Principal
languages:
Bangla (official), English
Ethnicity/race: Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali
Muslims (2010)
Religions: Islam89.5%, Hindu
9.5%,Buddhist0.7%,Christian0.3%(2010)
National
Holiday:
Independence Day, March 26
Literacy
rate: 43% (2003
est.)
Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2009 est.):
$242.4 billion; per capita $1,600. Real growth rate: 5.6%. Inflation:
5.1%. Unemployment: 2.5% (includes underemployment). Arable
land: 55.39%. Agriculture: rice, jute, tea, wheat,
sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk,
poultry. Labor force: 66.6 million; note: extensive export of
labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; agriculture 63%,
industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96). Industries: cotton
textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical
fertilizer, light engineering, sugar. Natural resources:
natural gas, arable land, timber, coal. Exports: $15.9 billion
(2009 est.): garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
(2001). Imports: $20.2 billion (2009 est.): machinery and
equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products,
cement (2000). Major trading partners: U.S., Germany, UK,
France, Italy, India, China, Singapore, Kuwait, Japan, Hong Kong (2004).
Member
of Commonwealth of Nations
Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 831,000 (2004); mobile
cellular: 2,781,600 (2004). Radio broadcast stations: AM 15,
FM 13, shortwave 2 (2006) Television broadcast stations: 15
(1999). Internet hosts: 266 (2005). Internet users:
300,000 (2005).
Transportation: Railways: total: 2,706 km (2004). Highways: total:
239,226 km; paved: 22,726 km; unpaved: 216,500 km (2003). Waterways:
8,372 km; note: includes 2,635 km main cargo routes (2005). Ports and
harbors: Chittagong, Mongla Port. Airports: 16
(2005).
International disputes: 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.
The Formation of an
Independent Bangladesh
Tension between East and West Pakistan
existed from the outset because of their vast geographic, economic, and
cultural differences. East Pakistan's Awami League, a political party founded
by the Bengali nationalist Sheik Mujibur Rahman in 1949, sought independence
from West Pakistan. Although 56% of the population resided in East Pakistan,
the West held the lion's share of political and economic power. In 1970, East
Pakistanis secured a majority of the seats in the national assembly. President
Yahya Khan postponed the opening of the national assembly in an attempt to
circumvent East Pakistan's demand for greater autonomy. As a consequence, East
Pakistan seceded and the independent state of Bangladesh, or Bengali nation,
was proclaimed on March 26, 1971. Civil war broke out, and with the help of
Indian troops in the last few weeks of the war, East Pakistan defeated West
Pakistan on Dec. 16, 1971. An estimated one million Bengalis were killed in the
fighting or later slaughtered. Ten million more took refuge in India. In Feb.
1974, Pakistan agreed to recognize the independent state of Bangladesh.
Founding president Sheikh Mujibur was
assassinated in 1975, as was the next president, Zia ur-Rahman. On March 24,
1982, Gen. Hossain Mohammad Ershad, army chief of staff, took control in a
bloodless coup but was forced to resign on Dec. 6, 1990, amid violent protests
and numerous allegations of corruption. A succession of prime ministers
governed in the 1990s, including Khaleda Zia, wife of the assassinated
president Zia ur-Rahman, and Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the daughter of Sheik
Mujibur.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina completed her
five-year term as prime minister in July 2000—the first leader to do so since
the country gained independence from Pakistan in 1974. In Oct. 2001 elections,
Khaleda Zia again won the prime ministership.
nvestigations into Governmental Corruption Begin
Violence erupted in Oct. 2006, when Zia's
term ended and President Ahmed took over as the head of a caretaker administration.
An alliance of parties, headed by the Awami League, said it would boycott the
Jan. 2007 elections, alleging corruption in the electoral commission. The
violence intensified in Jan. 2007, prompting President Ahmed to declare a state
of emergency and postpone the elections. Fakhruddin Ahmed became the interim
head of the government. He swiftly opened a broad corruption investigation that
resulted in the imprisonment of dozens of prominent officials, the seizure of
luxury vehicles, and the freezing of bank accounts. In March, Tarique Rahman,
the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was arrested in the investigation
and charged with extortion. Khaleda Zia herself was arrested and charged with
corruption in September. In addition, Sheikh Hasina was arrested and charged
with corruption and organizing the murder of four supporters of a rival party.
Mudslides set off by heavy monsoon rains
killed at least 100 people in June 2007 in Chittagong, a port in the southern
part of the country. In November, Cyclone Sidr, with winds over 100 miles per
hour, killed nearly 3,500 people in southern Bangladesh. The United Nations
reported that a million people were left homeless.
Bangladesh went ahead with its general
election in December 2008. It was the first general election since the
army-backed caretaker government took power in January 2007. The Awami League,
headed by Sheikh Hasina, won in a landslide, taking 262 of 299 seats in
Parliament. The vote was considered fair and largely free of scandal. Sheikh
Hasina was sworn in as prime minister in January 2009.
