About Bangladesh
Bangladesh, officially the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma (Myanmar) to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means “Country of Bengal” in the official Bengali language
More about Bangladesh
Bangladesh was one of the many other nations of Indian subcontinent during the time when British Ruled the subcontinent. Bengal was ruled by British India from 1757 until Britain withdrew in 1947. Indian sub continent was divided in two countries, India and Pakistan.
After 9 months long bloody liberation war against West Pakistan in 1971 East Pakistan became an independent country called Bangladesh with its parliamentary democracy.
Bangladesh lies to the east of India, in the Bay of Bengal. Formerly East Pakistan, it also borders on Myanmar. The capital of Bangladesh is Dhaka; Most of Bangladesh is flat and low lying river delta country. The Ganges and the Brahmaputra, two of Asia’s greatest rivers, join together north of Dhaka and flow out to sea in the world’s largest estuarine delta.
Bangladesh has a subtropical and tropical climate. Humidity is high all year round especially in the June to September rainy season.
Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy. The head of the government is Prime Minister and the head of the state is President. Jatiya Sangsad (The National Assembly) consists of 330 members. 300 members are elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and 30 women are elected by the parliamentarians. The latest elections were held in December 29, 2008. Bangladesh Awami Leaque (AL) won the election and Sheikh Hasina, the Chairperson of AL, was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Government.
The economy of Bangladesh is constituted by that of a developing country. Its per capita income in 2008 was est. US$1,500 (adjusted by purchasing power parity). According to the International Monetary Fund, Bangladesh ranked as the 48th largest economy in the world in 2009, with a gross domestic product of US$256 billion. The economy has grown at the rate of 6-7% p.a. over the past few years.
Improving at a very fast rate, infrastructure to support transportation, communications, power supply and water distribution are rapidly developing. Bangladesh is limited in its reserves of oil, but recently there was huge development in coal mining. The service sector has expanded rapidly during last two decades, the country’s industrial base remains positive.
Population: 156,118,464 (July 2010 est.)
Language: Bangla
Ethnic Group: 98% Bengali, 2% Other (Non-bengali muslim, tribal groups)
Religion: 89.5% Muslims, 9.6% Hindu, 0.9% Other
Capital: Dhaka
Administrative Divisiions: 7 (Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Sylhet
Judicial Branch: Supreme Court
National Anthem: Amar Shonar Bangla (My Golden Bangla)
GDP Per Capita: $1600 (2009 est.)
Labor Force: 72.35 Million