The country Mujib returned to was scarred by civil war. The
number of people killed, raped, or displaced could be only vaguely
estimated. The task of economic rehabilitation, specifically the
immediate goal of food distribution to a hungry populace, was
frustrated by crippled communications and transportation systems.
The new nation faced many other seemingly insurmountable problems
inhibiting its reconstruction. One of the most glaring was the
breakdown of law and order. In the wake of the war of independence,
numerous bands of guerrillas still roamed the countryside, fully
armed and outside the control of the government. Many fighters of
the Mukti Bahini joined the Bangladesh Army and thus could legally
retain their weapons, but many others ignored Mujib's plea that
they surrender their weapons. Some armed groups took the law into
their own hands and set up territories under their own
jurisdiction. In time these challenges to central authority
contributed to Mujib's suspension of democracy.
Mujib had an unfailing attachment to those who participated in
the struggle for independence. He showed favoritism toward those
comrades by giving them appointments to the civil government and
especially the military. This shortsighted practice proved fatal.
Mujib denied himself the skill of many top-level officers formerly
employed by the Pakistan Civil Service. Bengali military officers
who did not manage to escape from West Pakistan during the war and
those who remained at their posts in East Pakistan were
discriminated against throughout the Mujib years. The
"repatriates," who constituted about half of the army, were denied
promotions or choice posts; officers were assigned to functionless
jobs as "officers on special duty." Schooled in the British
tradition, most believed in the ideals of military professionalism;
to them the prospect of serving an individual rather than an
institution was reprehensible. Opposed to the repatriates were the
freedom fighters, most of whom offered their unquestioning support
for Mujib and in return were favored by him. A small number of
them, associated with the radical Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal (National
Socialist Party), even proposed that officers be elected to their
posts in a "people's army." From the ranks of the freedom fighters,
Mujib established the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini (National Defense
Force), whose members took a personal pledge to Mujib and became,
in effect, his private army to which privileges and hard-to-get
commodities were lavishly given
(see Postindependence Period
, ch.
5).
Despite substantial foreign aid, mostly from India and the
Soviet Union, food supplies were scarce, and there was rampant
corruption and black marketeering. This situation prompted Mujib to
issue a warning against hoarders and smugglers. Mujib backed up his
threat by launching a mass drive against hoarders and smugglers,
backed by the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini. The situation only temporarily
buoyed the legitimate economy of the country, as hoarding, black
marketeering, and corruption in high offices continued and became
the hallmarks of the Mujib regime.
Mujib's economic policies also directly contributed to his
country's economic chaos. His large-scale nationalization of
Bangladeshi manufacturing and trading enterprises and international
trading in commodities strangled Bangladesh entrepreneurship in its
infancy. The enforced use of the Bangla language as a replacement
for English at all levels of government and education was yet
another policy that increased Bangladesh's isolation from the
dynamics of the world economy.
Most Bangadeshis still revered the Bangabandhu at the time of
the first national elections held in 1973. Mujib was assured of
victory, and the Awami League won 282 out of 289 directly contested
seats. After the election, the economic and security situations
began to deteriorate rapidly, and Mujib's popularity suffered
further as a result of what many Bangladeshis came to regard as his
close alliance with India. Mujib's authoritarian personality and
his paternalistic pronouncements to "my country" and "my people"
were not sufficient to divert the people's attention from the
miserable conditions of the country. Widespread flooding and famine
created severe hardship, aggravated by growing law-and-order
problems.
In January 1975, the Constitution was amended to make Mujib
president for five years and to give him full executive powers. The
next month, in a move that wiped out all opposition political
parties, Mujib proclaimed Bangladesh a one-party state, effectively
abolishing the parliamentary system. He renamed the Awami League
the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League (Bangladesh Peasants,
Workers, and People's League) and required all civilian government
personnel to join the party. The fundamental rights enumerated in
the Constitution ceased to be observed, and Bangladesh, in its
infancy, was transformed into a personal dictatorship.
On the morning of August 15, 1975, Mujib and several members of
his family were murdered in a coup engineered by a group of young
army officers, most of whom were majors. Some of the officers in
the "majors' plot" had a personal vendetta against Mujib, having
earlier been dismissed from the army. In a wider sense, the
disaffected officers and the several hundred troops they led
represented the grievances of the professionals in the military
over their subordination to the Jatiyo Rakkhi Bahini and Mujib's
indifference to gross corruption by his political subordinates and
family members. By the time of his assassination, Mujib's
popularity had fallen precipitously, and his death was lamented by
surprisingly few.
The diplomatic status of Bangladesh changed overnight. One day
after Mujib's assassination President Bhutto of Pakistan announced
that his country would immediately recognize the new regime and
offered a gift of 50,000 tons of rice in addition to a generous
gift of clothing. India, however, under the rule of Indira Gandhi,
suffered a setback in its relations with Bangladesh. The end of the
Mujib period once again brought serious bilateral differences to
the fore. Many Bangladeshis, although grateful for India's help
against Pakistan during the struggle for independence, thought
Indian troops had lingered too long after the Pakistan Army was
defeated. Mujibist dissidents who continued to resist central
authority found shelter in India
(see Foreign Policy
, ch. 4).
Background | | Europeans began to set up trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century; eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part of British India. In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. A military-backed, emergency caretaker regime suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption. In contrast to the strikes and violent street rallies that had marked Bangladeshi politics in previous years, the parliamentary elections finally held in late December 2008 were mostly peaceful and Sheikh HASINA Wajed was reelected prime minister. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.
|
Location | | Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
|
Area(sq km) | | total: 143,998 sq km land: 130,168 sq km water: 13,830 sq km
|
Geographic coordinates | | 24 00 N, 90 00 E
|
Land boundaries(km) | | total: 4,246 km border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
|
Coastline(km) | | 580 km
|
Climate | | tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
|
Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m
|
Natural resources | | natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
|
Land use(%) | | arable land: 55.39% permanent crops: 3.08% other: 41.53% (2005)
|
Irrigated land(sq km) | | 47,250 sq km (2003)
|
Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 1,210.6 cu km (1999)
|
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%) per capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)
|
Natural hazards | | droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season
|
Environment - current issues | | many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; waterborne 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
|
Environment - international agreements | | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
|
Geography - note | | 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
|
Population | | 156,050,883 (July 2009 est.)
|
Age structure(%) | | 0-14 years: 34.6% (male 27,065,625/female 26,913,961) 15-64 years: 61.4% (male 45,222,182/female 50,537,052) 65 years and over: 4% (male 3,057,255/female 3,254,808) (2009 est.)
|
Median age(years) | | total: 23.3 years male: 22.9 years female: 23.5 years (2009 est.)
|
Population growth rate(%) | | 1.292% (2009 est.)
|
Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 24.68 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 9.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
|
Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | -2.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
|
Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 27% of total population (2008) rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
|
Sex ratio(male(s)/female) | | at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.94 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2009 est.)
|
Infant mortality rate(deaths/1,000 live births) | | total: 59.02 deaths/1,000 live births male: 66.12 deaths/1,000 live births female: 51.64 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)
|
Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 60.25 years male: 57.57 years female: 63.03 years (2009 est.)
|
Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 2.74 children born/woman (2009 est.)
|
Nationality | | noun: Bangladeshi(s) adjective: Bangladeshi
|
Ethnic groups(%) | | Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998)
|
Religions(%) | | Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)
|
Languages(%) | | Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
|
Country name | | conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh conventional short form: Bangladesh local long form: Gana Prajatantri Banladesh local short form: Banladesh former: East Bengal, East Pakistan
|
Government type | | parliamentary democracy
|
Capital | | name: Dhaka geographic coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 24 E time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
|
Administrative divisions | | 6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet
|
Constitution | | 4 November 1972; effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982; restored 10 November 1986; amended many times
|
Legal system | | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
|
Suffrage | | 18 years of age; universal
|
Executive branch | | chief of state: President Zillur RAHMAN (since 12 February 2009) head of government: Prime Minister Sheikh HASINA Wajed (since 6 January 2009) cabinet: Cabinet selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president elections: president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); last election held on 11 February 2009 (next scheduled election to be held in 2014) election results: Zillur RAHMAN declared president-elect by the Election Commission on 11 February 2009 (sworn in on 12 February); he ran unopposed as president; percent of National Parliament vote - NA
|
Legislative branch | | unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies; members serve five-year terms elections: last held 29 December 2008 (next to be held in 2013) election results: percent of vote by party - AL 49%, BNP 33.2%, JP 7%, JIB 4.6%, other 6.2%; seats by party - AL 230, BNP 30, JP 27, JIB 2, other 11
|
Judicial branch | | Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president)
|
Political pressure groups and leaders | | Advocacy to End Gender-based Violence through the MoWCA (Ministry of Women's and Children's Affairs) other: environmentalists; Islamist groups; religious leaders; teachers; union leaders
|
International organization participation | | ADB, ARF, BIMSTEC, C, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURCAT, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
|
Flag description | | green field with a large red disk shifted slightly to the hoist side of center; the red disk represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh
|
Economy - overview | | The economy has grown 5-6% per year since 1996 despite inefficient state-owned enterprises, delays in exploiting natural gas resources, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than 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. Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, mainly in the Middle East and East Asia, fuel economic growth. In 2008 Bangladesh pursued a monetary policy aimed at maintaining high employment, but created higher inflation in the process.
|
GDP (purchasing power parity) | | $226.4 billion (2008 est.) $214 billion (2007 est.) $201.5 billion (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
GDP (official exchange rate) | | $84.2 billion (2008 est.)
|
GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 5.8% (2008 est.) 6.2% (2007 est.) 6.4% (2006 est.)
|
GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $1,500 (2008 est.) $1,400 (2007 est.) $1,300 (2006 est.) note: data are in 2008 US dollars
|
GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 19.1% industry: 28.6% services: 52.3% (2008 est.)
|
Labor force | | 70.86 million note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2008 est.)
|
Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 63% industry: 11% services: 26% (FY95/96)
|
Unemployment rate(%) | | 2.5% (2008 est.) 2.5% (2007 est.)
|
Population below poverty line(%) | | 45% (2004 est.)
|
Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 4.3% highest 10%: 26.6% (2005)
|
Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 33.2 (2005) 33.6 (1996)
|
Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 24.3% of GDP (2008 est.)
|
Budget | | revenues: $8.825 billion expenditures: $12.54 billion (2008 est.)
|
Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 8.9% (2008 est.) 9.1% (2007 est.)
|
Stock of money | | $9.294 billion (31 December 2008) $8.444 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Stock of quasi money | | $37.98 billion (31 December 2008) $32.35 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Stock of domestic credit | | $47.03 billion (31 December 2008) $40.1 billion (31 December 2007)
|
Market value of publicly traded shares | | $6.671 billion (31 December 2008) $6.793 billion (31 December 2007) $3.61 billion (31 December 2006)
|
Economic aid - recipient | | $1.321 billion (2005)
|
Public debt(% of GDP) | | 39.4% of GDP (2008 est.) 43% of GDP (2004 est.)
|
Agriculture - products | | rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
|
Industries | | cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
|
Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 6.9% (2008 est.)
|
Current account balance | | $1.032 billion (2008 est.) $856.8 million (2007 est.)
|
Exports | | $15.44 billion (2008 est.) $12.47 billion (2007 est.)
|
Exports - commodities(%) | | garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
|
Exports - partners(%) | | US 21%, Germany 13.2%, UK 8.6%, France 6.3%, Netherlands 4.7% (2008)
|
Imports | | $21.51 billion (2008 est.) $16.67 billion (2007 est.)
|
Imports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement
|
Imports - partners(%) | | China 14.7%, India 14.7%, Kuwait 7.5%, Singapore 7.1%, Japan 4.1% (2008)
|
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $5.789 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $5.278 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
Debt - external | | $22.83 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $21.23 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $5.971 billion (31 December 2008 est.) $5.261 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
|
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $97 million (31 December 2008 est.)
|
Exchange rates | | taka (BDT) per US dollar - 68.554 (2008 est.), 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004)
|
Currency (code) | | taka (BDT)
|
Telephones - main lines in use | | 1.39 million (2009)
|
Telephones - mobile cellular | | 45.75 million (2009)
|
Telephone system | | general assessment: inadequate for a modern country; fixed-line telephone density remains less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone subscribership has been increasing rapidly and has reached 30 per 100 persons domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic cable in cities international: country code - 880; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; satellite earth stations - 6; international radiotelephone communications and landline service to neighboring countries (2008)
|
Internet country code | | .bd
|
Internet users | | 556,000 (2008)
|
Airports | | 17 (2009)
|
Pipelines(km) | | gas 2,597 km (2008)
|
Roadways(km) | | total: 239,226 km paved: 22,726 km unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)
|
Ports and terminals | | Chittagong, Mongla Port
|
Military branches | | Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army (Sena Bahini), Bangladesh Navy (Noh Bahini, BN), Bangladesh Air Force (Biman Bahini, BAF) (2009)
|
Military service age and obligation(years of age) | | 16 years of age for voluntary military service; 17 years of age for officers (both with parental consent); conscription legally possible in emergency, but has never been implemented (2008)
|
Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 41,199,340 (2008 est.)
|
Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 24,946,041 females age 16-49: 31,409,069 (2009 est.)
|
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 1,538,865 female: 1,666,670 (2009 est.)
|
Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 1.5% of GDP (2006)
|
Disputes - international | | discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange territory for 51 small Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 small Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh protests India's fencing and walling off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary commission resurveyed and reconstructed 92 missing pillars in 2007; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; after 21 years, Bangladesh resumes talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary
|
Refugees and internally displaced persons | | refugees (country of origin): 26,268 (Burma) IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007)
|
Electricity - production(kWh) | | 22.99 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 93.7% hydro: 6.3% nuclear: 0% other: 0% (2001)
|
Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 21.38 billion kWh (2007 est.)
|
Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
|
Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 6,426 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 95,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
|
Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 2,612 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 87,660 bbl/day (2007 est.)
|
Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 28 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
|
Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 17.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 17.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
|
Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
|
Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 141.6 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 12,000 (2007 est.)
|
HIV/AIDS - deaths | | fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
|
Major infectious diseases | | degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal 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 note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)
|
Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 47.9% male: 54% female: 41.4% (2001 Census)
|
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 8 years male: 8 years female: 8 years (2004)
|
Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 2.7% of GDP (2005)
|