The government operates courts in the regions, districts, and
subdistricts that make up the local administrative system
(see Local Administration
, this ch.). The judges in these courts are
appointed by the president through the Ministry of Law and Justice
or the Ministry of Home Affairs. Most cases heard by the court
system originate at the district level, although the newer
subdistrict courts experienced an increased caseload in the late
1980s. Upon appeal, cases may go up to the Supreme Court, but
litigation may be very slow; in 1987 there were 29 Supreme Court
judges dealing with 21,600 pending cases. The Supreme Court, as of
June 1988, had permanent benches--called the High Court Division--
in Dhaka, Comilla, Rangpur, Barisal, Sylhet, Chittagong, and
Jessore. It hears appeals from district courts and may also judge
original cases. The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court in
Dhaka reviews appeals of judgment by the High Court Division. The
judges of both divisions are appointed by the president.
At the grass-roots level, the judicial system begins with
village courts. An aggreived party may make an official petition,
which requires a fee, to the chairman of the union council (the
administrative division above the village), who may call a session
of the village court with himself as chairman and two other judges
nominated by each of the parties to the dispute. The parties may
question the impartiality of the chairman and have him replaced.
The majority of cases end at the village court level, which is
inexpensive and which hands down judgments that reflect local
opinion and power alignments. There are occasions, however, when
the union council chairman may reject an official petition to
constitute a village court or when one party desires a higher
opinion. In these cases, the dispute goes to a government court at
the subdistrict level. Cases may wind their way up from district
courts to permanent benches of the High Court Division. Once cases
leave the village courts, they become expensive affairs that may
last for years, and few citizens have the financial resources to
fund a lengthy court battle.
Rapid political changes in independent Bangladesh have
compromised the court system. The Constitution originally stated
that the president could remove members of the Supreme Court only
if two-thirds of Parliament approved, but the Proclamation
(Amendment) Order of 1977 included a clause that eliminated the
need for parliamentary involvement. The clause set up the Supreme
Judicial Council, consisting of the chief justice and the next two
senior judges. The council may determine that a judge is not
"capable of properly performing the functions of his office" or is
"guilty of gross misconduct." On their advice, the president may
remove any judge. In addition, executive action has completely
eliminated judicial authority for long periods. For example, under
martial law regulations enacted in 1982, the Supreme Court lost
jurisdiction over the protection of fundamental rights, and all
courts operated under provisions of law promulgated by the chief
martial law administrator; special and summary martial law courts
handed down judgments that were not subject to review by the
Supreme Court or any other court. Furthermore, the Fifth Amendment
and the Seventh Amendment placed martial law proclamations and
judgments outside the review of the court system. In these ways,
the courts have been forced to serve the interests of the ruling
regime, rather than standing as an independent branch of government
(see Criminal Justice
, ch. 5).
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)
|