Bangladesh is called land of natural beauty and as it is daughter of nature. Bangladesh, officially it is known as People’s Republic of Bangladesh . This country is in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma (Myanmar) to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language.
The official and most widely used language in Bangladesh, as in West Bengal,
is Bengali, an Indo-Aryan language of Sanskrit origin with its own
script. English is used as second language among the middle and upper
classes and in higher education. Since a President Order in 1987,
Bengali is used for all official correspondence except those that are to
foreign recipients.
The majority ethnic groups of Bangladesh
are the Bengali people, comprising 98% of the population. There are
thirteen tribal groups located in the Chittagong Hill Tracts; the most
populous of the tribes are the Chakmas. The region has been a source for
ethnic tension since the inception of Bangladesh.]
The largest tribal groups outside the Hill Tracts are the Santhals and
the Garos (Achiks). Human trafficking has been a lingering problem in Bangladesh and illegal immigration has remained a cause of friction with Burma and India.
The United Nations has recognized the country mainly as a moderate Muslim democratic country. Bangladesh
is a parliamentary Democracy. Direct elections in which all citizens
over the age 18 can vote are held every five years for the unicameral
parliament known as Jatiya Sangsad. The parliamentary building is known
as the Jatiyo Shanshad vaban and was designed by architect Louis Kahn.
Bangladesh, on the Bay of Bengal, is South Asian country
of lush greenery and many waterways. Its Padma (Ganges), Meghna and
Jamuna rivers create fertile alluvial plains, and travel by boat is
common. On the southern coast, the Sundarbans, an enormous mangrove
forest shared with India, are home to the Royal Bengal tiger.
In April through June and from October through November, tropical cyclones, accompanied by high seas and heavy flooding, are common. There were cyclones in May 1963, May and December 1965, October 1966, and most notably during the night of 12–13 November 1970, when a storm and resultant flooding killed more than 200,000 persons. A cyclone on 30 April 1991 left over 131,000 people dead and nine million homeless. Monsoon floods in 1974, 1980, and 1983 also devastated the country and caused many deaths, and a cyclonic storm on 24–25 May 1985 took more than 11,000 lives. The monsoon in August and September 1988 left three-fourths of the country flooded, 1,300 persons dead, and over three million people homeless, with damage to the country's infrastructure estimated at $1 billion.
Bangladesh's environmental problems have been complicated by natural disasters that add to the strain on an agricultural system which supports one of the world's most populous countries. Water supply is also a major problem because of population size, lack of purification procedures, and the spread of untreated contaminants into the usable water supply by flood waters. To ease these problems, the government has established drainage, irrigation, and flood protection systems, and has drilled thousands of tube wells to supply safe drinking water in villages. As of 2001, safe water was available to 100% of the population.
Despite passage of the Wildlife Preservation Act of 1973, wildlife continued to suffer from human encroachment. Only 0.8% of the country's total land area is protected. The Sunderbans is a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar international wetland site. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 22 types of mammals, 23 species of birds, 20 types of reptiles, 8 species of fish, and 12 species of plants. Threatened species included the Asian elephant, pygmy hog, Sumatran rhinoceros, Bengal tiger, estuarine crocodile, gavial, and river terrapin.
Islam was established as the state religion in 1988. Freedom of worship is provided for in the constitution; however, in practice there have been reports of social, political, and economic discrimination against non-Muslims.
Islam came to South Asia in the years following ad 800 but did not reach Bengal until Muslim invaders from the west secured a foothold there around ad 1200. In the 13th and 14th centuries, after successive waves of Turkish, Persian, and Afghan invaders, Islam began to take a firm hold in the area that is now Bangladesh. The region was annexed by the Mughal Empire in 1576 under Emperor Akbar and ruled by his successors into the 17th century. The fealty lesser Nawabs (or Nabobs) of the Bengal area paid to the Mughals ensured the political stability and economic prosperity of the region, which became known for its industries based on the weaving of silk and cotton cloth.
The arrival of the French and British East India Companies in the early 18th century coincided with Mughal decline, the death of Emperor Auranzeb, and an intense period of competition and conflict between Britain and France. By the middle of the 18th century, the British emerged supreme in what they created as the Bengal Presidency, establishing themselves in Calcutta and expanding with alacrity into all of what is now Bangladesh, as well as the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa. From Calcutta, British traders and administrators successfully played off rivalries among the satraps of the late Mughal empire to gain control of most of the subcontinent in the years between the Battle of Plassey in 1756 and the assumption of the company's domain by the British Crown in 1859. Calcutta remained the seat of British power in the subcontinent and the center of British control over the Indian Empire until 1931 when the capital was moved to the new city of New Delhi, adjacent to the traditional seat of Mughal power in old Delhi.
Well-to-do Hindus in Bengal generally prospered under the British, apparently taking more easily to British ways and British law than the numerically dominant Muslims. The Muslim aristocracy of eastern Bengal—feudal barons under the Mughals—resisted British rule. By the turn of the 20th century, both communities had begun to develop a political-cum-cultural consciousness of their own in reaction to the Western culture brought by the British. They took offense at British efforts to impose western educational systems on local universities, reducing their independence. Hindus were further enraged by the British decision in 1905, in an effort to improve administration and to placate Muslims, to divide the overly large Bengal Presidency in two, with the Muslim-dominant area of eastern Bengal and Assam to be a separate province. The 1905 partition was the first acknowledgment of a sense of separateness among Muslims by the British and foreshadowed events of 42 years later when Bengal was divided between Muslim-majority and Hindu-majority districts to create East Pakistan.
The 1905 action resulted in increasing acts of violence. Th is lasted until it was undone six years later in favor of reuniting Bengal and instead separating out what would become the provinces of Orissa and Bihar. But the agitation provoked by the 1905 partition and the Hindu-Muslim enmities it left behind continued to provoke terrorist actions against British rule until nonviolence emerged as a mode of political struggle, under the leadership of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi of the Indian National Congress.
British reforms in 1909 and 1919 expanded local self-rule in their Indian domains, but the pace fell short of the pace of demands put forth by the rising tide of nationalists espoused by the Indian National Congress, which in 1929 committed itself to the goal of complete independence. As the struggle gained momentum, differences between Hindus and Muslims widened. While the majority Hindu community saw a single Indian polity committed to secularism and diversity as the goal of the independence movement, Muslims came to fear that their community would be a permanent electoral minority, an anxiety they saw borne out in the 1937 elections held under British auspices. To look after their unique cultural interests, they formed the All-India Muslim League, and under the Muslim League leadership, sentiment began to coalesce around the "two nation" theory propounded earlier by the poet Iqbal, a belief that South Asian Muslims and Hindus were and should be two separate nations, i.e. that Muslims required the creation of an independent nation of their own—Pakistan—in which they would predominate. In 1940, the Muslim League adopted this as its goal, under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, a Mumbai (formerly Bombay) attorney who resisted all efforts at compromise through all the difficult days leading up to the grant of independence in 1947.
In language, culture, ethnic background, population density, political experience, and economic potential, East and West Pakistan were totally disparate. The primary bond was Islam. Pakistan's early years as a nation were dominated by unsuccessful attempts—punctuated by bouts of authoritarian rule—to create a national polity that would somehow bridge these differences. Larger in population and in economic importance than the west wing, the Bengali east wing chafed under national policies effectively dominated by the leadership residing in the west wing. When its influence was further reduced under repeated bouts of martial law and by the reconstruction of West Pakistan as a single province, demands for autonomy in the east began to mount. Th is demand proved more than the fragile sense of Islamic nationhood could sustain. The new state of Pakistan, made up of Muslim-majority districts in both eastern and western reaches of formerly British India, was at best an unwieldy creation. It cut across long-established lines of trade and communication, divided families, provoked a mass movement of millions of refugees caught on the "wrong" side of the partition markers, and forced the creation of a new but divided polity. Pakistan consisted of two distinct territories, separated by 1,600 km (1,000 mi) of secular but predominantly Hindu India. West Pakistan, with a population of 34 million, consisted mainly of the former provinces of Baluchistan, Sindh, the Northwest Frontier, and (partially) Punjab (which, like Bengal, was also partitioned). East Pakistan, its 42 million people including nearly 9 million Hindus, encompassed the eastern half of Bengal province as shaped in 1912, plus the Sylhet District of Assam.
Soon after independence, Bangladesh signed a friendship treaty with India, but relations between the two nations are often strained. In 1997, Bangladesh signed an agreement with India on sharing water from the Ganges River. Pakistan recognized Bangladesh in February 1974, and the two have developed good relations, their past differences notwithstanding.
Generally, Bangladesh follows a nonaligned foreign policy by but the late 1990s was seeking closer relations with other Islamic states, ASEAN, and China. Bangladesh has offered assistance to UN efforts in Kosovo (est. 1999), the Western Sahara (est. 1991), Ethiopia and Eritrea (est. 2000), Sierra Leone (est. 1999), East Timor (est. 2002), Georgia (est. 1993), Côte d'Ivoire (est. 2004), and DROC (est. 1999). Bangladesh also continued a healthy relationship with the United States, with which it had bilateral trade agreements. In 1995, the country's trade exporters association signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) under which industry's rampant use of child labor would be eliminated.
In environmental cooperation, Bangladesh is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change, and Desertification.
Rice dominates the production of about 60% of all cropped land in Bangladesh. Of the varieties grown, aman rice, which can be raised in inundated land and saline soil, occupies nearly 60% of the total land under rice. Aus rice, which cannot be grown in flooded fields, is raised mostly in higher areas of Bangladesh. Boro rice is grown in the winter, mainly in the swamps and marshy areas, but government-supported irrigation projects have encouraged its extension to other areas. To meet the challenge of the food shortages, the government of Bangladesh and international aid programs introduced a high-yielding variety of rice called IRRI with considerable success. Total rice production in 2004 was 37,910,000 tons. Before November 1992, the government artificially inflated rice prices by buying over one million tons per harvest. With subsidies gone, the subsequent fall in rice prices reflected an adjustment of the market after 20 years of prices propped up by government sales and purchases.
Jute is the main cash crop of Bangladesh, which produces about one-quarter of the total jute supply of the world. Grown in most parts of the country, jute is harvested from July to September. Its strong fibers are used to produce carpets, burlap bags, mats, upholstery, and other products. Jute is also used to manufacture textiles for clothes. The combined total export of jute and jute products represents about 13–15% of Bangladesh's annual export earnings. Although Bangladesh is the world leader in exports of jute, its prominence in the economy has slipped since the 1970s. The diminished role is due to mismanagement of the nationalized jute industry, labor strikes, and a drop in the worldwide use of jute for packing. In 2004, 800,000 tons of jute were produced (28% of world production).
Although tea is the second most important agricultural export, it accounted for only 11% of agricultural export earnings in 2004. Most tea plantations are in the Sylhet Region and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Much of the tea is consumed domestically; total production in 2004 was 55,600 tons.
The agricultural economy, though disrupted by the 1971 war, largely recovered and grew by an average 2.7% annually during the 1980s and by an annual average of 2.9% during 1990–2000. However, in 2003 agricultural production was down 2.1% from 1999–2001. Agricultural exports accounted for 1.7% of total exports in 2004. Frequent monsoons and cyclones keep the economy vulnerable. Crop output (in tons) in 2004 included sugarcane, 6,484,000; wheat, 1,253,000; potatoes, 3,908,000; sweet potatoes, 320,000; tobacco, 40,000; and barley, 1,000. Fruit production in 2004 included 700,000 tons of bananas, 243,000 tons of mangoes, and 155,000 tons of pineapples. Coconut productions totaled 89,000 tons that year; lentils, 122,000 tons.
The main forest zone is the Sunderbans area in the southwest, consisting mostly of mangrove forests. Two principal species dominate the Sunderban forests: sundari trees, which grow about 15–18 m (50–60 ft) high and are of tough timber, and gewa trees, a softer wood used for making newsprint. Teak and bamboo are grown in the central forests.
The Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and headquartered in Dhaka, operates seven research institutes, and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy commission, founded in 1973, and also in Dhaka, operates two others. The Geological Society of Bangladesh, founded in 1972 at Dhaka, is a government organization under the Ministry of Energy and Natural resources. Leading professional groups are the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, the Bangladesh Medical Association, and the Zoological Society of Bangladesh, all headquartered in Dhaka.
Although the constitution prohibits discrimination, women and minority groups are confronted with social and economic disadvantages. Violence against women remained widespread. In 2004 reports continued of women being tortured and killed over dowry disputes. Rapes are seriously underreported due to the social disgrace to the victims. Acid attacks to women remained a problem.
Because of widespread poverty, children are forced to work at a very young age, and are frequently abused and subjected to dangerous working conditions. More than half of all children suffer from malnutrition. There is a huge problem of trafficking of both women and children. Some estimates place the number of child laborers as high as 10 million, including an estimated 29,000 child prostitutes. There are an estimated 400,000 homeless children, of which approximately 150,000 have no knowledge of their parents.
Although the government is secular, discrimination against minority religions leads to conflict and violence. The government's human rights record is poor, with many fundamental human rights restricted. As of 2004, disappearance, kidnapping, torture, and violent suppression of demonstrators were carried out regularly. Prison conditions are inhumane.
In the mid-1990s, only 45% of the population had access to health services. In 2004, there were estimated 23 physicians, 13 nurses, and 11 midwives per 100,000 people.
The average life expectancy in 2005 was 62.08 years. The government pays the majority of vaccination costs, which has helped increase participation. As of 1999, estimated immunization rates for children under one year of age were 71% for measles and 72% for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. The infant mortality rate was 62.6 per 1,000 live births in 2005. It was estimated that 54% of married women (ages 15–49) used contraception. Maternal deaths were estimated at 440 per 100,000 live births in 200, down from 850 in 1990.
A new strain of cholera was reported late in 1992. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.20 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 13,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 650 deaths from AIDS in 2003.
Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 84% of age-eligible students; 82% for boys and 86% for girls. The same year, secondary school enrollment was about 44% of age-eligible students; 42% for boys and 47% for girls. It was estimated that about 73.3% of all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 56:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was about 34:1.
The principal administrative bodies for education are the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Association of Universities of Bangladesh. As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.4% of GDP.
There are 17 public universities and 10 medical colleges, and 10 teacher-training colleges. There are several polytechnical schools offering three-year courses in a variety of technical and engineering fields. Technical Training Centers offer certificate and diploma course. The Bangladesh Open University offers degree and non-degree continuing education programs. Research institutions include the Bangla Academy (which sponsors translations of scientific and literary works into Bangla), the Asiatic Society, and the National Institute of Public Administration's Institute of Law and International Affairs. In 2003, about 6% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 41.1%, with 50.3% for males and 31.4% for females.
Color television was introduced in 1980. The primary radio and television broadcast stations are owned and operated by the government. In 2004, there was only one private radio station and three private television stations. In 2003, there were an estimated 49 radios and 59 television sets for every 1,000 people. While cable television service is available, only about 27 of every 1,000 people are subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 7.8 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 2 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were three secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.
The major Bengali daily newspapers (with 2002 circulations), all in Dhaka, are Ittefaq (200,000), Dainik Inqilab (180,000), Sangbad (71,050), Dainik Bangla (65,000), and Dainik Sangram (45,000). The largest English dailies, also in Dhaka, are the Bangladesh Observer (43,000), Bangladesh Times (35,000), and Daily Star (30,000). Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and United News of Bangladesh (UNB) are the two main news agencies.
The government is said, with some exceptions, to generally respect freedom of speech and press. On occasion, the government has censored criticism of Islam.
The Bangladesh Medical Studies and Research Institute and the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences promote research and education in a number of medical and scientific fields. Other medical associations include the Bangladesh Dental Society and the Bangladesh Society for Study of Pain
Various associations for the Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist communities have long been active in organizing religious festivals and social activities. Every town also has several cultural groups. The Bangladesh Women's Association is active in social life.
There are about 39 national youth organizations and about two hundred regional and local youth organizations. These generally hold membership in one of two coordinating bodies: the Bangladesh Youth Council (BYC) and the National Federation of Youth Organizations in Bangladesh. There are about seven major student unions including the Bangladesh federation of University Women. Particular youth groups include the Bangladesh Girl Guides, the Bangladesh Scout, Junior Chamber Bangladesh, and the YMCA/YWCA. There are several sports associations, including groups for badminton, track and field, tae kwan do, tennis, and weightlifting.
The Red Crescent Society, Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, Caritas, UNICEF, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and Greenpeace have chapters within the country.
In 2004, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Dhaka at $191. Expenses in other areas can be much lower.
LOCATION, SIZE, AND EXTENT
Situated in South Asia, Bangladesh, before it became an independent state, was the eastern province of Pakistan, known as East Bengal and, later, as East Pakistan. Bangladesh is slightly smaller than the state of Iowa with a total area of 144,000 sq km (55,598 sq mi), extending 767 km (477 mi) sse–nnw and 429 km (267 mi) ene–wsw. Bangladesh is bordered in the w, n, and e by India, on the se by Myanmar (Burma), and on the s by the Bay of Bengal, with a total boundary length of 4,246 km (2,638 mi). A border demarcation agreement was signed with Myanmar in May 1979. Demarcation of the marine boundary with India remained unresolved as of 2006. Bangladesh's capital city, Dhaka, is located near the center of the country.TOPOGRAPHY
Bangladesh is a tropical country, situated mainly on the deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas. The Brahmaputra River, known locally as the Jamuna, unites with part of the Ganges to form the Padma, which, after its juncture with a third large river, the Meghna, flows into the Bay of Bengal. Offshoots of the Ganges-Padma, including the Burishwar, Garai, Kobadak, and Madhumati, also flow south to the Bay of Bengal. No part of the delta area is more than 150 m (500 ft) above sea level, and most of it is but a meter or two (a few feet) above sea level. Its soil consists mostly of fertile alluvium, which is intensively farmed; mineral deposits are negligible. During the rainy season floodwater covers most of the land surface, damaging crops and injuring the economy. The northwestern section of the country, drained by the Tista (Teesta) River, is somewhat higher and less flat, but the only really hilly regions are in the east, notably in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to the southeast and the Sylhet District to the northeast. Near the Myanmar border in the extreme southeast is the Keokradong, which, at 1,230 m (4,034 ft), is the highest peak in Bangladesh.CLIMATE
Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate. Annual rainfall is high, averaging from about 119 cm (47 in) up to 145 cm (57 in). There are three distinct seasons. The winter, which lasts from October through early March, is cool and dry, with temperature ranges from 5°c to 22°c (41°f to 72°f); total winter rainfall averages about 18 cm (7 in) in the east and less than 8 cm (3 in) in the northwest. Temperatures rise rapidly in March, and during the summer season—March through May—average about 32°c (90°f). Rainfall also increases during this period. However, nearly 80% of the annual rainfall falls from May to September, the monsoon season, when moisture-laden winds blow from the south and southeast. Temperatures drop somewhat, seldom exceeding 31°c (88°f), but humidity remains high.In April through June and from October through November, tropical cyclones, accompanied by high seas and heavy flooding, are common. There were cyclones in May 1963, May and December 1965, October 1966, and most notably during the night of 12–13 November 1970, when a storm and resultant flooding killed more than 200,000 persons. A cyclone on 30 April 1991 left over 131,000 people dead and nine million homeless. Monsoon floods in 1974, 1980, and 1983 also devastated the country and caused many deaths, and a cyclonic storm on 24–25 May 1985 took more than 11,000 lives. The monsoon in August and September 1988 left three-fourths of the country flooded, 1,300 persons dead, and over three million people homeless, with damage to the country's infrastructure estimated at $1 billion.
FLORA AND FAUNA
Bangladesh has the plant and animal life typical of a tropical and riverine swamp. The landscape, which for most of the year is lush green, is dotted with palms and flowering trees. The large forest area of the Sunderbans in the southwest is the home of the endangered Bengal tiger; there are also cheetahs, leopards, crocodiles, elephants, spotted deer, monkeys, boars, bears, pheasants, and many varieties of birds and waterfowl.ENVIRONMENT
Overpopulation has severely strained Bangladesh's limited natural resources. Nearly all arable land is already cultivated and forest land has been greatly reduced by agricultural expansion and by timber and firewood cutting. Between 1983 and 1993, forest and woodland declined by 12.5% to 1.9 million ha (4.7 million acres). As of 2000, about 10% of the total land area was forested.Bangladesh's environmental problems have been complicated by natural disasters that add to the strain on an agricultural system which supports one of the world's most populous countries. Water supply is also a major problem because of population size, lack of purification procedures, and the spread of untreated contaminants into the usable water supply by flood waters. To ease these problems, the government has established drainage, irrigation, and flood protection systems, and has drilled thousands of tube wells to supply safe drinking water in villages. As of 2001, safe water was available to 100% of the population.
Despite passage of the Wildlife Preservation Act of 1973, wildlife continued to suffer from human encroachment. Only 0.8% of the country's total land area is protected. The Sunderbans is a natural UNESCO World Heritage Site and a Ramsar international wetland site. According to a 2006 report issued by the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), threatened species included 22 types of mammals, 23 species of birds, 20 types of reptiles, 8 species of fish, and 12 species of plants. Threatened species included the Asian elephant, pygmy hog, Sumatran rhinoceros, Bengal tiger, estuarine crocodile, gavial, and river terrapin.
LANGUAGES
Bengali (Bangla), part of the Indo-European language family, is the official language of Bangladesh and is spoken by about 98% of the population. The successful move to make Bengali coequal with Urdu as an official language was a hallmark of Bengali nationalism in the early 1950s. Non-Bengali migrants from India still speak Urdu (and Hindi) today, and this language is widely understood in urban areas. A few tribal groups, notably the tribal peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, also speak distinct Tibeto-Burmese languages, akin to Burmese and Assamese. Among those speaking Bangla there are differences of dialect according to region. The people of Chittagong, Noakhali, and Sylhet are known for their distinctive dialects. Although today Bangla is the official language, English is also used for official and legal purposes and widely used in business.RELIGIONS
Nearly 88% of the people are Sunni Muslims, making Bangladesh one of the world's largest Muslim countries. About 10% of the population are Hindu; the remaining are mainly Buddhist or Christian, the latter being mostly Roman Catholics. There are small numbers of Shia Muslims, Sikhs, Baha'is, Ahmadis, and animists.Islam was established as the state religion in 1988. Freedom of worship is provided for in the constitution; however, in practice there have been reports of social, political, and economic discrimination against non-Muslims.
HISTORY
In ancient times, the area now known as Bangladesh was the eastern portion of a huge river delta region called Bang, where the Ganges and Brahmaputra River systems empty into the Bay of Bengal and Indian Ocean. The region became known as Bengal in more modern times, but recorded history of the region can be traced to the 4th century bc when it was home to an apparently flourishing riverain civilization. The oldest surviving remains of this civilization are the ruins of the city of Mahasthan, the ancient Pundranagar, which continued to flourish for more than 1,500 years, even though the region was conquered by the Hindu Maurya empire that reached its height under Emperor Asoka around 207 bc. From this time onward, the history of Bengal was part of the wider historical experience of the Indian subcontinent, and during most of India's classical Hindu period—ad 320 to ad 1000—Bengal was a loosely incorporated outpost of empires centered in the Gangetic plain.Islam came to South Asia in the years following ad 800 but did not reach Bengal until Muslim invaders from the west secured a foothold there around ad 1200. In the 13th and 14th centuries, after successive waves of Turkish, Persian, and Afghan invaders, Islam began to take a firm hold in the area that is now Bangladesh. The region was annexed by the Mughal Empire in 1576 under Emperor Akbar and ruled by his successors into the 17th century. The fealty lesser Nawabs (or Nabobs) of the Bengal area paid to the Mughals ensured the political stability and economic prosperity of the region, which became known for its industries based on the weaving of silk and cotton cloth.
The arrival of the French and British East India Companies in the early 18th century coincided with Mughal decline, the death of Emperor Auranzeb, and an intense period of competition and conflict between Britain and France. By the middle of the 18th century, the British emerged supreme in what they created as the Bengal Presidency, establishing themselves in Calcutta and expanding with alacrity into all of what is now Bangladesh, as well as the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Assam and Orissa. From Calcutta, British traders and administrators successfully played off rivalries among the satraps of the late Mughal empire to gain control of most of the subcontinent in the years between the Battle of Plassey in 1756 and the assumption of the company's domain by the British Crown in 1859. Calcutta remained the seat of British power in the subcontinent and the center of British control over the Indian Empire until 1931 when the capital was moved to the new city of New Delhi, adjacent to the traditional seat of Mughal power in old Delhi.
Well-to-do Hindus in Bengal generally prospered under the British, apparently taking more easily to British ways and British law than the numerically dominant Muslims. The Muslim aristocracy of eastern Bengal—feudal barons under the Mughals—resisted British rule. By the turn of the 20th century, both communities had begun to develop a political-cum-cultural consciousness of their own in reaction to the Western culture brought by the British. They took offense at British efforts to impose western educational systems on local universities, reducing their independence. Hindus were further enraged by the British decision in 1905, in an effort to improve administration and to placate Muslims, to divide the overly large Bengal Presidency in two, with the Muslim-dominant area of eastern Bengal and Assam to be a separate province. The 1905 partition was the first acknowledgment of a sense of separateness among Muslims by the British and foreshadowed events of 42 years later when Bengal was divided between Muslim-majority and Hindu-majority districts to create East Pakistan.
The 1905 action resulted in increasing acts of violence. Th is lasted until it was undone six years later in favor of reuniting Bengal and instead separating out what would become the provinces of Orissa and Bihar. But the agitation provoked by the 1905 partition and the Hindu-Muslim enmities it left behind continued to provoke terrorist actions against British rule until nonviolence emerged as a mode of political struggle, under the leadership of Mohandas (Mahatma) Gandhi of the Indian National Congress.
British reforms in 1909 and 1919 expanded local self-rule in their Indian domains, but the pace fell short of the pace of demands put forth by the rising tide of nationalists espoused by the Indian National Congress, which in 1929 committed itself to the goal of complete independence. As the struggle gained momentum, differences between Hindus and Muslims widened. While the majority Hindu community saw a single Indian polity committed to secularism and diversity as the goal of the independence movement, Muslims came to fear that their community would be a permanent electoral minority, an anxiety they saw borne out in the 1937 elections held under British auspices. To look after their unique cultural interests, they formed the All-India Muslim League, and under the Muslim League leadership, sentiment began to coalesce around the "two nation" theory propounded earlier by the poet Iqbal, a belief that South Asian Muslims and Hindus were and should be two separate nations, i.e. that Muslims required the creation of an independent nation of their own—Pakistan—in which they would predominate. In 1940, the Muslim League adopted this as its goal, under the leadership of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, a Mumbai (formerly Bombay) attorney who resisted all efforts at compromise through all the difficult days leading up to the grant of independence in 1947.
In language, culture, ethnic background, population density, political experience, and economic potential, East and West Pakistan were totally disparate. The primary bond was Islam. Pakistan's early years as a nation were dominated by unsuccessful attempts—punctuated by bouts of authoritarian rule—to create a national polity that would somehow bridge these differences. Larger in population and in economic importance than the west wing, the Bengali east wing chafed under national policies effectively dominated by the leadership residing in the west wing. When its influence was further reduced under repeated bouts of martial law and by the reconstruction of West Pakistan as a single province, demands for autonomy in the east began to mount. Th is demand proved more than the fragile sense of Islamic nationhood could sustain. The new state of Pakistan, made up of Muslim-majority districts in both eastern and western reaches of formerly British India, was at best an unwieldy creation. It cut across long-established lines of trade and communication, divided families, provoked a mass movement of millions of refugees caught on the "wrong" side of the partition markers, and forced the creation of a new but divided polity. Pakistan consisted of two distinct territories, separated by 1,600 km (1,000 mi) of secular but predominantly Hindu India. West Pakistan, with a population of 34 million, consisted mainly of the former provinces of Baluchistan, Sindh, the Northwest Frontier, and (partially) Punjab (which, like Bengal, was also partitioned). East Pakistan, its 42 million people including nearly 9 million Hindus, encompassed the eastern half of Bengal province as shaped in 1912, plus the Sylhet District of Assam.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
Bangladesh joined the United Nations on 17 September 1974; it belongs to ESCAP and several nonregional specialized agencies. The country holds membership in the Asian Development Bank, the Colombo Plan, the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC), and G-77. The nation became a member of the WTO on 1 January 1995. In 1985, Bangladesh became one of seven constituent members of the SAARC, under which it is a signatory to the South Asia Preferential Trade Agreement.Soon after independence, Bangladesh signed a friendship treaty with India, but relations between the two nations are often strained. In 1997, Bangladesh signed an agreement with India on sharing water from the Ganges River. Pakistan recognized Bangladesh in February 1974, and the two have developed good relations, their past differences notwithstanding.
Generally, Bangladesh follows a nonaligned foreign policy by but the late 1990s was seeking closer relations with other Islamic states, ASEAN, and China. Bangladesh has offered assistance to UN efforts in Kosovo (est. 1999), the Western Sahara (est. 1991), Ethiopia and Eritrea (est. 2000), Sierra Leone (est. 1999), East Timor (est. 2002), Georgia (est. 1993), Côte d'Ivoire (est. 2004), and DROC (est. 1999). Bangladesh also continued a healthy relationship with the United States, with which it had bilateral trade agreements. In 1995, the country's trade exporters association signed an agreement with the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the International Labor Organization (ILO) under which industry's rampant use of child labor would be eliminated.
In environmental cooperation, Bangladesh is part of the Basel Convention, the Convention on Biological Diversity, Ramsar, CITES, the Kyoto Protocol, the Montréal Protocol, the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, and the UN Conventions on the Law of the Sea, Climate Change, and Desertification.
AGRICULTURE
Agriculture accounted for 23% of GDP and engaged 53% of the economically active population in 2003. Most of the farmers own no more than a few acres of land, and their holdings are badly fragmented. The land is fertile, but yields are low because of a lack of capital for input.Rice dominates the production of about 60% of all cropped land in Bangladesh. Of the varieties grown, aman rice, which can be raised in inundated land and saline soil, occupies nearly 60% of the total land under rice. Aus rice, which cannot be grown in flooded fields, is raised mostly in higher areas of Bangladesh. Boro rice is grown in the winter, mainly in the swamps and marshy areas, but government-supported irrigation projects have encouraged its extension to other areas. To meet the challenge of the food shortages, the government of Bangladesh and international aid programs introduced a high-yielding variety of rice called IRRI with considerable success. Total rice production in 2004 was 37,910,000 tons. Before November 1992, the government artificially inflated rice prices by buying over one million tons per harvest. With subsidies gone, the subsequent fall in rice prices reflected an adjustment of the market after 20 years of prices propped up by government sales and purchases.
Jute is the main cash crop of Bangladesh, which produces about one-quarter of the total jute supply of the world. Grown in most parts of the country, jute is harvested from July to September. Its strong fibers are used to produce carpets, burlap bags, mats, upholstery, and other products. Jute is also used to manufacture textiles for clothes. The combined total export of jute and jute products represents about 13–15% of Bangladesh's annual export earnings. Although Bangladesh is the world leader in exports of jute, its prominence in the economy has slipped since the 1970s. The diminished role is due to mismanagement of the nationalized jute industry, labor strikes, and a drop in the worldwide use of jute for packing. In 2004, 800,000 tons of jute were produced (28% of world production).
Although tea is the second most important agricultural export, it accounted for only 11% of agricultural export earnings in 2004. Most tea plantations are in the Sylhet Region and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Much of the tea is consumed domestically; total production in 2004 was 55,600 tons.
The agricultural economy, though disrupted by the 1971 war, largely recovered and grew by an average 2.7% annually during the 1980s and by an annual average of 2.9% during 1990–2000. However, in 2003 agricultural production was down 2.1% from 1999–2001. Agricultural exports accounted for 1.7% of total exports in 2004. Frequent monsoons and cyclones keep the economy vulnerable. Crop output (in tons) in 2004 included sugarcane, 6,484,000; wheat, 1,253,000; potatoes, 3,908,000; sweet potatoes, 320,000; tobacco, 40,000; and barley, 1,000. Fruit production in 2004 included 700,000 tons of bananas, 243,000 tons of mangoes, and 155,000 tons of pineapples. Coconut productions totaled 89,000 tons that year; lentils, 122,000 tons.
FORESTRY
Bangladesh has an estimated 1,300,000 hectares (3,200,000 acres) of forests, covering some 10.2% of land area. In recent years, the pressure of population has led to enormous deforestation. The government controlled Forest Industries Development Corp. supervises the development and exploitation of forest resources. Roundwood production in 2003 came to 28 million cu m (1 billion cu ft). Over 98% of timber cut is used for firewood.The main forest zone is the Sunderbans area in the southwest, consisting mostly of mangrove forests. Two principal species dominate the Sunderban forests: sundari trees, which grow about 15–18 m (50–60 ft) high and are of tough timber, and gewa trees, a softer wood used for making newsprint. Teak and bamboo are grown in the central forests.
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Bangladesh lacks the trained personnel necessary for intensive technological development. The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (founded in 1962) does, however, train some technicians. Other institutions offering scientific and technical education include the Bangladesh Agricultural University in Mymensingh, the University of Chittagong, the University of Dhaka, Jahangirnagar University in Dhaka, Khulna University, and the University of Rajshahi. In the period 1990–01, there were only 51 scientists and 32 technicians engaged in research and development per million people. In 2002, high technology exports totaled $10 million.The Bangladesh Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and headquartered in Dhaka, operates seven research institutes, and the Bangladesh Atomic Energy commission, founded in 1973, and also in Dhaka, operates two others. The Geological Society of Bangladesh, founded in 1972 at Dhaka, is a government organization under the Ministry of Energy and Natural resources. Leading professional groups are the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences, the Bangladesh Medical Association, and the Zoological Society of Bangladesh, all headquartered in Dhaka.
SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT
A system of pensions exists for public employees only, and there is a limited work injury and unemployment insurance system. These programs are financed entirely by employer contributions and cover only small percentage of the population. Sickness and maternity benefits are offered on a very limited basis.Although the constitution prohibits discrimination, women and minority groups are confronted with social and economic disadvantages. Violence against women remained widespread. In 2004 reports continued of women being tortured and killed over dowry disputes. Rapes are seriously underreported due to the social disgrace to the victims. Acid attacks to women remained a problem.
Because of widespread poverty, children are forced to work at a very young age, and are frequently abused and subjected to dangerous working conditions. More than half of all children suffer from malnutrition. There is a huge problem of trafficking of both women and children. Some estimates place the number of child laborers as high as 10 million, including an estimated 29,000 child prostitutes. There are an estimated 400,000 homeless children, of which approximately 150,000 have no knowledge of their parents.
Although the government is secular, discrimination against minority religions leads to conflict and violence. The government's human rights record is poor, with many fundamental human rights restricted. As of 2004, disappearance, kidnapping, torture, and violent suppression of demonstrators were carried out regularly. Prison conditions are inhumane.
HEALTH
Malaria, tuberculosis, and other serious diseases remain endemic and public health problems are aggravated by widespread malnutrition and periodic natural disasters. Between 1995 and 2000, the prevalence of malnutrition in children under five years old decreased from 84% to 55%. In 2000, 97% of the population had access to safe drinking water and 53 % had adequate sanitation, up from 78% and 35%, respectively, in 1980. Because the lack of vitamin A plays a role in blindness and malnutrition, in 1993 the government of Bangladesh introduced a national system to distribute vitamin A capsules to children.In the mid-1990s, only 45% of the population had access to health services. In 2004, there were estimated 23 physicians, 13 nurses, and 11 midwives per 100,000 people.
The average life expectancy in 2005 was 62.08 years. The government pays the majority of vaccination costs, which has helped increase participation. As of 1999, estimated immunization rates for children under one year of age were 71% for measles and 72% for diphtheria, tetanus, and pertussis. The infant mortality rate was 62.6 per 1,000 live births in 2005. It was estimated that 54% of married women (ages 15–49) used contraception. Maternal deaths were estimated at 440 per 100,000 live births in 200, down from 850 in 1990.
A new strain of cholera was reported late in 1992. The HIV/AIDS prevalence was 0.20 per 100 adults in 2003. As of 2004, there were approximately 13,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the country. There were an estimated 650 deaths from AIDS in 2003.
EDUCATION
Education is compulsory for students between the ages of 6 and 11, although rural girls are exempted from this law. Primary education covers five years. Secondary education is divided into three two-year cycles of junior (three years), upper (two years), and higher (two years) secondary programs. After their junior level, students may choose to attend a vocational training school for two years, followed by a higher technical course of two years, instead of following the general education track. There is also a Madrasah system (Islamic education) which is required to support national curricula. Most educational institutions are supported by the government either fully or partially. The language of instruction is Bangla.Primary school enrollment in 2003 was estimated at about 84% of age-eligible students; 82% for boys and 86% for girls. The same year, secondary school enrollment was about 44% of age-eligible students; 42% for boys and 47% for girls. It was estimated that about 73.3% of all students complete their primary education. The student-to-teacher ratio for primary school was at about 56:1 in 2003; the ratio for secondary school was about 34:1.
The principal administrative bodies for education are the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Association of Universities of Bangladesh. As of 2003, public expenditure on education was estimated at 2.4% of GDP.
There are 17 public universities and 10 medical colleges, and 10 teacher-training colleges. There are several polytechnical schools offering three-year courses in a variety of technical and engineering fields. Technical Training Centers offer certificate and diploma course. The Bangladesh Open University offers degree and non-degree continuing education programs. Research institutions include the Bangla Academy (which sponsors translations of scientific and literary works into Bangla), the Asiatic Society, and the National Institute of Public Administration's Institute of Law and International Affairs. In 2003, about 6% of the tertiary age population were enrolled in some type of higher education program. The adult literacy rate for 2004 was estimated at about 41.1%, with 50.3% for males and 31.4% for females.
MEDIA
All postal and telecommunications services are controlled by the government. In 2003, there were an estimated five mainline telephones for every 1,000 people; about 153,100 people were on a waiting list for telephone service installation. The same year, there were approximately 10 mobile phones in use for every 1,000 people.Color television was introduced in 1980. The primary radio and television broadcast stations are owned and operated by the government. In 2004, there was only one private radio station and three private television stations. In 2003, there were an estimated 49 radios and 59 television sets for every 1,000 people. While cable television service is available, only about 27 of every 1,000 people are subscribers. Also in 2003, there were 7.8 personal computers for every 1,000 people and 2 of every 1,000 people had access to the Internet. There were three secure Internet servers in the country in 2004.
The major Bengali daily newspapers (with 2002 circulations), all in Dhaka, are Ittefaq (200,000), Dainik Inqilab (180,000), Sangbad (71,050), Dainik Bangla (65,000), and Dainik Sangram (45,000). The largest English dailies, also in Dhaka, are the Bangladesh Observer (43,000), Bangladesh Times (35,000), and Daily Star (30,000). Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) and United News of Bangladesh (UNB) are the two main news agencies.
The government is said, with some exceptions, to generally respect freedom of speech and press. On occasion, the government has censored criticism of Islam.
ORGANIZATIONS
The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry and the Foreign Investors' Chamber of Commerce and Industry are based in Dhaka. There are also many workers' associations, including the Bangladesh Teachers' Federation, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, the Bangladesh Tea Board, and the Bangladesh Jute Mills Association. The Association for Social Advancement serves as a developmental organization assisting the poor. The Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) also serves as a welfare and development organization. Maulik Chahida Karmashuchi promotes economic and social development of rural citizens through educational, vocational, and economic programs. Parbatya Bouddha Mission particularly serves the needs of the indigenous tribal people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.The Bangladesh Medical Studies and Research Institute and the Bangladesh Academy of Sciences promote research and education in a number of medical and scientific fields. Other medical associations include the Bangladesh Dental Society and the Bangladesh Society for Study of Pain
Various associations for the Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and Buddhist communities have long been active in organizing religious festivals and social activities. Every town also has several cultural groups. The Bangladesh Women's Association is active in social life.
There are about 39 national youth organizations and about two hundred regional and local youth organizations. These generally hold membership in one of two coordinating bodies: the Bangladesh Youth Council (BYC) and the National Federation of Youth Organizations in Bangladesh. There are about seven major student unions including the Bangladesh federation of University Women. Particular youth groups include the Bangladesh Girl Guides, the Bangladesh Scout, Junior Chamber Bangladesh, and the YMCA/YWCA. There are several sports associations, including groups for badminton, track and field, tae kwan do, tennis, and weightlifting.
The Red Crescent Society, Amnesty International, Habitat for Humanity, Caritas, UNICEF, Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, and Greenpeace have chapters within the country.
TOURISM, TRAVEL, AND RECREATION
The main tourist attractions include the old Mughal capital at Dhaka, nearby Sonargaon with its ancient architecture, the Buddhist cultural center of Mainamati, and the beach resort of Cox's Bazar. At the end of the 1980s tourism declined due to political unrest. Throughout the 1990s, however, figures began to increase. In 1997, about 172,000 foreign visitors arrived. In 2003, about 244,500 tourists visited the country. There were 4,565 hotel rooms with 10,165 beds and a 38% occupancy rate. Tourism revenues totaled $59 million. A valid passport and visa are required as well as a return or onward ticket.In 2004, the US Department of State estimated the daily cost of staying in Dhaka at $191. Expenses in other areas can be much lower.
