s e i Bangladesh r t n u o c r e b m e m h t l KEY FACTS Topography: Apart from hills to the south-east, most of a Bangladesh is a flat alluvial plain crossed by navigable waterways – e Joined Commonwealth: 1972 the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna) and Meghna river w n Population: 154,695,000 (2012) systems – flowing into the Bay of Bengal. About 14 per cent of the o GDP p.c. growth: 3.7% p.a. 1990–2012 country is normally under water. Flooding is frequent and can be m UN HDI 2012: world ranking 146 disastrous. m o Official language: Bangla
C Climate: Tropical monsoon-type. Hot and humid April to October, Time: GMT plus 6hr with the monsoon season running June to September. Cool and dry, Currency: taka (Tk) November to March. The country is vulnerable to cyclones, which can be devastating. The cyclone of April 1991 killed 138,000 people. Geography In November 2007, Cyclone Sidr hit the southern coastal strip of Bangladesh, also killing and making homeless thousands of people. Area: 143,998 sq km Coastline: 580 km Environment: The most significant issues are severe Capital: Dhaka overpopulation, high risk of flooding in large areas of the country, The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is a fertile and densely soil degradation and erosion, ground water contaminated by populated delta country in southern Asia bordered by the Bay of naturally occurring arsenic, and poisoning of fish by use of Bengal, India and Myanmar (formerly Burma). commercial pesticides. Vegetation: Intensely cultivated; paddy fields dominate the delta; palms, bamboo, mango, the plains. Water hyacinth is a serious menace to waterways. Forest on the south-eastern hills; forest covers 11 per cent of the land area, having declined at 0.2 per cent p.a. 1990–2010. Soil is mostly very rich, supporting intensive cropping, with up to three crops p.a. in many places; arable land comprises 59 per cent of the total land area.
Wildlife: The country has a varied wildlife population, although 18 species became extinct during the 20th century and 34 species of mammals and 31 of birds were endangered in 2012. Mammal species include 26 types of bat, the famous Bengal tiger (now virtually confined to the Sundarbans and numbering a few hundred) and the Gangetic dolphin, and reptile species include turtles, river tortoise, crocodile, gavial, python, krait and cobra. There are several ‘protected’ areas for wildlife.
Main towns: Dhaka (capital, pop. 10.86m in 2010), Chittagong (3.87m), Narayanganj (1.49m), Khulna (1.44m), Rajshahi (808,400),
Did you know?
The Tenth Commonwealth Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting was held in Dhaka, 17–19 June 2013, with delegates from 30 countries and a theme of ‘Women’s Leadership for Enterprise’. Muhammad Yunus, Founder of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, delivered the 6th Annual Commonwealth Lecture, on ‘Halving Poverty by 2015’, in 2003; he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006, jointly with the Bank. Two Bangladeshi-born writers have won the Commonwealth Writers’ Prize Best First Book award: Adib Khan (1995) and Tahmima Anam (2008).
The Commonwealth Yearbook 2014 Tungi (437,400), Sylhet (410,200), Mymensingh (395,100), years. Some 66 per cent of pupils complete primary school (2009). B a
Narsingdi (361,600), Comilla (344,800), Rangpur (330,000), Barisal The school year starts in January. n
(270,900), Jessore (260,800), Bogra (260,200), Dinajpur (182,700), g
A parallel system of education – madrassa education – offers l Pabna (182,600), Nawabganj (177,800) and Brahman Baria a Islamic instruction from primary level up to postgraduate level. d
(157,900). e s
The main public universities are the University of Dhaka (established h Transport: There are 21,270 km of roads, ten per cent paved; in 1921); University of Rajshahi (1954); Bangladesh Agricultural these roads are vulnerable to damage by storms or floods, and University (1961, located in Mymensingh); University of Chittagong have many bridges. The 4.8 km Jamuna multipurpose bridge was (1966); and University of Jahangirnagar (1970, in Savar, Dhaka). inaugurated in 1998, linking the east and the west of the country There are also several private universities in Dhaka, including by road and railway. North–South University and Independent University. The A rail network of some 2,835 km links the main towns. The Bangladesh Open University provides distance learning for a wide Dhaka–Chittagong line has frequent daily services. Rail is broad range of students at secondary and tertiary levels. The female–male gauge in the west, narrow gauge in the east, with ferry links across ratio for gross enrolment in tertiary education is 0.70:1 (2011). rivers. Literacy among people aged 15–24 is 77 per cent (2010).
Bangladesh has 5–8,000 km of navigable waterway, depending on Media: Bangladesh has a lively and thriving press, with very many extent of flooding, and a well-developed water transport network, newspapers and weeklies in circulation. Leading English-language carrying more than 30 per cent of domestic freight. The main ports newspapers are The Daily Star , Daily Sun , The Independent , New are Chittagong and Mongla, Chittagong dealing with the bulk of Age , The New Nation , Dhaka Courier (weekly) and Holiday foreign trade. Shahjalal (formerly Zia) International Airport is 19 km (weekly). Dailies in Bengali include Ittefaq , Prothom Alo and north of Dhaka. Jugantor .
Television is Bangladesh’s most popular medium, especially in the Society cities. The country’s sole terrestrial TV channel, Bangladesh KEY FACTS 2012 Television, is a public service. Satellite and cable television are popular in urban areas. Betar–Radio Bangladesh is the national Population per sq km: 1,074 public radio service. Life expectancy: 70 years Net primary enrolment: 92% (2010) Some 48 per cent of households have TV sets (2006). There are 23 Population: 154,695,000 (2012); density among world’s highest; personal computers per 1,000 people (2006). 29 per cent of people live in urban areas and 14 per cent in urban Communications: Country code 880; internet domain ‘.bd’. agglomerations of more than one million people; growth 1.7 per Mobile phone coverage is good in urban areas but patchy cent p.a. 1990–2012; birth rate 20 per 1,000 people (47 in 1970), elsewhere. Internet connections exist in main towns. controlled by vigorous family planning schemes; life expectancy 70 years (44 in 1970). There are six main telephone lines, 628 mobile phone subscriptions and 63 internet users per 1,000 people (2012). Language: Bangla (Bengali) is the official language. English is widely spoken, especially in government and commerce. Public holidays: Shaheed Day (International Mother Language Day, 21 February), Independence Day (26 March), Labour Day (1 Religion: Muslims 90 per cent, Hindus ten per cent, a few May), Bank Holiday (early July), National Mourning Day (15 Buddhists and Christians (2004); Islam is the state religion. August), National Revolution Day (7 November), Victory Day (16 Health: Public spending on health was one per cent of GDP in December) and New Year’s Eve. The weekend comprises 2011. Public-sector medical facilities remain scarce, though there Friday/Saturday. are clinics run by a major NGO, BRAC. To provide safe drinking Religious and other festivals whose dates vary from year to year water, between the 1970s and the mid-1990s some five million include Prophet’s Birthday, Bangla Naba Barsha (Bengali New Year, wells were drilled, and in 2011 the UN estimated that 83 per cent around 14 April), Buddha Purnima (April/May), Shab-e-Bharat of the population was using an improved drinking water source (Ascension of the Prophet), Eid al-Fitr (End of Ramadan, three and 55 per cent had access to adequate sanitation facilities. days), Durga Puja (Dashami, October), Shab-e-Qadr (Evening of However, from 1996 naturally occurring arsenic was detected in Destiny), Eid al-Adha (Feast of the Sacrifice, three days) and Islamic the ground water (supplying over one million tube wells), putting New Year. nearly 50 per cent of the population at risk. By the 2000s there was an epidemic of health problems caused by arsenic poisoning. Economy Bangladesh has maintained a high level of immunisation coverage KEY FACTS 2012 against diseases such as diphtheria, whooping cough, tetanus and GNI: US$129.3bn measles. There are 78 medical colleges in Bangladesh (2014). Infant mortality was 33 per 1,000 live births in 2012 (149 in 1960). GNI p.c.: US$840 GDP growth: 6.2% p.a. 2008–12 Education: Public spending on education was two per cent of Inflation: 7.9% p.a. 2008–12 GDP in 2008. There are five years of compulsory primary education The country has a high population density, limited natural resources and eight years of free education, starting at the age of six. Almost and an agricultural economy vulnerable to floods and cyclones, but all primary schools are government-managed. Secondary schools it nevertheless achieved economic growth averaging around four comprise a first cycle of three years and a second cycle of four
The Commonwealth Yearbook 2014 remained buoyant with continuing growth in clothing exports and s Real Growth in GDP e remittances from Bangladeshis living abroad. Keeping inflation i r t % 8 under control, however, proved more challenging. n u 7 o
c Constitution
6 r e 5 Status: Republic b Legislature: Jatiya Sangsad m 4 e Independence: 1971 3 m
Bangladesh is a republic with a non-executive President. Under the h 2 t Twelfth Constitutional Amendment (1991) there is a parliamentary l a 1 system. The unicameral parliament (Jatiya Sangsad) comprises 300 e directly elected members from geographical constituencies for five-
w 0 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 n year terms, plus 50 seats reserved for women nominated by o political parties – based on their share of the elected seats – and m then voted on by sitting lawmakers. The allocation of seats m o Inflation reserved for women was provided by the Fourteenth Constitutional C Amendment (2004). One parliamentary candidate can stand in up % 12 to three constituencies. If a candidate wins in more than one 10 constituency a by-election or by-elections are called. Parliament may sit no longer than five years. Constitutional amendments 8 require a two-thirds majority of parliament.
6 Executive power is with the Prime Minister, who heads a council of ministers (the cabinet), and whose advice is necessary for all 4 presidential acts. The head of state is the President who is elected by the national parliament for a five-year term. The presidency is a 2 largely ceremonial role, although the President appoints members
0 of the cabinet and the judiciary and has the power to dissolve 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 parliament.
The Thirteenth Constitutional Amendment (1996) required a non- partisan caretaker administration to oversee the election process. GDP by Sector (2012) However, following a Supreme Court judgment in May 2011 which had found it to be illegal, on 30 June 2011 the Jatiya Sangsad repealed the Thirteenth Amendment. Agriculture 17.3% In November 2007 the caretaker government declared the Industry 26.9% independence of the judiciary from the executive, following a Services 55.8% directive issued by the Supreme Court in December 1999 – in accordance with Article 22 of the Constitution of Bangladesh. Previous elected governments of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Awami League had effectively filibustered implementing the per cent p.a. from the 1970s. It does also have huge reserves of directive. natural gas (estimated at 200 billion cubic metres in January 2013) and some coal. Politics Economic policy has long aimed at the alleviation of poverty through increasing food production and expanding education, Last elections: 5 January 2014 while developing an industrial and technological base, but severe Next elections: 2019 floods have often frustrated development plans. Head of state: President Abdul Hamid Head of government: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina From the mid-1990s, successive governments were committed to free-market policies, privatisation of state-owned enterprises, Ruling party: alliance led by the Awami League attracting overseas investment and banking reform. More than 60 Women MPs: 20% state-owned enterprises, in areas as diverse as manufacturing, Following a very violent campaign, in October 2001, the four-party agriculture, transport and communications, were identified for alliance led by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won a divestment, but progress was slow due to strong popular surprise landslide victory, taking a total of 214 of the directly opposition. These policies led to an improvement in economic elective seats; the Awami League took 62 and the Islamic National performance, even in 1998 when the country was devastated by Unity Front, which included a faction of the Jatiya Party led by the floods that covered nearly two-thirds of the land area. Hossain Ershad, 14.
From 2000 the economy grew strongly, with growth rates generally Although international observers declared the general election to be over six per cent p.a. in 2006–13 driven by strong exports. In largely free and fair and both the head of the caretaker government 2008–09, despite the world economic downturn, the economy and the chief election commissioner rejected the Awami League’s
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n a c r n u h a s r a o u p u a h o i h h B n n n n T b a 1 m h t I P B w ( F w E a s T s s a a a I i o b t r P 1 e 1 c P 1 w B g t t g a I w p s D a T c P 1 e H allegation of massive vote-rigging, Sheikh Hasina called for the parliamentary opposition. However, the Jatiya Party also accepted s
e elections to be run again, threatening mass protests and a several cabinet positions. i r
t parliamentary boycott, which had characterised opposition politics Commonwealth Secretary-General Kamalesh Sharma said on 6 n during previous administrations. The Awami League subsequently u January 2014 that: ‘The limited levels of participation and the low o returned to parliament and assumed its role as opposition. c voter turnout are disappointing. The acts of violence are deeply r The political temperature remained very high in 2003. In June 2003 troubling...Therefore, it is critical that Bangladesh moves quickly to e b the Awami League began a boycott of parliament, which find a path forward through dialogue to a more inclusive and m continued until June 2004. During 2004 the opposition called 21 peaceful political process in which the will of the people can be e general strikes as part of a campaign to oust the government. fully expressed.’ The new government was sworn in on 12 January. m
h In October 2006, a general election was called for January 2007 t l International relations
a and President Iajuddin Ahmed formed a caretaker government. In e early January 2007, it was confirmed that the Awami League and Bangladesh is a member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association, w other smaller opposition parties were to boycott the election on Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, n o the belief that the interim government and election commission South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, United Nations m were biased. Following national transport blockades raised by and World Trade Organization. m Awami League supporters who wanted the election postponed and o Traveller information C ensuing riots, a state of emergency was imposed and President Ahmed postponed the election, stood down as chief adviser of the Immigration and customs: Passports must be valid for at least interim government and was succeeded by Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed, three months from the date of departure. Visas are required by all former central bank governor. The Election Commission then Commonwealth nationals. established a road map for electoral reform, including preparation of a new voters’ list with photographs. Travel within the country: Traffic drives on the left. Visitors wishing to drive will need an international driving permit. The election – held in December 2008 with Commonwealth observers Domestic flights connect Dhaka with most of the other main present – was won by the alliance led by the Awami League, which towns. Rail travel is slow; the main line is between Dhaka and itself took 230 seats; its ally the Jatiya Party 27. The BNP won 30 seats Chittagong. A ferry operates from Dhaka to Khulna. In urban areas and its allies three. The turnout of the electorate was a record 87 per cycle-rickshaws and taxis are widely available. cent. Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as Prime Minister in January 2009. On 11 February, Zillur Rahman was elected Travel health: Prevalent diseases where appropriate precautionary unopposed to replace Iajuddin Ahmed as non-executive President. measures are recommended include cholera, dengue fever, diphtheria, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, Japanese encephalitis, malaria, In late February 2009, the new government faced its first crisis rabies and typhoid. when a section of the paramilitary Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) There were 303,000 tourist arrivals in 2010. mutinied, ostensibly over pay and conditions. Officials reported 74 deaths – mostly BDR officers – and more than 1,000 soldiers were Further information arrested and interrogated. Six special military courts were National Web Portal of Bangladesh: www.bangladesh.gov.bd established in November 2009 to try BDR personnel accused of Bangladesh Election Commission: www.ecs.gov.bd mutiny, while others charged with murder, looting and other Jatiya Sangsad: www.parliament.gov.bd serious offences were put to trial in civilian courts. On 23 January Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics: www.bbs.gov.bd 2011 the BDR was officially renamed Border Guard of Bangladesh in accordance with the ‘Border Guard Bangladesh Bill 2010’ passed Bangladesh Bank: www.bangladesh-bank.org by the parliament on 8 December 2010. Bangladesh Tourism Board: www.tourismboard.gov.bd Commonwealth Secretariat: www.thecommonwealth.org In late 2010 the government established a tribunal to prosecute Commonwealth of Nations: those accused of committing war crimes during Bangladesh’s war www.commonwealthofnations.org/country/Bangladesh of independence in 1971. From January 2013 the first verdicts were given; the first group to appear before the tribunal comprised Media nine leading members of Jamaat-e-Islami and two members of the Daily Sun : www.daily-sun.com opposition BNP and violent protests erupted in early March. New Age : www.newagebd.com / President Zillur Rahman died on 20 March 2013. Speaker Abdul The Daily Star : www.thedailystar.net Hamid, who had been acting President since 14 March, was The Independent : www.theindependentbd.com elected President unopposed by parliament on 22 April and was The New Nation : nation.ittefaq.com sworn in on 24 April. Dhaka Courier : www.dhakacourier.com.bd The election on 5 January 2014 was boycotted by the BNP, which Holiday : www.weeklyholiday.net had called for the polls to be held under a caretaker government. Bangladesh Television: www.btv.gov.bd As a result, voting took place in only 147 of the country’s 300 Betar–Radio Bangladesh: www.betar.org.bd constituencies, with 153 seats uncontested. The Awami League bdnews24: www.bdnews24 .com obtained 231 seats overall, achieving a two-thirds majority in Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha: www.bssnews.net parliament. The Jatiya Party took 34 seats and formed the
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