Bangladesh

Capital: Dhaka Population: 146.888 million Official Languages: Bangla Time Zone: +6 Dialing Code: +880

Government: Unitary parliamentary Area: 147,570 km2 largest city: Dhaka Currency : Taka (BDT) ISO 3166 code: BD

Basic Info

Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. Straddling the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, it is part of the historic ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language. It faces the Bay of Bengal to its south, and is bordered by India on the north, west and east, as well as Burma (Myanmar) on the southeast. It is separated from the Himalayan nations of Nepal and Bhutan by India's narrow Siliguri corridor, and is in close geographical proximity to China.

Geography

Bangladesh is in the low-lying Ganges Delta. This delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma or Pôdda), Brahmaputra (Jamuna or Jomuna also known as "Yamuna"), and Meghna rivers and their respective tributaries. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal. The alluvial soil deposited by these rivers has created some of the most fertile plains in the world. Bangladesh has 57 trans-boundary rivers, making water issues politically complicated to resolve – in most cases as the lower riparian state to India.

Climate

Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladeshi climate is tropical with a mild winter from October to March, and a hot, humid summer from March to June. Interestingly, the country has never frozen at any point on the ground, with a record low of 4.5°C in the south west city of Jessore in the winter of 2011. A warm and humid monsoon season lasts from June to October and supplies most of the country's rainfall. Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores occur almost every year, combined with the effects of deforestation, soil degradation and erosion. The cyclones of 1970 and 1991 were particularly devastating. A cyclone that struck Bangladesh in 1991 killed some 140,000 people.

Religion

Bangladesh has a low literacy rate, estimated at 61.3% for males and 52.2% for females in 2010. The educational system in Bangladesh is three-tiered and highly subsidised. The government of Bangladesh operates many schools in the primary, secondary, and higher secondary levels. It also subsidises parts of the funding for many private schools. In the tertiary education sector, the government also funds more than 15 state universities through the University Grants Commission.

Administrative divisions

Bangladesh is divided into seven administrative divisions, each named after their respective divisional headquarters: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet and Rangpur.

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