Know Bangladesh
Bangladesh is Located in the north-eastern part of South Asia. The majestic Himalayas stand some distance to the north, while in the south lays the Bay of Bengal. West Bengal borders on the west and in the east lies the hilly and forested regions of Tripura, Mizoram (India) and Myanmar. These picturesque geographical boundaries frame a low lying plain of about 1,47,570 square kilometer, criss-crossed by innumerable rivers and streams. Mighty rivers are Padma (Ganges), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), Meghna and Karnafuli.

Bangladesh offers many tourist attractions, including archaeological sites, historical mosques and monuments, longest natural beach in the world, picturesque landscape, hill forests and wildlife, rolling tea gardens and tribes. The rich flora and fauna and colorful tribal life is very enchanting. Each part of the country offers distinctly different topography, flavors and delicacies. It is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger, freshwater pink dolphins, historical temples made of red earth.

Some of popular known tourist attractions are: Srimangal, where miles of tea gardens are located, Mainamati, Mahasthangarh, Paharpur for archaeology, Rangamati, Kaptai and Cox’s Bazar for sight seeing, and the Sundarbans for wild life and the largest Mangrove forest of the world, and, Foy’s Lake for scenic beauty. To know more about tourism of activities in Bangladesh, please click here.

Bangladesh-Fast Facts
Official Name: People’s Republic of Bangladesh
Nationality: Bangladeshis
Weekends: Friday and Saturday, some govt and non-govt offices remain open on Saturdays.
International Dialing Code: +880
Standard Time : BST (GMT +6 Hours)

Capital City
Dhaka

Demography
Population: 150 million (2011 Census Report by BBS)
Literacy Rate: 60%
Language: Bangla (national language) spoken by 95% English is widely understood and spoken.

Religion:
Muslims – 86.6%,
Hindus – 12.1%,
Buddhists – 0.6%,
Christians -0.4%,
Others -0.3%.

Age Structure:
0-14 years:33.8% (male 23,069,242#female 21,995,457)
15-64 years: 62.8% (male 42,924,778; female 40,873,077)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 2,444,314; female 2,069,816)
Population Growth Rate: 1.59%
Birth Rate / 1000 : 25.12 births/1,000 population
Death Rate / 1000 : 8.47 deaths/1,000 population

Gender:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.18 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female
Fertility Rate: 2.72 children born/woman

Ethnic Groups:
Bengalis (98%)
Other indigenous minority (2%) including Chakmas, Marmas, Santals, Garos, Manipuri, Tripura, and Tanchangya.

Geography
Geographical Location:
Latitude between 20°34 and 26°38 North
Longitude between 88°01 and 92°41 East

Area: 147,570 sq. km. (land: 133,910 sq km, water: 10,090 sq km)

Boundaries:
North – India (West Bengal and Meghalaya)
West – India (West Bengal)
East – India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar
South-Bay of Bengal.
Total: 4,246 km (border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km)

Coastline: 580 km
Maritime boundary:
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm
Terrain: Mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
7 Divisions -Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur
64 Districts
487 Subdistricts/Upazillas
Principal Rivers: Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Surma, Brahmaputra, Karnaphuli, Teesta, Sitalakhya, Rupsha, Madhumati, Gorai, Mahananda etc.

Climate
Climate Variation: Sub-tropical monsoon

Average Temperature:
Winter 11° C – 20° C (October – February)
Summer 21° C – 38° C (March – September)

Rainfall : 1,100 mm to 3,400 mm (June – August)

Humidity:
Highest 99% (July)
Lowest 36% (December & January)

Economy
Recognitions: Bangladesh is one of the members of the Developing 8 and considered as the Next Eleven Economy of the world in 20 coined by Goldman Sachs.
GDP: $1,044 (per capita in 2013)
Poverty Level: 25% (People living with $2 per day)
Foreign Grant Dependency: 2%
Principal Crops: Rice, Jute, Tea, Wheat, Sugarcane, Pulses, Mustard, Potato, Vegetables. Principal Industries: Garments & Textiles (2nd largest in the world), Tea, Ceramics, Cement, Leather, Jute (largest producer in the world), Chemical, Fertilizer, Shrimp Processing, Sugar, Paper, Electric and Electronics, Medicine, Fishing. Principal Exports: Garments, Knitwear, Frozen Shrimps, Tea, Leather and Leather products, Jute and Jute products, Ceramics, IT Outsourcing, etc.
Principal Imports: Wheat, Fertilizer, Petroleum goods, Cotton, Edible Oil etc. Principal Minerals: Natural gas,oil, Coal, white clay, glass sand etc.

Electricity: 220 Volts AC in all cities and towns

Currency:
Taka (BDT, Symbol = ৳)
1000, 500, 100, 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 in notes and
# 50,25,10,5,1 in coins.
Exchange Rate

Labour Force: 54 million
Male: 40 million
Female: 14 million
(Ref: BES-2011)

Distribution of Labor:
Agriculture: 48.4 percent
Industry: 24.3 percent
Others: 27.3 percent
Transportation Methods: Road, Air, Rail, Waterways (More information) Export Processing Zones (EPZs): Dhaka, Uttara, Adamjee, Chittagong, Comilla, Ishwardi, Karnaphuli, and Mongla.

Historical Dates
Independence Day: 26th March
Victory Day: 16th December
Martyr’s Day: 21st February (Also recognized as the International Mother Language Day)

Tourism
Places of Tourist Interest: Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Kaptai, Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Kuakata, Bogra, Khulna, the Sundarbans, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Comilla. Airports: Dhaka, Chittagong, Sylhet, Jessore, Rajshahi, Saidpur, Barisal and Cox’s Bazar

More Information : Bangladesh Parjatan Corporation.

Information Technology (IT)

• Country Domain: .bd
• Internet Penetration: 23.38% of the population
• Mobile Users: 76.434 million (June 2011 and 15th largest in the world)
• Mobile Penetration: 72.08% of the population

Global Ranks of Bangladesh

• 8th largest country in the world in terms of population
• 4th largest Muslim country in the world in terms of population and 3rd largest Muslim majority country
• 4th most densely populated country and the most densely populated country in the world having more than 10 million population
• Situated on the Ganges Delta, the largest delta in the world and also the largest wetland in the world (Ref)
• Cox’s Bazaar is the longest natural sandy sea beach in world
• 2nd largest garments exporter in the world (Ref)
• Largest producer of Jute (2nd largely grown vegetable fiber in the world)Sundarbans (hosted by both Bangladesh and India) has the largest mangrove forest in the world

The 13th and 15th Century
From the 13th century A.D. the Buddhists and Hindus were swamped by the flood of Muslim conquerors and the tide of Islam up to 18th century. Sometimes there were independent rulers like the Hussain Shahi and Ilyas Shahi dynasties, while at other times they ruled on behalf of the Imperial seat of Delhi.

From the 15th century, the Europeans, namely Portuguese, Dutch, French and British traders exerted an economic influence over the region. British political rule over the region began in 1757 A.D., when the last Muslim ruler of Bengal was defeated at Palassey. In 1947 the subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Present Bangladesh became the Eastern Wing of the then Pakistan. But the movement for autonomy of East Pakistan started within a couple of years because of language and cultural differences and economic disparity between the two wings.

The Language Movement
The Language Movement of 1952 to recognize Bangla as a state language may be termed as the first step towards independence.Political and economic deprivation of the Bengalees prompted Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the Father of the Nation, to put forward in 1966 his historic six points, the “Magna Carta” which in effect structured the foundation for East Pakistan’s future independence.

The War of Liberation
In the 1970 elections, even though the Awami League emerged as the largest party in Pakistan Parliament, it was not allowed to form the government by the ruling military junta. In the backdrop of a non-cooperation movement launched against the military regime by Awami League. Bangabandhu declared at a historic public meeting held at Ramna Race Course (renamed Suhrawardy Uddyan) on 7 March, 1971, attended by around 2 million people, “The struggle this tune is the struggle for freedom, the struggle this tune is the struggle for independence.”; It was a defacto declaration of independence.

Thus in a preplanned manner on 25th March 1971. The Pakistan army embarked on what may be termed as history’s worst genocide. A military crackdown was ordered, and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was arrested and taken away to West Pakistan. But just before he was arrested he sent out a call for the liberation war to begin. Known as the Declaration of (lie War of Independence, this hurriedly written historic document read as follows:
“Pak Army suddenly attacked EPR Base at Pilkhana, Rajarbagh Police Line and killing citizens. Street battles are going on in every street of Dacca. Chittagong. I appeal to the nations of the world for help. Our freedom fighters are gallantly fighting with the enemies to free the motherland. I appeal and order you all in the name of Almighty Allah to fight to the last drop of blood to liberate the country. Ask Police, EPR, Bengal Regiment and Ansar to stand by you and to fight. No compromise. Victory is ours. Drive out the enemies from the holy soil of motherland. Convey this message to all Awami League leaders, workers and other patriots and lovers of freedom. May Allah bless you. Joy Bangla”.