Bangladesh
About Bangladesh
Bangladesh is Located in the north-eastern part of South Asia. The majestic Himalayas stand some distance to the north, while in the south lays the Bay of Bengal. West Bengal borders on the west and in the east lies the hilly and forested regions of Tripura, Mizoram (India) and Myanmar. These picturesque geographical boundaries frame a low lying plain of about 1,47,570 square kilometer, criss-crossed by innumerable rivers and streams. Mighty rivers are Padma (Ganges), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), Meghna and Karnafuli.
Bangladesh offers many tourist attractions, including archaeological sites, historical mosques and monuments, longest natural beach in the world, picturesque landscape, hill forests and wildlife, rolling tea gardens and tribes. The rich flora and fauna and colorful tribal life is very enchanting. Each part of the country offers distinctly different topography, flavors and delicacies. It is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, freshwater pink dolphins, historical temples made of red earth.
Some of popular known tourist attractions are: Srimangal, where miles of tea gardens are located, Mainamati, Mahasthangarh, Paharpur for archaeology, Rangamati, Kaptai and Cox’s Bazar for sight seeing, and the Sundarbans for wild life and the largest Mangrove forest of the world, and, Foy’s Lake for scenic beauty. To know more about tourism of activities in Bangladesh, please click here.
Bangladesh-Fast Facts
Official Name: People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Nationality: Bangladeshis
Weekends: Friday & Saturday, some govt and non-govt offices remain open on Saturdays.
International Dialing Code: +880
Standard Time : BST (GMT +6 Hours)
Capital City:
Dhaka
Demography
Population: 150 million (2011 Census Report by BBS)
Literacy Rate: 60%
Language:
Bangla (national language) spoken by 95%
English is widely understood and spoken.
Religion:
Muslims – 86.6%,
Hindus – 12.1%,
Buddhists – 0.6%,
Christians -0.4%,
Others -0.3%.
Age Structure:
0-14 years#33.8% (male 23,069,242#female 21,995,457)
15-64 years: 62.8% (male 42,924,778; female 40,873,077)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 2,444,314; female 2,069,816)
Population Growth Rate: 1.59%
Birth Rate / 1000 : 25.12 births/1,000 population
Death Rate / 1000 : 8.47 deaths/1,000 population
Gender
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: 1.18 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female
Fertility Rate: 2.72 children born/woman
Ethnic Groups:
Bengalis (98%)
Other indigenous minority (2%) including Chakmas, Marmas, Santals, Garos, Manipuri, Tripura, and Tanchangya.
Geography
Geographical Location:
Latitude between 20°34′ and 26°38′ North
Longitude between 88°01′ and 92°41′ East
Area: 147,570 sq. km. (land: 133,910 sq km, water: 10,090 sq km)
Boundaries:
North – India (West Bengal and Meghalaya)
West – India (West Bengal)
East – India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar
South-Bay of Bengal.
Total: 4,246 km (border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km)
Coastline: 580 km
Maritime boundary:
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Terrain: Mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
7 Divisions – Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur
64 Districts
487 Subdistricts/Upazillas
Principal Rivers: Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Surma, Brahmaputra, Karnaphuli, Teesta, Sitalakhya, Rupsha, Madhumati, Gorai, Mahananda etc.
Climate
Climate Variation: Sub-tropical monsoon
Average Temperature:
Winter 11° C – 20° C (October – February)
Summer 21° C – 38° C (March – September)
Rainfall : 1,100 mm to 3,400 mm (June – August)
Humidity:
Highest 99% (July)
Lowest 36% (December & January)
Economy
Recognitions: Bangladesh is one of the members of the Developing 8 and considered as the Next Eleven Economy of the world in 20 coined by Goldman Sachs.
GDP: $1,044 (per capita in 2013)
Poverty Level: 25% (People living with $2 per day)
Foreign Grant Dependency: 2%
Principal Crops: Rice, Jute, Tea, Wheat, Sugarcane, Pulses, Mustard, Potato, Vegetables.
Principal Industries: Garments & Textiles (2nd largest in the world), Tea, Ceramics, Cement, Leather, Jute (largest producer in the world), Chemical, Fertilizer, Shrimp Processing, Sugar, Paper, Electric and Electronics, Medicine, Fishing.
Principal Exports: Garments, Knitwear, Frozen Shrimps, Tea, Leather and Leather products, Jute and Jute products, Ceramics, IT Outsourcing, etc.
Principal Imports: Wheat, Fertilizer, Petroleum goods, Cotton, Edible Oil etc.
Principal Minerals: Natural gas,oil, Coal, white clay, glass sand etc.
Electricity: 220 Volts AC in all cities and towns
Currency:
Taka (BDT, Symbol = ৳)
1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 in notes and
# 50,25,10,5,1 in coins.
Labour Force: 54 million
Male: 40 million
Female: 14 million
(Ref: BES-2011)
Distribution of Labor:
Agriculture: 48.4 percent
Industry: 24.3 percent
Others: 27.3 percent
Transportation Methods: Road, Air, Rail, Waterways (More information)
Export Processing Zones (EPZs): Dhaka, Uttara, Adamjee, Chittagong, Comilla, Ishwardi, Karnaphuli, and Mongla.
Historical Dates
Independence Day: 26th March
Victory Day: 16th December
Martyr’s Day: 21st February (Also recognized as the International Mother Language Day)
Tourism
Places of Tourist Interest: Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Kaptai, Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Kuakata, Bogra, Khulna, the Sundarbans, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Comilla.
Airports: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Jessore, Rajshahi, Saidpur, Barisal and Cox’s Bazar
More Information : Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.
Information Technology (IT)
- Country Domain: .bd
- Internet Penetration: 23.38% of the population
- Mobile Users: 76.434 million (June 2011 and 15th largest in the world)
- Mobile Penetration: 72.08% of the population