Guide to Bangladesh Introduction Background: Bangladesh came into existence in 1971 when Bengali East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.
Geography Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
Geographic coordinates: 24 00 N, 90 00 E
Map references: Asia
Area: total
Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Iowa
Land boundaries: total
Coastline: 580 km
Maritime claims: territorial sea
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
Elevation extremes: lowest point
Natural resources: natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
Land use: arable land
Irrigated land: 38,440 sq km (1998 est.)
Natural hazards: droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season
Environment - current issues: many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; water-borne 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
Environment - international agreements: party to
Geography - note: most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas
People Population: 144,319,628 (July 2005 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years
Median age: total
Population growth rate: 2.09% (2005 est.)
Birth rate: 30.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Death rate: 8.4 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Net migration rate: -0.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
Sex ratio: at birth
Infant mortality rate: total
Life expectancy at birth: total population
Total fertility rate: 3.13 children born/woman (2005 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: 650 (2001 est.)
Major infectious diseases: degree of risk
Nationality: noun
Ethnic groups: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims (1998)
Religions: Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)
Languages: Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
Literacy: definition
Government Country name: conventional long form
Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Dhaka
Administrative divisions: 6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, and 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
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: chief of state
Legislative branch: unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies (the constitutional amendment reserving 30 seats for women over and above the 300 regular parliament seats expired in May 2001); members serve five-year terms elections
Judicial branch: Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president)
Political parties and leaders: Awami League or AL [Sheikh HASINA]; Bangladesh Communist Party or BCP [Saifuddin Ahmed MANIK]; Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP [Khaleda ZIA, chairperson]; Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI]; Jamaat-e-Islami or JI [Motiur Rahman NIZAMI]; Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD]; Jatiya Party (Manzur faction) [Naziur Rahman MANZUR]
Political pressure groups and leaders: NA
International organization participation: AsDB, C, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: chief of mission
Diplomatic representation from the US: chief of mission
Flag description: green with a large red disk slightly to the hoist side of center; the red sun of freedom represents the blood shed to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush countryside, and secondarily, the traditional color of Islam
Economy Economy - overview: Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Although half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Economic reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all levels of government. Progress also has been blocked by opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key areas. One encouraging note
GDP (purchasing power parity): $275.7 billion (2004 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 4.9% (2004 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2004 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture
Labor force: 65.49 million note
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 63%, industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96)
Unemployment rate: 40% (includes underemployment) (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 45% (2004 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 33.6 (FY95/96)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): 6% (2004 est.)
Investment (gross fixed): 23.5% of GDP (2004 est.)
Budget: revenues
Public debt: 43% of GDP (2004 est.)
Agriculture - products: rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
Industries: cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
Industrial production growth rate: 6.5% (2004 est.)
Electricity - production: 16.45 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - production by source: fossil fuel
Electricity - consumption: 15.3 billion kWh (2002)
Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2002)
Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2002)
Oil - production: 3,581 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption: 71,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports: NA
Oil - imports: NA
Oil - proved reserves: 28.45 million bbl (1 January 2002)
Natural gas - production: 9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: 9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2001 est.)
Natural gas - proved reserves: 150.3 billion cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance: $216.6 million (2004 est.)
Exports: $7.478 billion (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities: garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001)
Exports - partners: US 22.4%, Germany 14.5%, UK 11.2%, France 6.9%, Italy 4% (2004)
Imports: $10.03 billion (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000)
Imports - partners: India 15.1%, China 12.5%, Singapore 7.5%, Kuwait 5.5%, Japan 5.3%, Hong Kong 4.5% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external: $19.97 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient: $1.575 billion (2000 est.)
Currency (code): taka (BDT)
Currency code: BDT
Exchange rates: taka per US dollar - 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002), 55.807 (2001), 52.142 (2000)
Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June
Communications Telephones - main lines in use: 740,000 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular: 1.365 million (2003)
Telephone system: general assessment
Radio broadcast stations: AM 12, FM 12, shortwave 2 (1999)
Radios: 6.15 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations: 15 (1999)
Televisions: 770,000 (1997)
Internet country code: .bd
Internet hosts: 1 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs): 10 (2000)
Internet users: 243,000 (2003)
Transportation Railways: total
Highways: total
Waterways: 8,372 km note
Pipelines: gas 2,012 km (2004)
Ports and harbors: Chittagong, Mongla Port
Merchant marine: total
Airports: 16 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total
Airports - with unpaved runways: total
Military Military branches: Army, Navy, Air Force
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2005)
Manpower available for military service: males age 18-49
Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49
Military expenditures - dollar figure: $995.3 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: 1.8% (2004)
Transnational Issues Disputes - international: discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary inspection in 2005 revealed 92 pillars are missing; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; Burmese Muslim refugees strain Bangladesh's meager resources
Refugees and internally displaced persons: IDPs
Illicit drugs: transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries
Last updated: 20 October, 2005
| Weather Statistics | Chittagong |
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | June | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | | Max | 26 C | 28 C | 31 C | 32 C | 33 C | 32 C | 31 C | 31 C | 32 C | 31 C | 30 C | 27 C | | Mean | 20 C | 22 C | 26 C | 28 C | 29 C | 29 C | 28 C | 28 C | 29 C | 28 C | 25 C | 21 C | | Min | 14 C | 16 C | 21 C | 24 C | 25 C | 26 C | 25 C | 25 C | 25 C | 24 C | 20 C | 16 C |
| Source: Global Historical Climatology Network |
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