|
Bangladesh
Statistic
|
| 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...more |
| Geography: |
|
| Location: |
North
- India (West Bengal & Meghalaya)
West - India (West Bengal)
East - India (Tripura & Assam) and Myanmar
South - Bay of Bengal |
| Map
references: |
Asia |
Area:
|
Total: 144,000
sq km
Land: 133,910 sq km
Water: 10,090 sq km |
| Area
- comparative: |
slightly
smaller than Iowa |
| Land
boundaries: |
Total: 4,246
km
Border countries: 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
Highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m |
| Natural
resources: |
natural
gas, arable land, timber, coal |
| Land
use: |
Arable
land: 62.11%
Permanent crops: 3.07%
Other: 34.82% (2001) |
| 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: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone
Layer Protection, Wetlands signed, but not ratified:
none of the selected agreements
|
| 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
|
| People |
|
| Population: |
144,319,628
(July 2005 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14
years: 33.1% (male 24,590,207/female 23,162,420)
15-64 years: 63.5% (male 46,764,824/female
44,868,733)
65 years & over: 3.4% (male
2,650,683/female 2,282,761) (2005 est.) |
| Median
age: |
Total: 21.87
years
Male: 21.88 years
Female: 21.85 years (2005 est.) |
| 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: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.16 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 62.6
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 63.65 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 61.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total
population: 62.08 years
male: 62.13 years
female: 62.02 years (2005 est.) |
| 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: 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 (2004)
|
| Nationality: |
noun: Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladeshi |
| 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: age
15 and over can read and write
total population: 43.1%
male: 53.9%
female: 31.8% (2003 est.) |
| Government |
|
Official
Name:
|
The
People's Republic of Bangladesh |
| |
Conventional
short form: Bangladesh |
| |
Former: East
Pakistan |
| Government
type: |
parliamentary
democracy |
| Capital: |
Dhaka
(Metropolitan Area, 202 sq. miles/522 Sq. km). |
| 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: 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; 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 NA 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.
|
| 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: last held 1 October 2001 (next
to be held before October 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party
- BNP and alliance partners 47%, AL 40%; seats by
party - BNP 195, AL 58, JI 17, JP (Ershad faction)
14, IOJ 3, JP (Naziur) 4, other 9; note - the election
of October 2001 brought a majority BNP government
aligned with three other smaller parties - Jamaat-e-Islami,
Islami Oikya Jote, 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, 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]
|
| 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
|
| Flag |
 |
| 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: growth has been a steady
5% for the past several years.
|
| 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: 21.2%
industry: 27.1%
services: 51.7% (2004 est.) |
| Investment
(gross fixed): |
23.5%
of GDP (2004 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
45%
(2004 est.) |
| Household
income or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest
10%: 3.9%
highest 10%: 28.6% (1995-96 est.) |
| Distribution
of family income - Gini index: |
33.6
(FY95/96) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
6%
(2004 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
65.49
million note: extensive export of labor
to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia;
workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion in 1998-99
(2004 est.) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture
63%, industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
40%
(includes underemployment) (2004 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $5.921
billion
expenditures: $8.262 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA (2004 est.) |
| 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 |
| Ind.
production growth rate: |
6.5%
(2004 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
16.45
billion kWh (2002) |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
15.3
billion kWh (2002) |
| Oil
- production: |
3,581
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
71,000
bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| 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 - 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
22.7%, Germany 14.5%, UK 10.8%, France 6.7% (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
14.6%, China 11.7%, Singapore 7.8%, Japan 5.8%, Hong Kong
4.8% (2004) |
| Reserves
of foreign exchange and gold: |
$3
billion (2004 est.) |
| Debt
- external: |
$19.97
billion (2004 est.) |
| Currency: |
TAKA
(BDT) |
| Currency
code: |
BDT |
| Exchange
rates: |
taka
per US dollar - 64.7000 (26-07-05), 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: 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 - 2 Intelsat (Indian
Ocean); international radiotelephone communications and
landline service to neighboring countries (2000)
|
| Radio
broadcast stations: |
AM
12, FM 12, shortwave 2 (1999) |
| Television
stations: |
15
(1999) |
| Internet
country code: |
.bd |
| Standard
Time : |
GMT
+6 hours |
| ISP: |
180
(June 2005) |
| Internet
users: |
500,000
(march 2005) |
| Transportation |
|
| Railways: |
total: 2,706
km
broad gauge: 884 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 207,486
km
paved: 19,773 km
unpaved: 187,713 km (1999) |
| Waterways: |
8,372
km
note: includes 2,575 km main cargo routes (2004) |
| Pipelines: |
8,372
km
note: includes 2,575 km main cargo routes (2004) |
| Ports
and harbors: |
Chittagong,
Dhaka, Mongla Port, Narayanganj |
| Merchant
marine: |
total: 41
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 319,897 GRT/440,575 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 28, container 6,
passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4
foreign-owned: 10 (China 1, Singapore 9)
registered in other countries: 14 (2005) |
| Airports: |
16
(2004 est.) |
| Airports
- with paved runways: |
total: 15
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 6 (2004 est.) |
| Airports
- with unpaved runways: |
total:
1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
| 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:
61,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2004) |
| Illicit
drugs: |
transit
country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries |
| ::Page
last update 26072005 @ 1720 GMT |
