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Bangladesh Index
Despite progress toward greater industrialization, in the late
1980s agriculture still accounted for nearly 50 percent of the
value of Bangladesh's GDP. Approximately 82 percent of the
country's population lived in rural areas, virtually all of them
making their living exclusively or substantially from agriculture
(see Rural Society
, ch. 2). Domestic production increased at a
relatively steady rate in the years following independence, but not
fast enough to close the gap created by the continued rapid growth
in population. According to official statistics, the real value of
all crops and of agricultural production rose every year in the
1980s, but except for a 6.1-percent surge in FY 1981, the gains did
not exceed 3.8 percent, and in 3 of the years it was less than 1
percent. The goal of food self-sufficiency by 1990 was asserted as
part of the Third Five-Year Plan, but it could be achieved only
under optimal conditions. Bangladesh was still importing an average
of 2 million tons of food grains each year to meet minimum needs
for the subsistence of the population. Most of the imports were on
a grant or concessional basis from the United States, the World
Food Programme, or other food aid donors
(see Foreign Assistance
, this ch.).
The agricultural year begins in late February, when the weather
is dry and getting warmer. Over a period of several weeks each
field is plowed three or four times; using a wooden plow and two
oxen, one man can plow 0.02 hectares in an eight-to ten-hour
workday. In addition to plowing, field preparation for irrigation
involves construction and maintenance of plot boundaries half a
meter high, using earth and weeds from the field. These boundaries
also serve to retain water in the plots when the rains come a few
months later. Traditional methods of irrigation include pitcher,
swing basket, and a hollowed-out log fixed on a pivot and fitted
with a counterbalance. These methods have a natural grace and
beauty and are still practiced in rural areas throughout
Bangladesh. They offer the dual advantages of depending entirely on
locally available materials and on human power for their operation.
In those rural areas where electricity is available, tube wells
with electric pumps are becoming an important irrigation device.
Absolute production has increased, and there has been an
impressive diversification into a wide variety of seeds and new
crops, such as wheat and vegetables. In fact, the patterns of
agriculture have been virtually transformed. A previously
self-contained and self-reliant subsistence economy has given way
to one dependent on inputs, credit, markets, and administrative
support from outside. But the price has been high--literally--and
in the late 1980s was getting higher. Abu Muhammad Shajaat Ali, in
his study of the agricultural village of Shyampur, describes the
local economy as a "near-saturated agroecosystem." Continued
population pressure has led in many areas to increases in output-
per-unit area, but at very high rates of diminishing returns to
inputs.
Shyampur exemplified the transformation going on in parts of
the rural countryside affected by a modern market economy. The
income of farmers in Shyampur, because of its proximity to Dhaka's
high-demand urban markets, was greater than in more typical
villages of Bangladesh. According to Ali, 31 percent of Shyampur's
families in 1980 had a farm income greater than US$278 (Tk7,500)
per year; 40 percent earned between US$93 and US$278; and the
remaining 29 percent earned less than US$93. Eighty-four percent of
farmers were also engaged for at least 100 days per year in off-
farm work in small businesses or industrial occupations, with 70
percent of them earning between US$75 and US$295 and 23 percent
receiving more than that. Virtually all of this employment was for
males. As of 1980, it was rare for village females to be employed
outside the household. The work they did in raising poultry,
cultivating kitchen gardens, husking paddy, collecting fuel, and
assisting neighboring families was not figured into calculations of
income.
The ownership of agricultural land remained one of the most
difficult problems in the Bangladesh countryside. During British
rule, elite large landowners
(zamindars--see Glossary), many of
them absentee landowners, owned most of the land in East Bengal.
After 1947 new laws abolished large estates and set limits on the
amount of land one person could own. Many big Hindu landlords moved
to India, but the wealthy Muslims who bought up their holdings
became a new landlord elite. Legal ceilings on landownership
resulted in little extra land for distribution to the poor because
landlords arranged ways to vest ownership in the names of
relatives. As a result, in most villages a few families controlled
enough land to live comfortably and market a surplus for cash,
while a large percentage of families had either no land or not
enough to support themselves. Studies have suggested that in the
mid-1980s the richest 10 percent of the village population
controlled between 25 and 50 percent of the land, while the bottom
60 percent of the population controlled less than 25 percent. The
disparities between the richest and poorest villagers appeared to
be widening over time. The large number of landless or nearly
landless peasants reduced the average landholding to only less than
one hectare, down more than a third since 1971. Because Islamic
inheritance law as practiced in Bangladesh calls for equal division
of assets among all the sons, the large population increases led to
increased fragmentation of landholdings and further impoverishment.
Inheritance, purchase, and sale left the land of many families
subdivided into a number of separate plots located in different
areas of the village.
The ready availability of large numbers of poor laborers and
the fragmented character of many landholdings has perpetuated a
labor- intensive style of agriculture and unequal tenancy
relations. At least a third of the households in most villages rent
land. The renting households range from those without any land of
their own to those middle-level peasants who try to supplement the
produce grown on their own land with income from produce grown on
additional land. Sharecropping is the most common form of tenancy
agreement. Traditional sharecropping arrangements heavily favored
the landlord over the sharecropper, with a fifty-fifty split of the
produce and the tenant providing all inputs of labor and
fertilizer. After decades of rural agitation, the 1984 Land Reforms
Ordinance finally established the rule of three shares--one-third
of the produce for the owner, one-third for the sharecropper, and
one-third split according to the costs of cultivation. Poor
peasants who could not obtain land as tenants had to work as
agricultural laborers or find nonagricultural jobs. The 1984
Agricultural Labour Ordinance set the minimum daily wage for
agricultural labor at 3.28 kilograms of rice or its cash
equivalent. Employers who broke this rule could be brought to
village courts and forced to pay compensation twice the amount of
back wages. However, because village courts were dominated by
landowners, there was still little official redress for the
grievances of agricultural laborers. In fact, the structure of
rural land control kept a great deal of power in the hands of
relatively small groups of landlords
(see Local Elites
, ch. 4).
The Comilla Model, which began in 1959, has been the most
successful and influential example of cooperative agricultural
development in Bangladesh. Projects in Comilla District provided
more modern technologies to farmers: low-lift water pumps; low-cost
hand-dug six-inch tube wells; pilot research on adapting thirty-
five-horsepower tractors for rice cultivation; new crop and animal
varieties; testing and introduction of such inputs as chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield varieties of seeds; and new
storage and processing technology. These innovations attracted
resources to local rural institutions, against the prevailing urban
orientation of the leadership elite. They provided some
counterweight to the trend of ambitious village people seeking to
leave the countryside in favor of the cities or foreign countries.
Comilla, which received substantial assistance from Michigan State
University and the Ford Foundation, remains a widely admired
accomplishment, and the Bangladesh Academy of Rural Development,
which gave broad dissemination to published reports on Comilla's
progress, is world-renowned because of it.
Data as of September 1988
![[JPEG]](/images/frd/cs/jpeg.gif)
Harvesting jute
Courtesy Bangladesh Ministry of Information
Floating bamboo to market
Courtesy Bangladesh Ministry of Information
Structure of Agricultural Production
Despite progress toward greater industrialization, in the late
1980s agriculture still accounted for nearly 50 percent of the
value of Bangladesh's GDP. Approximately 82 percent of the
country's population lived in rural areas, virtually all of them
making their living exclusively or substantially from agriculture
(see Rural Society
, ch. 2). Domestic production increased at a
relatively steady rate in the years following independence, but not
fast enough to close the gap created by the continued rapid growth
in population. According to official statistics, the real value of
all crops and of agricultural production rose every year in the
1980s, but except for a 6.1-percent surge in FY 1981, the gains did
not exceed 3.8 percent, and in 3 of the years it was less than 1
percent. The goal of food self-sufficiency by 1990 was asserted as
part of the Third Five-Year Plan, but it could be achieved only
under optimal conditions. Bangladesh was still importing an average
of 2 million tons of food grains each year to meet minimum needs
for the subsistence of the population. Most of the imports were on
a grant or concessional basis from the United States, the World
Food Programme, or other food aid donors
(see Foreign Assistance
, this ch.).
The agricultural year begins in late February, when the weather
is dry and getting warmer. Over a period of several weeks each
field is plowed three or four times; using a wooden plow and two
oxen, one man can plow 0.02 hectares in an eight-to ten-hour
workday. In addition to plowing, field preparation for irrigation
involves construction and maintenance of plot boundaries half a
meter high, using earth and weeds from the field. These boundaries
also serve to retain water in the plots when the rains come a few
months later. Traditional methods of irrigation include pitcher,
swing basket, and a hollowed-out log fixed on a pivot and fitted
with a counterbalance. These methods have a natural grace and
beauty and are still practiced in rural areas throughout
Bangladesh. They offer the dual advantages of depending entirely on
locally available materials and on human power for their operation.
In those rural areas where electricity is available, tube wells
with electric pumps are becoming an important irrigation device.
Absolute production has increased, and there has been an
impressive diversification into a wide variety of seeds and new
crops, such as wheat and vegetables. In fact, the patterns of
agriculture have been virtually transformed. A previously
self-contained and self-reliant subsistence economy has given way
to one dependent on inputs, credit, markets, and administrative
support from outside. But the price has been high--literally--and
in the late 1980s was getting higher. Abu Muhammad Shajaat Ali, in
his study of the agricultural village of Shyampur, describes the
local economy as a "near-saturated agroecosystem." Continued
population pressure has led in many areas to increases in output-
per-unit area, but at very high rates of diminishing returns to
inputs.
Shyampur exemplified the transformation going on in parts of
the rural countryside affected by a modern market economy. The
income of farmers in Shyampur, because of its proximity to Dhaka's
high-demand urban markets, was greater than in more typical
villages of Bangladesh. According to Ali, 31 percent of Shyampur's
families in 1980 had a farm income greater than US$278 (Tk7,500)
per year; 40 percent earned between US$93 and US$278; and the
remaining 29 percent earned less than US$93. Eighty-four percent of
farmers were also engaged for at least 100 days per year in off-
farm work in small businesses or industrial occupations, with 70
percent of them earning between US$75 and US$295 and 23 percent
receiving more than that. Virtually all of this employment was for
males. As of 1980, it was rare for village females to be employed
outside the household. The work they did in raising poultry,
cultivating kitchen gardens, husking paddy, collecting fuel, and
assisting neighboring families was not figured into calculations of
income.
The ownership of agricultural land remained one of the most
difficult problems in the Bangladesh countryside. During British
rule, elite large landowners
(zamindars--see Glossary), many of
them absentee landowners, owned most of the land in East Bengal.
After 1947 new laws abolished large estates and set limits on the
amount of land one person could own. Many big Hindu landlords moved
to India, but the wealthy Muslims who bought up their holdings
became a new landlord elite. Legal ceilings on landownership
resulted in little extra land for distribution to the poor because
landlords arranged ways to vest ownership in the names of
relatives. As a result, in most villages a few families controlled
enough land to live comfortably and market a surplus for cash,
while a large percentage of families had either no land or not
enough to support themselves. Studies have suggested that in the
mid-1980s the richest 10 percent of the village population
controlled between 25 and 50 percent of the land, while the bottom
60 percent of the population controlled less than 25 percent. The
disparities between the richest and poorest villagers appeared to
be widening over time. The large number of landless or nearly
landless peasants reduced the average landholding to only less than
one hectare, down more than a third since 1971. Because Islamic
inheritance law as practiced in Bangladesh calls for equal division
of assets among all the sons, the large population increases led to
increased fragmentation of landholdings and further impoverishment.
Inheritance, purchase, and sale left the land of many families
subdivided into a number of separate plots located in different
areas of the village.
The ready availability of large numbers of poor laborers and
the fragmented character of many landholdings has perpetuated a
labor- intensive style of agriculture and unequal tenancy
relations. At least a third of the households in most villages rent
land. The renting households range from those without any land of
their own to those middle-level peasants who try to supplement the
produce grown on their own land with income from produce grown on
additional land. Sharecropping is the most common form of tenancy
agreement. Traditional sharecropping arrangements heavily favored
the landlord over the sharecropper, with a fifty-fifty split of the
produce and the tenant providing all inputs of labor and
fertilizer. After decades of rural agitation, the 1984 Land Reforms
Ordinance finally established the rule of three shares--one-third
of the produce for the owner, one-third for the sharecropper, and
one-third split according to the costs of cultivation. Poor
peasants who could not obtain land as tenants had to work as
agricultural laborers or find nonagricultural jobs. The 1984
Agricultural Labour Ordinance set the minimum daily wage for
agricultural labor at 3.28 kilograms of rice or its cash
equivalent. Employers who broke this rule could be brought to
village courts and forced to pay compensation twice the amount of
back wages. However, because village courts were dominated by
landowners, there was still little official redress for the
grievances of agricultural laborers. In fact, the structure of
rural land control kept a great deal of power in the hands of
relatively small groups of landlords
(see Local Elites
, ch. 4).
The Comilla Model, which began in 1959, has been the most
successful and influential example of cooperative agricultural
development in Bangladesh. Projects in Comilla District provided
more modern technologies to farmers: low-lift water pumps; low-cost
hand-dug six-inch tube wells; pilot research on adapting thirty-
five-horsepower tractors for rice cultivation; new crop and animal
varieties; testing and introduction of such inputs as chemical
fertilizers, pesticides, and high-yield varieties of seeds; and new
storage and processing technology. These innovations attracted
resources to local rural institutions, against the prevailing urban
orientation of the leadership elite. They provided some
counterweight to the trend of ambitious village people seeking to
leave the countryside in favor of the cities or foreign countries.
Comilla, which received substantial assistance from Michigan State
University and the Ford Foundation, remains a widely admired
accomplishment, and the Bangladesh Academy of Rural Development,
which gave broad dissemination to published reports on Comilla's
progress, is world-renowned because of it.
Data as of September 1988
- Bangladesh-Government Budget Process
- Bangladesh-Rural Society
- Bangladesh-Inland Waterways and Ports TRANSPORTATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
- Bangladesh-Biofuels
- Bangladesh-Telecommunications
- Bangladesh-Aid Dependence
- Bangladesh-Industrial Crops
- Bangladesh-Women in Politics
- Bangladesh-The Zia Regime and Its Aftermath, 1977-82
- Bangladesh-United States
- Bangladesh-Population Control
- Bangladesh-Constitution STRUCTURE OF GOVERNMENT
- Bangladesh-Social Classes and Stratification
- Bangladesh-Health Care Facilities
- Bangladesh-Export Sectors FOREIGN TRADE
- Bangladesh-Awami League
- Bangladesh-THE MILITARY IN THE LATE 1980s
- Bangladesh-Foreign Governments and Private Donors
- Bangladesh-Defense Spending
- Bangladesh-ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
- Bangladesh-Legislature
- Bangladesh-Reappraisal of British Policy
- Bangladesh-Violence and Crime PUBLIC ORDER AND INTERNAL SECURITY
- Bangladesh-Development Budget
- Bangladesh-Education Planning and Policy
- Bangladesh-Wheat
- Bangladesh-BANGLADESH
- Bangladesh-The "Revolution" of Ayub Khan, 1958-66
- Bangladesh-Islam
- Bangladesh-Economic Reconstruction after Independence
- Bangladesh-THE NATIONALIST MOVEMENT AND THE RISE OF MUSLIM CONSCIOUSNESS, 1857-1947
- Bangladesh-Hinduism
- Bangladesh-Transition to Nationhood, 1947-58 PAKISTAN PERIOD, 1947-71
- Bangladesh-Bangladesh Rifles
- Bangladesh-Navy
- Bangladesh-Colonial Origins ARMED FORCES AND SOCIETY
- Bangladesh-Criminal Justice
- Bangladesh-PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS
- Bangladesh-Tourism
- Bangladesh-Foreign Acquisitions and Ties
- Bangladesh-Chapter 5 - National Security
- Bangladesh-Foreword
- Bangladesh-United Nations
- Bangladesh-Society
- Bangladesh-Party Politics
- Bangladesh-Postindependence Period
- Bangladesh-The British Raj
- Bangladesh-Recruitment
- Bangladesh-Insurgency in the Chittagong Hills
- Bangladesh-Technological Advances
- Bangladesh-The Land GEOGRAPHY
- Bangladesh-Buddhism
- Bangladesh-Jute
- Bangladesh-Local Elites POLITICAL DYNAMICS
- Bangladesh-Historical Perspective ECONOMIC CONTEXT
- Bangladesh-National Security
- Bangladesh-Economic Policy and Planning MANAGING THE ECONOMY
- Bangladesh-Population Structure and Settlement Patterns POPULATION
- Bangladesh-FOREIGN POLICY
- Bangladesh-Achieving Stability, 1982-83 THE ERSHAD PERIOD
- Bangladesh-Geography
- Bangladesh-Restoration of Military Rule, 1975-77
- Bangladesh-Early Independence Period, 1971-72 BIRTH OF BANGLADESH
- Bangladesh-Islam in Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Ansars
- Bangladesh-Coal
- Bangladesh-Other Industries
- Bangladesh-Islamic Parties
- Bangladesh-The British Legacy EDUCATION
- Bangladesh-Western Europe, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand
- Bangladesh-Early Settlements EUROPEAN COLONIZATION, 1757-1857
- Bangladesh-The Superpowers
- Bangladesh-Disease and Disease Control
- Bangladesh-Railroads
- Bangladesh-Executive
- Bangladesh-Chapter 3 - The Economy
- Bangladesh-Other Nations
- Bangladesh-Balance and Terms of Trade
- Bangladesh-River Systems
- Bangladesh-Early Developments in Islam
- Bangladesh-Two Nations Concept, 1930-47
- Bangladesh-Education System
- Bangladesh -Country Profile
- Bangladesh-Mission
- Bangladesh-Civil Aviation
- Bangladesh-Council of Ministers
- Bangladesh-Medical Education and Training
- Bangladesh-Police
- Bangladesh-China and Other Asian Nations
- Bangladesh-Transportation and Communications
- Bangladesh-EARLY HISTORY, 1000 B.C.-A.D - 1202
- Bangladesh-Fall of the Bangabandhu, 1972-75
- Bangladesh-Other Export Industries
- Bangladesh-Chapter 2 - The Society and Its Environment
- Bangladesh-Role of English and Arabic in Education
- Bangladesh-A Great Divide in South Asian History THE UPRISING OF 1857
- Bangladesh-Chapter 4 - Government and Politics
- Bangladesh-Bangladesh National Party
- Bangladesh-The Division of Bengal, 1905-12
- Bangladesh-Transition to a New Social Order SOCIAL SYSTEM
- Bangladesh-Pakistan Era
- Bangladesh-Test Case for Development FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
- Bangladesh-Ready-made Garments
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Civil Service
- Bangladesh-AUXILIARY FORCES
- Bangladesh-Alliances
- Bangladesh-Government and Politics
- Bangladesh-More Opposition Pressure
- Bangladesh-Table A - Chronology of Important Events
- Bangladesh-Other Food Crops
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Road Transportation
- Bangladesh-Mineral Development
- Bangladesh-Air Force
- Bangladesh-Traditional Sectors INDUSTRY
- Bangladesh-Leftist Parties
- Bangladesh-Seafood
- Bangladesh-Urban Society
- Bangladesh-Ethnicity and Linguistic Diversity
- Bangladesh-Garments
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Relaxation of Martial Law, 1986-87
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-The National Party
- Bangladesh-HEALTH
- Bangladesh-The Islamic World
- Bangladesh-Army THE THREE SERVICES
- Bangladesh-Chapter 1 - Historical Setting
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-The Banking System
- Bangladesh-Fisheries
- Bangladesh-The Liberation War
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Local Administration
- Bangladesh-International Organizations
- Bangladesh-Economy
- Bangladesh-The War for Bangladeshi Independence, 1971
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Money and Banking
- Bangladesh-Introduction
- Bangladesh-Family, Household, and Kinship
- Bangladesh-Electric Power
- Bangladesh-Security Environment
- Bangladesh-Christianity
- Bangladesh-Pakistan
- Bangladesh-Joint Ventures and Foreign Investment
- Bangladesh-Religious Education
- Bangladesh-Climate
- Bangladesh-Aid-to-Civil Roles
- Bangladesh-Religion and Society RELIGION
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Food Crops
- Bangladesh-THE MEDIA
- Bangladesh-Bilateral Investment
- Bangladesh-Structure of Agricultural Production AGRICULTURE
- Bangladesh
- Bangladesh-Legal Basis ORGANIZATION OF THE ARMED FORCES
- Bangladesh-PREFACE
- Bangladesh-Judiciary
- Bangladesh-South and Southeast Asia
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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.
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Location | | Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
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Area(sq km) | | total: 143,998 sq km
land: 130,168 sq km
water: 13,830 sq km
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Geographic coordinates | | 24 00 N, 90 00 E
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Land boundaries(km) | | total: 4,246 km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
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Coastline(km) | | 580 km
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Climate | | tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
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Elevation extremes(m) | | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m
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Natural resources | | natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
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Land use(%) | | arable land: 55.39%
permanent crops: 3.08%
other: 41.53% (2005)
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Irrigated land(sq km) | | 47,250 sq km (2003)
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Total renewable water resources(cu km) | | 1,210.6 cu km (1999)
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Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) | | total: 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%)
per capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)
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Natural hazards | | droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season
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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
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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
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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
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Population | | 156,050,883 (July 2009 est.)
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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.)
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Median age(years) | | total: 23.3 years
male: 22.9 years
female: 23.5 years (2009 est.)
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Population growth rate(%) | | 1.292% (2009 est.)
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Birth rate(births/1,000 population) | | 24.68 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Death rate(deaths/1,000 population) | | 9.23 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
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Net migration rate(migrant(s)/1,000 population) | | -2.53 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
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Urbanization(%) | | urban population: 27% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)
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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.)
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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.)
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Life expectancy at birth(years) | | total population: 60.25 years
male: 57.57 years
female: 63.03 years (2009 est.)
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Total fertility rate(children born/woman) | | 2.74 children born/woman (2009 est.)
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Nationality | | noun: Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladeshi
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Ethnic groups(%) | | Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998)
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Religions(%) | | Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)
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Languages(%) | | Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
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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
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Government type | | parliamentary democracy
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Capital | | name: Dhaka
geographic coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 24 E
time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
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Administrative divisions | | 6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet
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Constitution | | 4 November 1972; effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982; restored 10 November 1986; amended many times
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Legal system | | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
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Suffrage | | 18 years of age; universal
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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
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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
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Judicial branch | | Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president)
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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
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GDP (official exchange rate) | | $84.2 billion (2008 est.)
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GDP - real growth rate(%) | | 5.8% (2008 est.)
6.2% (2007 est.)
6.4% (2006 est.)
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GDP - per capita (PPP) | | $1,500 (2008 est.)
$1,400 (2007 est.)
$1,300 (2006 est.)
note: data are in 2008 US dollars
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GDP - composition by sector(%) | | agriculture: 19.1%
industry: 28.6%
services: 52.3% (2008 est.)
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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.)
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Labor force - by occupation(%) | | agriculture: 63%
industry: 11%
services: 26% (FY95/96)
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Unemployment rate(%) | | 2.5% (2008 est.)
2.5% (2007 est.)
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Population below poverty line(%) | | 45% (2004 est.)
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Household income or consumption by percentage share(%) | | lowest 10%: 4.3%
highest 10%: 26.6% (2005)
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Distribution of family income - Gini index | | 33.2 (2005)
33.6 (1996)
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Investment (gross fixed)(% of GDP) | | 24.3% of GDP (2008 est.)
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Budget | | revenues: $8.825 billion
expenditures: $12.54 billion (2008 est.)
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Inflation rate (consumer prices)(%) | | 8.9% (2008 est.)
9.1% (2007 est.)
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Stock of money | | $9.294 billion (31 December 2008)
$8.444 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of quasi money | | $37.98 billion (31 December 2008)
$32.35 billion (31 December 2007)
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Stock of domestic credit | | $47.03 billion (31 December 2008)
$40.1 billion (31 December 2007)
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Market value of publicly traded shares | | $6.671 billion (31 December 2008)
$6.793 billion (31 December 2007)
$3.61 billion (31 December 2006)
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Economic aid - recipient | | $1.321 billion (2005)
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Public debt(% of GDP) | | 39.4% of GDP (2008 est.)
43% of GDP (2004 est.)
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Agriculture - products | | rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
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Industries | | cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
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Industrial production growth rate(%) | | 6.9% (2008 est.)
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Current account balance | | $1.032 billion (2008 est.)
$856.8 million (2007 est.)
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Exports | | $15.44 billion (2008 est.)
$12.47 billion (2007 est.)
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Exports - commodities(%) | | garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
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Exports - partners(%) | | US 21%, Germany 13.2%, UK 8.6%, France 6.3%, Netherlands 4.7% (2008)
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Imports | | $21.51 billion (2008 est.)
$16.67 billion (2007 est.)
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Imports - commodities(%) | | machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement
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Imports - partners(%) | | China 14.7%, India 14.7%, Kuwait 7.5%, Singapore 7.1%, Japan 4.1% (2008)
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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold | | $5.789 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$5.278 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Debt - external | | $22.83 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$21.23 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home | | $5.971 billion (31 December 2008 est.)
$5.261 billion (31 December 2007 est.)
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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad | | $97 million (31 December 2008 est.)
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Exchange rates | | taka (BDT) per US dollar - 68.554 (2008 est.), 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004)
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Currency (code) | | taka (BDT)
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Telephones - main lines in use | | 1.39 million (2009)
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Telephones - mobile cellular | | 45.75 million (2009)
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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)
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Internet country code | | .bd
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Internet users | | 556,000 (2008)
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Airports | | 17 (2009)
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Pipelines(km) | | gas 2,597 km (2008)
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Roadways(km) | | total: 239,226 km
paved: 22,726 km
unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)
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Ports and terminals | | Chittagong, Mongla Port
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Military branches | | Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army (Sena Bahini), Bangladesh Navy (Noh Bahini, BN), Bangladesh Air Force (Biman Bahini, BAF) (2009)
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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)
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Manpower available for military service | | males age 16-49: 41,199,340 (2008 est.)
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Manpower fit for military service | | males age 16-49: 24,946,041
females age 16-49: 31,409,069 (2009 est.)
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Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually | | male: 1,538,865
female: 1,666,670 (2009 est.)
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Military expenditures(% of GDP) | | 1.5% of GDP (2006)
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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
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Refugees and internally displaced persons | | refugees (country of origin): 26,268 (Burma)
IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007)
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Electricity - production(kWh) | | 22.99 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - production by source(%) | | fossil fuel: 93.7%
hydro: 6.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
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Electricity - consumption(kWh) | | 21.38 billion kWh (2007 est.)
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Electricity - exports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Electricity - imports(kWh) | | 0 kWh (2008 est.)
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Oil - production(bbl/day) | | 6,426 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - consumption(bbl/day) | | 95,000 bbl/day (2008 est.)
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Oil - exports(bbl/day) | | 2,612 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - imports(bbl/day) | | 87,660 bbl/day (2007 est.)
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Oil - proved reserves(bbl) | | 28 million bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
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Natural gas - production(cu m) | | 17.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - consumption(cu m) | | 17.9 billion cu m (2008 est.)
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Natural gas - exports(cu m) | | 0 cu m (2008)
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Natural gas - proved reserves(cu m) | | 141.6 billion cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate(%) | | less than 0.1% (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS | | 12,000 (2007 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - deaths | | fewer than 500 (2007 est.)
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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)
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Literacy(%) | | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 47.9%
male: 54%
female: 41.4% (2001 Census)
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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)(years) | | total: 8 years
male: 8 years
female: 8 years (2004)
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Education expenditures(% of GDP) | | 2.7% of GDP (2005)
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![[JPEG]](/images/frd/cs/bangladesh/bd03_04a.jpg)
![[JPEG]](/images/frd/cs/bangladesh/bd03_04b.jpg)
