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| Bangladesh |
 Click to enlarge |
Home Reference Maps Appendixes
| 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. |
| 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: 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: |
contiguous zone: 18 NM territorial sea: 12 NM continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin exclusive economic zone: 200 NM |
| 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: 60.7% permanent crops: 2.61% other: 36.69% (1998 est.) |
| 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, Nuclear Test Ban, 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 |
| Population: |
138,448,210 (July 2003 est.) |
| Age
structure: |
0-14 years: 34.1% (male 24,255,300; female 23,007,632) 15-64 years: 62.5% (male 44,261,739; female 42,281,331) 65 years and over: 3.4% (male 2,506,606; female 2,135,602) (2003 est.) |
| Median
age: |
total: 21.2 years male: 21.2 years female: 21.1 years (2002) |
| Population
growth rate: |
2.06% (2003 est.) |
| Birth
rate: |
29.9 births/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Death
rate: |
8.63 deaths/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Net
migration rate: |
-0.72 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2003 est.) |
| Sex
ratio: |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.17 male(s)/female total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2003 est.) |
| Infant
mortality rate: |
total: 66.08 deaths/1,000 live births female: 64.88 deaths/1,000 live births (2003 est.) male: 67.21 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Life
expectancy at birth: |
total population: 61.33 years male: 61.46 years female: 61.2 years (2003 est.) |
| Total
fertility rate: |
3.17 children born/woman (2003 est.) |
| 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.) |
| 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. |
| GDP: |
purchasing power parity - $239 billion (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- real growth rate: |
4.4% (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- per capita: |
purchasing power parity - $1,700 (2002 est.) |
| GDP
- composition by sector: |
agriculture: 35% industry: 19% services: 46% (2001 est.) |
| Population
below poverty line: |
35.6% (FY95 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) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices): |
3.1% (2002 est.) |
| Labor
force: |
64.1 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 (1999) |
| Labor
force - by occupation: |
agriculture 63%, services 26%, industry 11% (FY95) |
| Unemployment
rate: |
40% (includes underemployment) (2002 est.) |
| Budget: |
revenues: $4.9 billion expenditures: $6.8 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.) |
| Industries: |
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar |
| Industrial
production growth rate: |
1.8% (2002 est.) |
| Electricity
- production: |
15.33 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- production by source: |
fossil fuel: 93.7% hydro: 6.3% other: 0% (2001) nuclear: 0% |
| Electricity
- consumption: |
14.26 billion kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- exports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Electricity
- imports: |
0 kWh (2001) |
| Oil
- production: |
3,581 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- consumption: |
71,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) |
| Oil
- exports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- imports: |
NA (2001) |
| Oil
- proved reserves: |
28.45 million bbl (January 2002 est.) |
| Natural
gas - proved reserves: |
150.3 billion cu m (January 2002 est.) |
| Agriculture
- products: |
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry |
| Exports: |
$6.2 billion (2002) |
| Exports
- commodities: |
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001) |
| Exports
- partners: |
US 29.6%, Germany 10.3%, UK 8.5%, France 5.4%, Italy 4.6%, Netherlands (2001) |
| Imports: |
$8.5 billion (2002) |
| Imports
- commodities: |
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000) |
| Imports
- partners: |
India 13.1%, Singapore 9.1%, China 8.5%, Japan 7.9%, Hong Kong 5.1% (2001) |
| Debt
- external: |
$16.5 billion (2002) |
| Economic
aid - recipient: |
$1.575 billion (2000 est.) |
| Currency: |
taka (BDT) |
| Currency
code: |
BDT |
| Exchange
rates: |
taka per US dollar - 57.888 (2002), 55.8067 (2001), 52.1417 (2000), 49.0854 (1999), 46.9057 (1998) |
| Fiscal
year: |
1 July - 30 June |
| |
