]! ^! 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. 
]" ^" Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India ^# 24 00 N, 90 00 E ^$ Asia ^% `! 144,000 sq km `" 133,910 sq km `# 10,090 sq km ^& slightly smaller than Iowa ^' `! 4,246 km `U Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km ^( 580 km ^) `$ 12 nm `H 18 nm `I 200 nm `J up to the outer limits of the continental margin ^* tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October) ^+ mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast ^, `% Indian Ocean 0 m `& Keokradong 1,230 m ^- natural gas, arable land, timber, coal ^. `' 62.11% `( 3.07% `) 34.82% (2001) ^/ 38,440 sq km (1998 est.) ^0 droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season ^1 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 _J `K Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands `L none of the selected agreements ^2 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 
]# ^3 144,319,628 (July 2005 est.) ^4 `* 33.1% (male 24,590,207/female 23,162,420) `+ 63.5% (male 46,764,824/female 44,868,733) `, 3.4% (male 2,650,683/female 2,282,761) (2005 est.) ^5 `! 21.87 years `- 21.88 years `. 21.85 years (2005 est.) ^6 2.09% (2005 est.) ^7 30.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^8 8.4 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^9 -0.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) ^: `/ 1.06 male(s)/female `0 1.06 male(s)/female `+ 1.04 male(s)/female `, 1.16 male(s)/female `1 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.) ^; `! 62.6 deaths/1,000 live births `- 63.65 deaths/1,000 live births `. 61.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) ^< `1 62.08 years `- 62.13 years `. 62.02 years (2005 est.) ^= 3.13 children born/woman (2005 est.) ^> less than 0.1% (2001 est.) ^? 13,000 (2001 est.) ^@ 650 (2001 est.) __ degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations water contact disease: leptospirosis animal contact disease: rabies (2004) ^A `2 Bangladeshi(s) `3 Bangladeshi ^B Bengali 98%, tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims (1998) ^C Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998) ^D Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English ^E `M age 15 and over can read and write `1 43.1% `- 53.9% `. 31.8% (2003 est.) 
]$ ^F `4 People's Republic of Bangladesh `5 Bangladesh `X East Pakistan ^H parliamentary democracy ^I Dhaka ^J 6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Sylhet ^K 16 December 1971 (from West Pakistan); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is known as Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh ^L Independence Day, 26 March (1971); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh ^M 4 November 1972, effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982, restored 10 November 1986; amended many times ^N based on English common law ^O 18 years of age; universal ^P `6 President Iajuddin AHMED (since 6 September 2002); note - the president's duties are normally ceremonial, but with the 13th amendment to the constitution ("Caretaker Government Amendment"), the president's role becomes significant at times when Parliament is dissolved and a caretaker government is installed - at presidential direction - to supervise the elections `7 Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA (since 10 October 2001) `8 Cabinet selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president `9 president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term; election scheduled for 16 September 2002 was not held since Iajuddin AHMED was the only presidential candidate; he was sworn in on 6 September 2002 (next election to be held by NA 2007); following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats is usually appointed prime minister by the president `: Iajuddin AHMED declared by the Election Commission elected unopposed as president; percent of National Parliament vote - NA ^Q unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies (the constitutional amendment reserving 30 seats for women over and above the 300 regular parliament seats expired in May 2001); members serve five-year terms `9 last held 1 October 2001 (next to be held before October 2006) `: percent of vote by party - BNP and alliance partners 47%, AL 40%; seats by party - BNP 195, AL 58, JI 17, JP (Ershad faction) 14, IOJ 3, JP (Naziur) 4, other 9; note - the election of October 2001 brought a majority BNP government aligned with three other smaller parties - Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote, and Jatiya Party (Manzur) ^R Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president) ^S Awami League or AL [Sheikh HASINA]; Bangladesh Communist Party or BCP [Saifuddin Ahmed MANIK]; Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP [Khaleda ZIA, chairperson]; Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI]; Jamaat-e-Islami or JI [Motiur Rahman NIZAMI]; Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD]; Jatiya Party (Manzur faction) [Naziur Rahman MANZUR] ^T NA ^U AsDB, C, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK, UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO ^V `N Ambassador Shamsher Mobin CHOWDHURY `O 3510 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 `P [1] (202) 244-0183 `Q [1] (202) 244-5366 `R Los Angeles and New York ^W `N Ambassador Harry K. THOMAS, Jr. `Z Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka 1212 `[ G. P. O. Box 323, Dhaka 1000 `P [880] (2) 885-5500 `Q [880] (2) 882-3744 ^X green with a large red disk slightly to the hoist side of center; the red sun of freedom represents the blood shed to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush countryside, and secondarily, the traditional color of Islam 
]% ^Y 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. One encouraging note: growth has been a steady 5% for the past several years. ^Z $275.7 billion (2004 est.) ^[ 4.9% (2004 est.) ^\ purchasing power parity - $2,000 (2004 est.) ^] `; 21.2% `< 27.1% `= 51.7% (2004 est.) ^^ 65.49 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 (2004 est.) ^_ agriculture 63%, industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96) ^` 40% (includes underemployment) (2004 est.) ^a 45% (2004 est.) _! `> 3.9% `? 28.6% (1995-96 est.) _d 33.6 (FY95/96) _" 6% (2004 est.) _P 23.5% of GDP (2004 est.) _# `@ $5.921 billion `A $8.262 billion, including capital expenditures of NA (2004 est.) _Q 43% of GDP (2004 est.) _$ rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry _% cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar _& 6.5% (2004 est.) _' 16.45 billion kWh (2002) _( 15.3 billion kWh (2002) _) 0 kWh (2002) _* 0 kWh (2002) _+ 3,581 bbl/day (2001 est.) _, 71,000 bbl/day (2001 est.) _- NA _. NA _R 28.45 million bbl (1 January 2002) _S 9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.) _T 9.9 billion cu m (2001 est.) _U 0 cu m (2001 est.) _V 0 cu m (2001 est.) _W 150.3 billion cu m (1 January 2002) _X $216.6 million (2004 est.) _/ $7.478 billion (2004 est.) _0 garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001) _1 US 22.4%, Germany 14.5%, UK 11.2%, France 6.9%, Italy 4% (2004) _2 $10.03 billion (2004 est.) _3 machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000) _4 India 15.1%, China 12.5%, Singapore 7.5%, Kuwait 5.5%, Japan 5.3%, Hong Kong 4.5% (2004) _Y $3 billion (2004 est.) _5 $19.97 billion (2004 est.) _6 $1.575 billion (2000 est.) _7 taka (BDT) _8 taka per US dollar - 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002), 55.807 (2001), 52.142 (2000) _9 1 July - 30 June 
]& _: 740,000 (2003) _; 1.365 million (2003) _< `B totally inadequate for a modern country `C modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic cable in cities `D country code - 880; satellite earth stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); international radiotelephone communications and landline service to neighboring countries (2000) _= AM 12, FM 12, shortwave 2 (1999) _> 15 (1999) _? .bd _@ 1 (2003) _A 243,000 (2003) 
]' _e `! 2,706 km `e 884 km 1.676-m gauge `c 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2004) _B `! 207,486 km `E 19,773 km `F 187,713 km (1999) _b 8,372 km note: includes 2,575 km main cargo routes (2004) _[ gas 2,012 km (2004) _C Chittagong, Mongla Port _K `! 41 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 319,897 GRT/440,575 DWT by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 28, container 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4 `S 10 (China 1, Singapore 9) `\ 14 (2005) _D 16 (2004 est.) _E `! 15 `] 1 `G 3 `^ 4 `_ 1 `T 6 (2004 est.) _L `! 1 `^ 1 (2004 est.) 
]( _F Army, Navy, Air Force _M 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2005) _] males age 18-49: 35,170,019 (2005 est.) Manpower fit for military service: males age 18-49: 26,841,255 (2005 est.) _N $995.3 million (2004) _O 1.8% (2004) 
]) _H discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary inspection in 2005 revealed 92 pillars are missing; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; Burmese Muslim refugees strain Bangladesh's meager resources _c IDPs: 61,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2004) _I transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries 