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:

0.89 male(s)/female

65 years and over:

0.93 male(s)/female

total population:

0.93 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

noun:

Bangladeshi(s)

adjective:

Bangladeshi

conventional long form:

People's Republic of Bangladesh

conventional short form:

Bangladesh

local long form:

Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh

local short form:

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; (For more information visit theWorld Leaders website)

elections:

president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last election held on 11 February 2009 (next 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 on 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];
• Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh or BDB [Badrudozza CHOWDHURY];
• Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [multiple leaders];
• Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh or JIB [Matiur Rahman NIZAMI];
• Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD];
• Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Oli AHMED]

chief of mission:

Ambassador Akramul QADER

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

name:

"Amar Shonar Bangla" (My Golden Bengal)

lyrics/music:

Rabindranath TAGORE

note: adopted 1971; Rabindranath TAGORE, a Nobel laureate, also wrote India's national anthem

agriculture:

45%

industry:

30%

services:

25% (2008)

lowest 10%:

8.8%

highest 10%:

26.6% (2008 est.)

general assessment:

• inadequate for a modern country;
• introducing digital systems;
• trunk systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic cable in cities

domestic:

• fixed-line teledensity remains only about 1 per 100 persons;
• mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and now exceeds 30 telephones per 100 persons

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 (2009)

• state-owned broadcaster (BTV) operates 1 terrestrial TV station, 3 radio networks, and about 10 local stations;
• 8 private satellite TV stations and 3 private radio stations also broadcasting;
• foreign satellite TV stations are gaining audience share in the large cities;
• several international radio broadcasters are available (2007)

total:

2,768 km

country comparison to the world: 61

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 enlisted military service (Air Force);
• 17 years of age (Army and Navy);
• conscription is by law possible in times of emergency, but has never been implemented (2010)

males age 16-49:

25,310,750

females age 16-49:

32,154,153 (2010 est.)

male:

1,550,385

female:

1,676,137 (2010 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;
• after 21 years, Bangladesh in January 2008 resumed talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary

refugees (country of origin):

26,268 (Burma)

IDPs:

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

current situation:

• Bangladesh is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation;
• a significant share of Bangladesh's trafficking victims are men recruited for work overseas with fraudulent employment offers who are subsequently exploited under conditions of forced labor or debt bondage;
• children are trafficked within Bangladesh for commercial sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and forced labor;
• women and children from Bangladesh are also trafficked to India and Pakistan for sexual exploitation

tier rating:

• Bangladesh is placed on Tier 2 Watch List because it does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking;
• however, it is making significant efforts to do so, including some progress in addressing sex trafficking;
• the government did not demonstrate sufficient progress in criminally prosecuting and convicting labor trafficking offenders, particularly those responsible for the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers for the purpose of labor trafficking (2009)