Map of Bangladesh | Geography | People | Government | Economy | Energy | Communication
Military | Transportation | Transnational Issues | Year: Guide1989199019911992199319941995199619971998199920002001200220032004200520062007200820092010201120122013201420152016201720182019202020212022202320242025 | More stats

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Background: 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 1600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season hampering economic development.


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Location: Southern Asia bordering the Bay of Bengal between Burma and India

Geographic coordinates: 24 00 N 90 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 144,000 km²
Land: 133,910 km²
Water: 10,090 km²
Comparative: slightly smaller than Iowa

Land boundaries
Total: 4,246 km
Border countries: (2) Burma 193 km; , India 4,053 km

Coastline: 580 km

Maritime claims
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin

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: Indian Ocean 0 m
Extremes 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 km² (2003)

Major rivers

Major watersheds area km²

Total water withdrawal

Total renewable water resources

Natural hazards: droughts cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season

Geography
Note: 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


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Population: 147,365,352 (July 2006 est.)
Growth rate: 2.09% (2006 est.)
Below poverty line: 45% (2004 est.)

Nationality
Noun: Bangladeshi
Adjective: Bangladeshi

Ethnic groups: Bengali 98% tribal groups non-Bengali Muslims (1998)

Languages: Bangla (official also known as Bengali) English

Religions: Muslim 83% Hindu 16% other 1% (1998)

Demographic profile

Age structure
0-14 years: 32.9% (male 24,957,997/female 23,533,894)
15-64 years: 63.6% (male 47,862,774/female 45,917,674)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 2,731,578/female 2,361,435) (2006 est.)

Dependency ratios

Median age
Total: 22.2 years
Male: 22.2 years
Female: 22.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.09% (2006 est.)

Birth rate: 29.8 births/1000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate: 8.27 deaths/1000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate: -0.68 migrant(s)/1000 population (2006 est.)

Population distribution

Urbanization

Major urban areas

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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Air pollutants

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.06 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.06 male/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male/female
65 years and over: 1.16 male/female
Total population: 1.05 male/female (2006 est.)

Mothers mean age at first birth

Maternal mortality ratio

Infant mortality rate
Total: 60.83 deaths/1000 live births
Male: 61.87 deaths/1000 live births
Female: 59.74 deaths/1000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 62.46 years
Male: 62.47 years
Female: 62.45 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate: 3.11 children born/woman (2006 est.)

Contraceptive prevalence rate

Drinking water source

Current health expenditure

Physicians density

Hospital bed density

Sanitation facility access

Hiv/Aids
Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
People living with hivaids: 13,000 (2001 est.)
Deaths: 650 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases
Degree of risk: high
Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever
Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations
Water contact disease: leptospirosis
Animal contact disease: rabies (2005)

Obesity adult prevalence rate

Alcohol consumption

Tobacco use

Children under the age of 5 years underweight

Education expenditures

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 43.1%
Male: 53.9%
Female: 31.8% (2003 est.)

School life expectancy primary to tertiary education

Youth unemployment


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Country name
Conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh
Conventional short form: Bangladesh
Local long form: Gana Prajatantri Banladesh
Local short form: Banladesh
Former: East Bengal, East Pakistan

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital
Name: Dhaka
Geographic coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 25 E
Time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

Administrative divisions: 6 divisions; Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Sylhet

Dependent areas

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

International law organization participation

Citizenship

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Executive branch
Chief of state: President Iajuddin AHMED (since 6 September 2002); note - the president's duties are normally ceremonial, but with the 13th amendment to the constitution ('Caretaker Government Amendment'), the president's role becomes significant at times when Parliament is dissolved and a caretaker government is installed - at presidential direction - to supervise the elections
Head of government: Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA (since 10 October 2001)
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); election scheduled for 16 September 2002 was not held since Iajuddin AHMED was the only presidential candidate; he was sworn in on 6 September 2002 (next election to be held by 2007); following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats is usually appointed prime minister by the president
Election results: Iajuddin AHMED declared by the Election Commission elected unopposed as president; percent of National Parliament vote - NA

Legislative branch
Elections: last held 1 October 2001 (next to be held no later than January 2007)
Election results: percent of vote by party - BNP and alliance partners 41%, AL 40%; seats by party - BNP 193, AL 58, JI 17, JP (Ershad faction) 14, IOJ 2, JP (Manzur) 4, other 12; note - the election of October 2001 brought a majority BNP government aligned with three other smaller parties - JI, IOJ, and Jatiya Party (Manzur)

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]; Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI]; Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh or JIB [Motiur Rahman NIZAMI]; Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD]; Jatiya Party (Manzur faction) [Naziur Rahman MANZUR]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Badrudozza CHOWDHURY and Oli AHMED]

International organization participation: ARF AsDB BIMSTEC 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 IPU ISO ITU MIGA MINURSO MONUC NAM OIC OPCW SAARC SACEP UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNHCR UNIDO UNMEE UNMIL UNMIS UNOCI UNOMIG UPU WCL WCO WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTO

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador Shamsher Mobin CHOWDHURY
In the us chancery: 3,510 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 244-0183
In the us fax: [1] (202) 244-5,366
In the us consulates general: Los Angeles, New York
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Patricia A. BUTENIS
From the us embassy: Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka 1212
From the us mailing address: G. P. O. Box 323, Dhaka 1000
From the us telephone: [880] (2) 885-5,500
From the us fax: [880] (2) 882-3,744

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

National symbols

National anthem

National heritage


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Economy overview: Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects Bangladesh remains a poor overpopulated and inefficiently-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. 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: growth has been a steady 5% for the past several years.

Real gdp purchasing power parity: $305.9 billion (2005 est.)

Real gdp growth rate: 6.4% (2005 est.)

Real gdp per capita: $2,100 (2005 est.)

Gross national saving

Gdp composition by end use

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 19.9%
Industry: 19.8%
Services: 60.3% (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: 6.7% (2005 est.)

Labor force
Note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion in 1998-99 (2005 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 63%
By occupation industry: 11%
By occupation services: 26% (FY95/96)

Unemployment rate: 2.5% (includes underemployment) (2005 est.)

Youth unemployment

Population below poverty line: 45% (2004 est.)

Gini index

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3.9%
Highest 10: 28.6% (1995-96 est.)

Distribution of family income gini index: 31.8 (2000)

Budget
Revenues: $5.993 billion
Expenditures: $8.598 billion; including capital expenditures of $N/A (2005 est.)

Taxes and other revenues

Public debt: 44.5% of GDP (2005 est.)

Revenue

Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June

Inflation rate consumer prices: 7% (2005 est.)

Central bank discount rate

Commercial bank prime lending rate

Stock of narrow money

Stock of broad money

Stock of domestic credit

Market value of publicly traded shares

Current account balance: $37 million (2005 est.)

Exports: $9.372 billion (2005 est.)
Commodities: garments jute and jute goods leather frozen fish and seafood (2001)
Partners: US 23.6% Germany 13.5% UK 9.4% France 6.4% (2005)

Imports: $12.97 billion (2005 est.)
Commodities: machinery and equipment chemicals iron and steel textiles foodstuffs petroleum products cement (2000)
Partners: India 14.1% China 13.5% Kuwait 8.5% Singapore 6.2% Japan 4.1% Hong Kong 4.1% (2005)

Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $2.825 billion (2005 est.)

Debt external: $20.63 billion (2005 est.)

Stock of direct foreign investment at home

Stock of direct foreign investment abroad

Exchange rates: taka per US dollar - 64.328 (2005) 59.513 (2004) 58.15 (2003) 57.888 (2002) 55.807 (2001)


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Electricity
Production: 17.42 billion kWh (2003)
Consumption: 16.2 billion kWh (2003)
Exports: 0 kWh (2003)
Imports: 0 kWh (2003)

Coal

Petroleum

Crude oil

Refined petroleum

Natural gas
Production: 11.9 billion m³ (2003 est.)
Consumption: 11.9 billion m³ (2003 est.)
Exports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Imports: 0 m³ (2001 est.)
Proven reserves: 300.2 billion m³ (1 January 2002)

Carbon dioxide emissions

Energy consumption per capita


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Telephones
Main lines in use: 1.07 million (2005)
Mobile cellular: 9 million (2005)

Telephone system
General assessment: totally inadequate for a modern country
Domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic cable in cities
International: country code - 880; satellite earth stations - 6; international radiotelephone communications and landline service to neighboring countries (2005)

Broadcast media

Internet
Country code: .bd
Hosts: 469 (2006)
Users: 300,000 (2005)

Broadband fixed subscriptions


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Military expenditures
Percent of gdp: 1.8% (2005 est.)

Military and security forces

Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2005)

Space program

Terrorist groups


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National air transport system

Civil aircraft registration country code prefix

Airports: 16 (2006)
With paved runways total: 15
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 2438 to 3047 m: 4
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 4
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 1
With paved runways under 914 m: 5 (2006)
With unpaved runways total: 1
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1 (2006)

Heliports

Pipelines: gas 2,604 km (2006)

Railways
Total: 2,768 km
Broad gauge: 946 km 1.676-m gauge
Narrow gauge: 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2005)

Roadways
Total: 239,226 km
Paved: 22,726 km
Unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)

Waterways
Note: includes 5,635 km main cargo routes; network reduced to 5,200 km in dry season (2005)

Merchant marine
Total: 42 ships (1000 GRT or over) 341,733 GRT/485,840 DWT
By type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 29, container 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 3
Foreign owned: 1 (China 1)
Registered in other countries: 10 (Antigua and Barbuda 4, Comoros 1, Malta 3, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 1, Singapore 1) (2006)

Ports and terminals: Chittagong Mongla Port


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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 resists India's attempts to fence or wall 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
Refugees country of origin: 20,402 (Burma)
Idps: 61,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2005)

Illicit drugs: transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries