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Bangladesh |
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| History of Bangladesh |
| Before Independence:
The history of Bangladesh is related to that of the larger
area of Bengal, which became independent of Delhi by 1341.
After a succession of Muslim rulers, it was conquered by
Akbar, the great Mughal emperor in 1576. By the beginning
of the 18th cent., the governor of the province was virtually
independent, but he lost control to the British East India
Company, which after 1775 was the effective ruler of the
vast area, which also included the Indian states of West
Bengal, Orissa, Jharkhand, and Bihar.
Bengal was divided by the British in 1905 into West Bengal
and East Bengal, with East Bengal being more or less coterminous
with modern Bangladesh. Since the new province had a majority
Muslim population, the partition was welcomed by Muslims,
but it was fiercely resented by Indian nationalist leaders
who saw it as an attempt to drive a wedge between Muslims
and Hindus. The partition was withdrawn in 1911, but it
had pointed the way to the events of 1947, when British
India was partitioned into the states of India and Pakistan.
Pakistan consisted of two “wings,” one to the
west of India, and the other to the east. The eastern section
was constituted from the eastern portion of Bengal and the
former Sylhet district of Assam and was known until 1955
as East Bengal and then as East Pakistan. Pakistan's two
provinces, which differed considerably in natural setting,
economy, and historical background, were separated from
each other by more than 1,000 mi (1,610 km) of India. The
East Pakistanis, who comprised 56% of the total population
of Pakistan, were discontented under a government centered
in West Pakistan; the disparity in government investments
and development funds given to each province also added
to the resentment. Efforts over the years to secure increased
economic benefits and political reforms proved unsuccessful,
and serious riots broke out in 1968 and 1969. |
| Independence to the Present:
The movement for greater autonomy gained momentum when,
in the Dec., 1970, general elections, the Awami League under
the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (generally known
as Sheikh Mujib) won practically all of East Pakistan's
seats and thus achieved a majority in the Pakistan National
Assembly. President Muhammad Agha Yahya Khan, hoping to
avert a political confrontation between East and West Pakistan,
twice postponed the opening session of the national assembly.
The government's attempts to forestall the autonomy bid
led to general strikes and nonpayment of taxes in East Pakistan
and finally to civil war on Mar. 25, 1971. On the following
day the Awami League's leaders proclaimed the independence
of Bangladesh. During the months of conflict an estimated
one million Bengalis were killed in East Pakistan and another
10 million fled into exile in India. Fighting raged in Dhaka,
Chittagong, Comilla, Sylhet, Jessore, Barisal, Rangpur,
and Khulna. Finally India allied itself with Bangladesh,
which it had recognized on Dec. 6, and during a two-week
war (Dec. 3–16) defeated the Pakistani forces in the
east. Sheikh Mujib, who had been chosen president while
in prison in West Pakistan, was released, and in Jan., 1972,
he set up a government and assumed the premiership; Abu
Sayeed Choudhury became president.
Rejecting Pakistan's call for a reunited country, Sheikh
Mujib began to rehabilitate an economy devastated by the
war. Relations with Pakistan were hostile; Pakistan withheld
recognition from Bangladesh, and Bangladesh and India refused
to repatriate more than 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war
who had surrendered at the end of the conflict. Armed Bengali
“freedom fighters” fought Bihari civilians in
Bangladesh, particularly after Indian troops withdrew from
Bangladesh in Mar., 1972.
Tensions were eased in July, 1972, when President Zulfikar
Ali Bhutto of Pakistan (who assumed power after the fall
of the Yahya Khan government) and Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi of India agreed to peacefully settle the differences
between their countries. Pakistan officially recognized
Bangladesh in Feb., 1974. Subsequently, India and Pakistan
reached consensus on the release of Pakistani prisoners
of war and the exchange of hostage populations.
Bangladesh was gradually recognized by most of the world's
nations. It joined the Commonwealth of Nations in 1972 and
was admitted to the United Nations in 1974. In 1972 the
country's major industries, banks, and shipping and insurance
firms were nationalized. Despite Mujib's popularity as the
founder of independent Bangladesh, high rates of inflation
and a severe famine resulted in a governmental crisis. In
1975, after becoming president under a new constitutional
system, he was assassinated in a military coup; after two
additional coups later in the year, Maj. Gen. Zia ur-Rahman
emerged as ruler, beginning a period of military control
that lasted into the 1990s.
In 1981, Zia was himself assassinated in a failed coup attempt;
his successor was replaced (1982) in a bloodless coup by
Lt. Gen. Hussain Mohammad Ershad, who assumed the presidency.
In an effort to gain legitimacy, Ershad later resigned his
military office and won a disputed presidential election.
He was forced to resign in Dec., 1990, amid charges of corruption,
for which he was later jailed (2000).
Elections held in Feb., 1991, brought the Bangladesh Nationalist
party (BNP) to power, and Khaleda Zia, the widow of Zia
ur-Rahman, became prime minister. In 1994, nearly all opposition
members of parliament denounced Zia's government as corrupt
and resigned their seats. After a series of general strikes
called by the opposition, parliament was dissolved in Nov.,
1995; major opposition parties also boycotted the ensuing
Feb., 1996, elections. Zia was returned to power, but the
opposition mounted protests; she resigned and an interim
government headed by Habibur Rahman was installed.
New elections held in June, 1996, resulted in a victory
for the opposition Awami League, led by Hasina Wazed, daughter
of Bangladesh's first prime minister. As she struggled with
the country's ongoing economic problems, a series of opposition-led
strikes, beginning in 1998, once again paralyzed the country.
In July, 2001, a caretaker government headed by Latifur
Rahman was appointed in advance of parliamentary elections
in October. Zia and the BNP won a landslide victory in the
voting, and she again became prime minister. In 2003 the
Awami League began a series of rallies and occasional strikes
to mobilize opposition to the government. Deadly attacks
on rallies in Aug., 2004, and Jan., 2005, provoked a series
of nationwide and local strikes and protests by the League,
which accused the government of trying to assassinate Hasina
Wazed. |
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| Map of Bangladesh |
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| Geography of Bangladesh |
| Location:
Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma
and India
Geographic Coordinates: 24
00 N, 90 00 E
Map References: Asia
Area: total: 144,000 sq km
-- land: 133,910 sq km; water: 10,090 sq km
Area Comparative: slightly
smaller than Iowa
Land Boundaries: total: 4,246
km -- border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
Coastline: 580 km
Maritime Claims: contiguous
zone: 18 NM; territorial sea: 12 NM; continental shelf:
up to the outer limits of the continental margin; exclusive
economic zone: 200 NM
Climate: tropical; mild winter
(October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid,
warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
Terrain: mostly flat alluvial
plain; hilly in southeast
Elevation Extremes: lowest
point: Indian Ocean 0 m; highest point: Keokradong 1,230
m
Natural Resources: natural
gas, arable land, timber, coal
Land Use: arable land: 60.7%
permanent crops: 2.61% other: 36.69% (1998 est.)
Irrigated Land: 38,440 sq km
(1998 est.)
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; water-borne 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, Nuclear
Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, 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
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| People of Bangladesh |
| Population:
133,376,684 (July 2002 est.)
Age Structure: 0-14 years:
33.8% (male 23,069,242; female 21,995,457) 15-64 years:
62.8% (male 42,924,778; female 40,873,077) 65 years and
over: 3.4% (male 2,444,314; female 2,069,816) (2002 est.)
Population Growth Rate: 1.59%
(2002 est.)
Birth Rate: 25.12 births/1,000
population (2002 est.)
Death Rate: 8.47 deaths/1,000
population (2002 est.)
Net Migration Rate: -0.75 migrant(s)/1,000
population (2002 est.)
Sex Ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female;
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female; 15-64 years: 1.05 male(s)/female;
65 years and over: 1.18 male(s)/female;
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2002 est.)
Infant Mortality Rate: 68.05
deaths/1,000 live births (2002 est.)
Life Expectancy at Birth: total
population: 60.92 years -- female: 60.74 years (2002 est.);
male: 61.08 years
Total Fertility Rate: 2.72
children born/woman (2002 est.)
HIV/AIDS (adult prevalence rate):
0.02% (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS (people living with HIV/AIDS):
13,000 (1999 est.)
HIV/AIDS (deaths): 1,000 (1999
est.)
Nationality: noun: Bangladeshi(s);
adjective: Bangladeshi
Ethnic groups: Bengali 98%,
tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims (1998)
Religions: Muslim 83%, Hindu
16%, other 1% (1998)
Languages: Bangla (official,
also known as Bengali), English
Literacy: definition: age 15
and over can read and write. total population: 56%, male:
63%; female: 49%. |
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Dhaka
Division
