About Bangladesh

Know Bangladesh

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

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

Some of popular known tourist attractions are: Srimangal, where miles of tea gardens are located, Mainamati, Mahasthangarh, Paharpur for archaeology, Rangamati, Kaptai and Cox's Bazar for sight seeing, and the Sundarbans for wild life and the largest Mangrove forest of the world, and, Foy's Lake for scenic beauty. 

Bangladesh-Fast Facts

Official Name: People's Republic of Bangladesh

Nationality: Bangalees as a nation and Bangladeshi as citizen.

Weekends: Friday & Saturday, some govt and non-govt offices remain open on Saturdays.

International Dialing Code: +880

Standard Time : BST (GMT +6 Hours)

Capital City:

Dhaka

Geography

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

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

Boundaries:
North - India (West Bengal and Meghalaya)
West - India (West Bengal)
East - India (Tripura and Assam) and Myanmar
South-Bay of Bengal.
Total: 4,246 km (border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km)
Coastline: 580 km

Maritime boundary:
Contiguous zone: 18 nm
Continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin
Exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Territorial sea: 12 nm

Terrain: Mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast

Principal Rivers: Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Surma, Brahmaputra, Karnaphuli, Teesta, Sitalakhya, Rupsha, Madhumati, Gorai, Mahananda etc.

Climate

Climate Variation: Sub-tropical monsoon

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

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

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

Economy

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty, supported by sustained economic growth. Based on the international poverty line of $1.90 per person per day, it reduced poverty from 44.2 percent in 1991 to 11.3 percent in 2018/19. In parallel, life expectancy, literacy rates and per capita food production have increased significantly. Bangladesh Context Bangladesh economy was growing consistently high over a decade crossing 7.0 percent milestone in FY 2015-16 and 8.0 percent milestone in FY 2018-19. However, the COVID-19 pandemic reduced the growth rate to 3.45 percent in FY 2-19-20. The economoy grew by 6.94 percent in FY 2020-21. According to provisional estimate of BBS , the GDP growth stood at 7.25 percent in FY 2021-22 which is 0.05 percentage higher than the target rate and 0.31 percentage point higher than previous fiscal year. According to provisional estimate of BBS , per capita GDP and per capita national income stood respectively at US$2,824 in FY 2021-22 compared to US$2,462 and US$2,591 respectively in FY 2020-21. Medium-term forecasts for GDP growth rates are 7.5 parcent in FY 2022-23,7.8 percent in FY 2023-24and 8.0 percent in FY 2024-25. Rapid growth enabled Bangladesh to reach the lower middle-income country status in 2015. In 2021, Bangladesh fulfilled all three eligibility criteria for graduation from the UN’s Least Developed Countries (LDC) list for the first time and is on track for graduation in 2026.

According to the recent World Bank Report Bangladesh is considered as World’s 44th largest economy and willing to be the 23rd largest economy by 2041 and its GDP now USD 686 billion ( PPP ) and has been maintaining steady GDP growth rate of more than seven percent over the last decade . Bangladesh also have GDP per capita USD around 2845, share of investment to GDP 30.3%, Export reaches to USD 52.08 billion  in FY 2021-22 and import $66.90 billion , FDI jumps to USD 3.88 billion in FY 2018-19 from USD 1.2 billion in FY 2010-11 and is considered as one of the attractive destination for business and investment opportunity due to presence of abundant low cost labor, investment friendly environment , diversified natural resources and strong macro-economic fundamentals.

Historical Dates

Independence Day: 26th March

Victory Day: 16th December

Martyr's Day: 21st February (Also recognized as the International Mother Language Day)

Information Technology (IT)

• Country Domain: .bd
• Internet Penetration: 4.76 crores (29% of population)
• Mobile Users: 13 crores, 98 lakhs (March 2021), Source: www.btrc.gov.bd
• Mobile Penetration: 80% of the population

Global Ranks of Bangladesh

• 8th largest country in the world in terms of population

• 4th largest Muslim country in the world in terms of population and 3rd largest Muslim majority country

• 7^th most densely populated country and the most densely populated country in the world having more than 10 million populations (Ref)

• Situated on the Ganges Delta, the largest delta in the world and also the largest wetland in the world

• Cox’s Bazaar is the longest natural sandy sea beach in world

• 2nd largest garments exporter in the world (Ref)

• Largest producer of Jute (2nd largely grown vegetable fiber in the world)

• Sundarbans (hosted by both Bangladesh and India) has the largest mangrove forest in the world

Some of the notable achievements out of thousands are highlighted below.

• National Parliament has become the center of all state activities;
• In the last 13 years, the average GDP growth has been 6.6 percent, above 7 percent in FY2016-2017, FY2017-2018, and FY2018-2019 and exceeded 8 percent in FY 2018-2019. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, the GDP growth in FY2020- 2021 is 6.94 percent which is remarkable;
• The average growth rate achieved during the Sixth Five-Year Plan period was 6.3 percent, and that increased to 7.6 percent during the Seventh Five-Year Plan period;
• Eighth Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the Perspective Plan (2021-2041) and the Delta Plan-2100 have already been formulated and their implementation is underway;
• The size of GDP has exceeded Tk. 39 lakh crore from Tk. 4 lakh 72 thousand 338 crore;
• Per capita income has increased from US$ 543 in FY2005-2006 to US$ 2,824;
• Inflation is well within 5 to 6 percent;
• The poverty rate has declined from 41.5 percent to 20.5 percent, and the extreme poverty rate has fallen to 10.5 percent;
• Foreign exchange reserves touched a record US$ 48 billion (on 23 August, 2021);
• The size of the budget has increased by eleven times compared to that of FY2005-2006;
• The allocation for the social safety net programmes has grown from Tk. 2 thousand 505 crore to around Tk. 1 lakh crore;
• The power generation capacity has increased from 4,900 MW to 25,566 MW. Under the programme "Sheikh Hasina’s initiative - electricity in every house", 100 percent of the population of Bangladesh has been brought under the coverage of electricity;
• With the final settlement of legal disputes over maritime boundaries with Myanmar and India, Bangladesh has acquired ownership of 1,18,813 square kilometres in its territorial waters, including exclusive economic zones and continental shelves, in the Bay of Bengal. To take advantage of this open right to extract the blue waters of the sea and its resources, the strategy of Blue Economy has been adopted in the Perspective Plan 2041;
• Graduation from a low-income country; crossed the final stage for transition to developing countries from the list of least developed countries;
• The commitment made in the ‘Vision 2021’ to increase food production, alleviate food shortages and make the country self-sufficient in food production has already been achieved thanks to various effective measures taken by the government;
• The dream of Digital Bangladesh has become a reality. With the setting up of Union Digital Centers in 4,550 Union Councils; laying of optical fibres at the bottom of the deep sea, the launching of Bangabandhu satellite in space, the launching of mobile banking activities, setting up of ATM booths in Upazila towns and making internet facilities available, the services are now at the doorsteps of the people.
• The launch of the Bangabandhu-1 satellite has made it easier to provide internet services. About 17 crore mobile phones are currently in use in the country;
• Successfully achieved the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG);
• Received ‘SDG Progress Award’ in recognition of SDG implementation progress;
• The maternal mortality rate has reduced from 348 per lakh live birth in 2005 to 165 now, the under-five mortality rate has come down from 68 in 2005 to 28 in 2019 per thousand live births, and the presence of skilled health workers during childbirth has increased from 15.6 percent in 2004 to 59 percent in 2019;
• Implementation of a large number of mega-projects is currently underway in the country. The Padma Bridge has already been completed, MetroRail, Karnafuli Tunnel, and elevated expressway from Dhaka Airport to Kutubkhali near Jatrabari will be opened soon; Completion of several other major projects, including Payra Seaport, Matarbari Deep Seaport, Rampal Power Station will add a new dimension to the progress of the country;
• Through a land boundary agreement with India, Bangladesh got 111 enclaves of India by exchanging enclaves. As a result of this agreement, more than 51,000 people who had been stateless for 68 years got the opportunity to become the citizens of Bangladesh;
• Successful celebration of the Mujib Year (Bengali: Mujib Borsho) and the Golden Jubilee of Independence in presence of guests from home and abroad;
• The government has succeeded in combating terrorism. In this regard, the government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy. The rate of sabotage in the country has reduced a lot thanks to proper initiatives taken by the law enforcing agencies;
• The work of establishing 100 Special Economic Zones is progressing in full swing;
• The unfinished trial of Bangabandhu’s murder has been completed and the court’s verdict has been executed; the people who committed war crime and crime against humanity have been tried;
• The foreign policy introduced by Bangabandhu– “Friendship towards all, malice towards none”– has also been followed by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.