of Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Remittances sent by Bangladeshis working abroad continued to be an important source of revenue into the 1990s. Bangladesh is heavily dependent on foreign aid for its economic development. The World Bank, the United States, and Japan have been the principal donors of aid.

The railway system is government owned and operated, and there is a government road-transport (trucking) corporation. Less than one-tenth of the roads are paved. Navigable inland waterways are well developed, and there are five principal river ports and seaports at Chalna and Chittagong. Dhaka and Chittagong have international airports.

Bangladesh's exports, in value, equal only about half of its imports and consist primarily of ready-made garments; jute manufactures and raw jute; fish, shrimp, and frog legs; hides, skins, and leather goods; and tea. Major importers of Bangladesh's exports are the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Italy. Imports consist primarily of textile yarn, fabrics, and made-up articles; machinery and transport equipment; petroleum and petroleum products; chemicals; iron and steel; and dairy products and eggs. The principal sources for imports are Japan, South Korea, and the United States.

Government and social conditions

Bangladesh is an independent republic within the Commonwealth. The country's government is ostensibly democratic; according to a 1991 amendment of the constitution (1972), legislative power is vested in the Parliament (Jatiya Sangsad), most of whose members are elected by universal suffrage to five-year terms. Executive power is exercised by a Council of Ministers under the leadership of the prime minister, who is designated by the majority party or coalition in Parliament. The president is the ceremonial head of state and is elected by Parliament to a five-year term. In reality, democracy has had very little opportunity to function in Bangladesh, because of almost continual domination of the nation's politics by the military. When there have been elections, the outcomes have been dominated by a single party, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), an organization incorporating several different political groups.

Severe overcrowding, an inadequate food supply (a large portion of the population subsist almost solely on rice), and poor sanitary conditions have combined to create extremely poor health conditions in Bangladesh. A significant number of citizens suffer from such infectious diseases as malaria, cholera, and tuberculosis. Government efforts to significantly improve health conditions in Bangladesh have failed, mostly because of the country's shortage of physicians and modern medical facilities and the prevailing poor sanitation.

The government offers children primary education, which is free but not compulsory, for five years; only about two-thirds of the children attend primary school. The literacy rate in Bangladesh remains extremely low by world standards. There are general universities, specialized (agricultural, and engineering and technological) universities, and an Islamic university.

Bangladesh's broadcasting media are controlled by the government. Most of the newspapers are privately owned, and the press is relatively free.

Cultural life

An important part of the Bengali cultural heritage is represented by literature. Rabindranath Tagore, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1913, wrote many of his poems and short stories about the beautiful Bengali countryside, most of all about the Ganges River. His song "Our Golden Bengal" became the national anthem of Bangladesh.

History

Mention of a deltaic kingdom known as Vanga, or Banga (hence, Bengal and Bangladesh), is found in the early Sanskrit literature of India (c. 1000 BC). By the 4th century BC, Bengal was part of the Indian Maurya empire (c. 325-185 BC) and was exposed to Buddhism. In the 4th century AD, it passed to the Gupta dynasty of the Magadha state in northeastern India. Two native Bengali dynasties, the Pala and Sena, ruled in succession from about 750 to 1200. Despite the many years of Buddhist rule (only the Guptas were Hindu), Bengal was predominantly Hindu by the 10th century.

Muslim raids began on northern India at the close of the 10th century, and a dynasty known as the Slave, or Mamluk, dynasty was founded at Delhi in 1206. In 1338 Bengal was able to separate itself from the Delhi sultanate and remain independent until its conquest by the Mughals in 1576. During these centuries of Muslim political and military dominance, the majority of the population in what is now Bangladesh were converted to Islam.

During the period of Mughal rule the Europeans arrived as traders. In 1651 the British East India Company established a factory (trading settlement) in Bengal. A decline in Mughal authority in Bengal corresponded with a rise in the company's concern for its Bengal operation. At the Battle of Plassey (1757), Robert Clive, acting for the company, defeated the nawab (ruler) of Bengal and placed in office a successor more sympathetic to British interests. By 1765 the British East India Company had secured the revenue rights (dewanee) for Bengal, which marked the beginning of the British Empire's rule in India.

British policies caused much economic hardship for the people of Bengal. Local handicraft industries, especially the muslin industry, were ruined by the introduction of British machine-made goods, and much of the country's natural wealth was drained off to England. Enmity between Hindus and Muslims was exacerbated by British policies, and the British, responding to Muslim pressure, partitioned Bengal in 1905 and created a Muslim-dominated East Bengal. One year later, the Muslim League, a communal organization seeking to safeguard the rights of Indian Muslims, was formed in Dacca (now Dhaka).

Hindu reaction to the partition was extreme, and the British rescinded the partition in 1912, but the problem between the Hindus and Muslims continued to fester. When the British left the subcontinent in 1947, East Bengal became East Pakistan, a part of the Muslim state of Pakistan, but separated from the dominant West Pakistan by a thousand miles and a different language and culture.

Bengali nationalist sentiment increased after the creation of an independent Pakistan. The Awami League, a political party, campaigned openly for Bengali autonomy. In 1970 the Awami League won a majority of seats in the National Assembly, but the Pakistan government postponed convening the Assembly. Violence erupted and guerrilla warfare resulted. Millions of refugees fled to India, which finally entered the war on the side of the Bengalis and ensured West Pakistan's defeat. On Dec. 16, 1971, East Bengal became the independent nation of Bangladesh, with its capital at Dhaka.

The destruction caused by the war was immense, and political stability proved difficult to regain. Founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975, as was his successor, Zia ur-Rahman, in 1981. Hossain Mohammad Ershad took control in another military coup in 1982, and he assumed the presidency in 1984. Ershad in turn was forced to resign in 1990. Elections held in February 1991 brought Khaleda Zia, wife of Zia ur-Rahman and head of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, to power.