Bangladesh

• tropical;
• mild winter (October to March);
• hot, humid summer (March to June);
• humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)

total:

79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%)

per capita:

560 cu m/yr (2000)

• droughts;
• cyclones;
• much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season

• many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land;
• waterborne 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

party to:

Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified:

none of the selected agreements

at birth:

1.04 male(s)/female

under 15 years:

1.01 male(s)/female

15-64 years:

0.9 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.94 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

noun:

Bangladeshi(s)

adjective:

Bangladeshi

conventional long form:

People's Republic of Bangladesh

conventional short form:

Bangladesh

local long form:

Gana Prajatantri Banladesh

local short form:

Banladesh

former:

East Bengal, East Pakistan

name:

Dhaka

geographic coordinates:

23 43 N, 90 24 E

time difference:

UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)

• 4 November 1972;
• effective 16 December 1972;
• suspended following coup of 24 March 1982;
• restored 10 November 1986;
• amended many times

chief of state:

President Zillur RAHMAN (since 12 February 2009)

head of government:

Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA Wajed (since 6 January 2009)

cabinet:

Cabinet selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president

elections:

• president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term);
• last election held on 11 February 2009 (next scheduled election to be held in 2014)

election results:

• Zillur RAHMAN declared president-elect by the Election Commission on 11 February 2009 (sworn in on 12 February);
• he ran unopposed as president;
• percent of National Parliament vote - NA

• unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad;
• 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies;
• members serve five-year terms

elections:

last held 29 December 2008 (next to be held in 2013)

election results:

percent of vote by party - AL 49%, BNP 33.2%, JP 7%, JIB 4.6%, other 6.2%; seats by party - AL 230, BNP 30, JP 27, JIB 2, other 11

• Awami League or AL [Sheikh HASINA];
• Bangladesh Communist Party or BCP [Manjurul A. KHAN];
• Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP [Khaleda ZIA];
• Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI];
• Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh or JIB [Matiur Rahman NIZAMI];
• Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD];
• Jatiya Party (Manzur faction) [Naziur Rahman MANZUR];
• Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Badrudozza CHOWDHURY and Oli AHMED]

chief of mission:

Ambassador (vacant)

chancery:

3510 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008

telephone:

[1] (202) 244-0183

FAX:

[1] (202) 244-7830/2771

consulate(s) general:

Los Angeles, New York

chief of mission:

Ambassador James F. MORIARTY

embassy:

Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka 1212

mailing address:

G. P. O. Box 323, Dhaka 1000

telephone:

[880] (2) 885-5500

FAX:

[880] (2) 882-3744

• green field with a large red disk shifted slightly to the hoist side of center;
• the red disk represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence;
• the green field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh

agriculture:

63%

industry:

11%

services:

26% (FY95/96)

lowest 10%:

4.3%

highest 10%:

26.6% (2005)

general assessment:

• inadequate for a modern country;
• fixed-line telephone density remains less than 1 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and has reached 30 per 100 persons

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;
• landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia;
• satellite earth stations - 6;
• international radiotelephone communications and landline service to neighboring countries (2008)

total:

2,768 km

country comparison to the world: 60

broad gauge:

946 km 1.676-m gauge

narrow gauge:

1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2008)

total:

239,226 km

country comparison to the world: 21

paved:

22,726 km

unpaved:

216,500 km (2003)

• the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Bangladesh as high risk for armed robbery against ships;
• numerous commercial vessels have been attacked both at anchor and while underway;
• crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen

• 16 years of age for voluntary military service;
• 17 years of age for officers (both with parental consent);
• conscription legally possible in emergency, but has never been implemented (2008)

males age 16-49:

24,946,041

females age 16-49:

31,409,069 (2009 est.)

male:

1,538,865

female:

1,666,670 (2009 est.)

• discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange territory for 51 small Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 small Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border;
• Bangladesh protests India's fencing and walling off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary;
• a joint Bangladesh-India boundary commission resurveyed and reconstructed 92 missing pillars in 2007;
• dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation;
• after 21 years, Bangladesh resumes talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary

refugees (country of origin):

26,268 (Burma)

IDPs:

65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007)