I | INTRODUCTION |
Bangladesh, in full, People’s Republic of Bangladesh,
republic of southern Asia, in the northeastern portion of the Indian
subcontinent, bordered on the west, north, and east by India, on the southeast
by Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), and on the south by the Bay of Bengal. The
area of the country is 147,570 sq km (56,977 sq mi). The capital and largest
city of Bangladesh is Dhaka.
Geographically, historically, and culturally,
Bangladesh forms the larger and more populous part of Bengal, the remainder of
which constitutes the neighboring Indian state of West Bengal. From 1947 to 1971
the area of Bangladesh was a province of Pakistan. As such, its official
designation was changed from East Bengal to East Pakistan in 1955. On March 26,
1971, leaders of East Pakistan declared the province independent as Bangladesh
(Bengali for “land of the Bengalis”), and its independence was assured on
December 16, 1971, when Pakistani troops in the region surrendered to a joint
force of Bangladeshi and Indian troops.
II | LAND AND RESOURCES |
Bangladesh, a low-lying country traversed by
numerous rivers, has a coastline of about 580 km (360 mi) along the Bay of
Bengal.
A | Natural Regions |
Most of Bangladesh lies within the broad
delta formed by the Ganges (Ganga), Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers and is
subject to annual flooding. Much fertile, alluvial soil is deposited by the
floodwaters. Most of the land is exceedingly flat and low-lying. The only
significant area of hilly terrain, constituting less than one-tenth of the
country’s territory, is the Chittagong Hill Tracts District in the narrow
southeastern panhandle of the country. There, on the border with Myanmar, is
Mowdok Mual (1,003 m/3,291 ft), the country’s highest point. Small, scattered
hills lie along or near the eastern and northern borders with India. These
areas, which receive among the heaviest rainfall in the world, provide the
headwaters of the Meghna and its tributaries. The eroded remnants of two old
alluvial terraces—the Madhupur Tract, in the north central part of the country,
and the Barind, straddling the northwestern boundary with India—attain
elevations of about 30 m (100 ft). The soil here is much less fertile than the
annually replenished alluvium of the surrounding floodplain.
A huge tract of mangrove swamp, the
Sundarbans (Sunderbans), lies along the coast of Bangladesh and West Bengal
between the estuaries of the Meghna and Hugli (Hooghly) rivers. The Sundarbans
extends about 274 km (170 mi) along the Bay of Bengal and about 100 km (62 mi)
inland. It contains a vast number of tidal rivers and innumerable islands, but
very little development or agriculture.
B | Rivers |
Rivers are a prominent and important feature
of the landscape in Bangladesh. The country includes about 200 navigable rivers.
Two of South Asia’s largest rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra (locally known as
the Jamuna), flow into Bangladesh, where they join to form the Padma. The Padma
merges with the Meghna southeast of Dhaka; the combined rivers then empty into
the Bay of Bengal. In the dry season other deltaic distributaries that lace the
terrain to the west of the Meghna may be several kilometers wide as they near
the Bay of Bengal, whereas at the height of the summer monsoon season they
coalesce into an extremely broad expanse of silt-laden water. In much of the
delta, therefore, homes must be constructed on earthen platforms or embankments
high enough to remain above the level of all but the highest floods. In
nonmonsoon months the exposed ground is pocked with water-filled borrow pits, or
tanks, from which the mud for the embankments was excavated. These tanks are a
chief source of water for drinking, bathing, and small-scale irrigation.
C | Climate |
The climate of Bangladesh is of the tropical
monsoon variety. In all areas about 80 percent of the annual rainfall typically
occurs in the monsoon period, which lasts from late May to mid-October. Average
annual precipitation ranges from about 1,400 mm (55 in) along the country’s east
central border to more than 5,080 mm (200 in) in the far northeast. In addition
to the normal monsoonal rainfall, Bangladesh is subject to devastating cyclones,
originating over the Bay of Bengal, in the periods of April to May and September
to November. Often accompanied by surging waves, these storms can cause great
damage and loss of life. The cyclone of November 1970, in which about 500,000
lives were lost in Bangladesh, was one of the worst natural disasters of the
20th century. Tornadoes, which also accompany the monsoon season, can cause
devastation as well.
Bangladesh has warm temperatures throughout
the year, with relatively little variation from month to month. January tends to
be the coolest month and May the warmest. In Dhaka the average January
temperature is about 19°C (about 66°F), and the average May temperature is about
29°C (about 84°F).
D | Plant and Animal Life |
With the exception of the Chittagong Hill
Tracts District, portions of the Madhupur Tract, and the Sundarbans, few
extensive forests remain in Bangladesh. The forested and wooded area amounts to
about one-eighth of the country’s total land area. Broadleaf evergreen species
characterize the hilly regions, and deciduous trees, such as acacia and banyan,
are common in the drier plains areas. Commercially valuable trees in Bangladesh
include sundari (a type of mangrove for which the Sundarbans is probably named),
gewa, sal (mainly growing in the Madhupur Tract), and garyan (in the Chittagong
Hill Tracts District). Village groves abound in fruit trees (mango and
jackfruit, for instance) and date and areca (betel) palms. The country also has
many varieties of bamboo.
Bangladesh is rich in fauna, including 109
indigenous species of mammals, 295 types of birds, 119 kinds of reptiles, 19
different amphibians, and 200 varieties of marine and freshwater fish. The
rhesus monkey is common, and gibbons and lemurs are also found. The Sundarbans
area is one of the principal remaining domains of the endangered Bengal tiger;
although the tiger is officially protected, illegal poaching is known to occur.
Herds of elephants and many leopards inhabit the Chittagong Hill Tracts
District. Other animals living in Bangladesh include mongoose, jackal, Bengal
fox, wild boar, parakeet, kingfisher, vulture, and swamp crocodile.
E | Natural Resources |
With the exception of natural gas, the
mineral endowment of Bangladesh is meager. Vast reserves of natural gas—both
onshore and offshore in the Bay of Bengal—have been discovered in Bangladesh
since the mid-1990s. Total proven reserves amount to 142 trillion cu m (5
trillion cu ft), but actual reserves may be much greater. Natural gas is the
principal energy resource in Bangladesh and an important ingredient in the
manufacture of nitrogenous fertilizers. Other natural resources include a
coalfield in the northwest and large peat beds that underlie most of the delta.
Limestone and pottery clays are found in the northeast.
F | Environmental Issues |
Waterborne diseases such as cholera are a
serious threat to public health in Bangladesh. Until the 1970s, many of
Bangladesh’s people became sick from drinking polluted water drawn from surface
rivers. Aid agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) built
shallow wells throughout the country to help provide a safe source of drinking
water to Bangladesh’s poor. In the 1990s, however, it was discovered that many
of these wells were contaminated by arsenic, a poison that occurs naturally in
Bangladesh’s alluvial soils. In 1998 the World Bank granted Bangladesh a $32.4
million credit to identify contaminated wells and develop alternative sources of
safe drinking water. UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other
international agencies joined efforts with the government to address the
problem. About 30 percent of the wells tested have been contaminated to some
degree by arsenic. The health problems associated with arsenic poisoning are
compounded by the lack of access to health care in many rural communities.
III | POPULATION |
The estimated population of Bangladesh
(2008) is 153,546,901, making Bangladesh one of the ten most populous countries
in the world. The population growth rate is 2 percent. The overall density,
1,147 persons per sq km (2,970 persons per sq mi) in 2008, is much higher than
that of other countries except for microstates such as Singapore. The
distribution of the population is relatively even, except in the sparsely
populated Chittagong Hill Tracts District and the almost totally uninhabited
Sundarbans. Bangladesh supports a large rural population, with only 25 percent
of the Bangladeshi people classified as urban in 2005. Most of the people are
relatively young, nearly 60 percent being under the age of 25 and only 4 percent
being 65 or older. Life expectancy at birth is 63 years.
A | Principal Cities |
Among the major cities of Bangladesh are
Dhaka, the capital, with 5,378,023 inhabitants (2006); Chittagong, the leading
port, with 1,360,000 inhabitants; Khulna, a rapidly growing center for
small-scale industry, with 546,000 inhabitants; Nārāyanganj, the inland port for
Dhaka, with 268,952 inhabitants; and Rājshāhi, located in a silk-producing area,
with 324,532 inhabitants.
B | Ethnic Groups |
More than 98 percent of Bangladesh’s
inhabitants are Bengalis, who are largely descended from Indo-Aryans (speakers
of the parent language of the Indo-European languages). The Indo-Aryans began to
migrate into the Bengal region from the west thousands of years ago and mixed
within Bengal with various indigenous groups. The remainder of the population
includes Bihāris, non-Bengali Muslims who migrated from India (principally from
the state of Bihār) after the 1947 partition, and various indigenous ethnic
groups (locally known as tribal groups). Although Bihāris constitute the largest
minority group, a large proportion of their original population repatriated to
Pakistan after 1971. The Chakmas, who live in the southeastern Chittagong Hill
Tracts District, constitute the largest tribal group in Bangladesh. Other tribal
groups include the Marmas and Tripuras, who also live in the Chittagong region;
the Garos and Khasis, whose populations in northeastern Bangladesh are the
southernmost extensions of tribal groups living in adjacent Indian states; and
the Santals, who also live in northeastern Bangladesh and form, with Santals
living elsewhere, South Asia’s largest tribal group.
C | Languages |
The official language is Bengali, also
known as Bangla. It belongs to the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European
language family and is, along with Assamese, the most eastern of these
languages. Its script is derived from the Devanagari script of Sanskrit. The
cultural and national identity of ethnic Bengalis is closely associated with
their language. Bengali has two distinct variants—a formal written form that
developed during the 16th century, and a more casual spoken form that became an
accepted literary form in the 20th century.
Although the vast majority of
Bangladeshis speak Bengali, other languages are spoken in the country as well.
Urdu, an Indo-Iranian language, is spoken by the Bihāris; Sino-Tibetan languages
are spoken by the Garo and Santal peoples, among others; and Tibeto-Burman
languages are spoken by the Chakmas, Marmas, and Tripuras in the Chittagong Hill
Tracts District. English is widely used in higher education and government.
D | Religion |
Islam, the state religion, is the faith
of 88 percent of the population. Almost all of the country’s Muslims adhere to
the Sunni branch; however, there are also a small number of Shia Muslims,
including members of the Ismaili sect. Hindus make up most of the remainder of
the population, but the country also includes small communities of Buddhists,
Christians, and animists.
E | Education |
Public education in Bangladesh generally
follows the model established by the British prior to 1947. The government
provides free schooling for the first eight years, including five years of
primary education, which is compulsory and begins at age six. While most
children are enrolled in primary schools, only 47 percent go on to secondary
schools. Poor school attendance contributes to a literacy rate of only 44
percent for Bangladeshis aged 15 and older. Bangladesh lacks sufficient numbers
of schools, even though facilities have increased substantially since the
1970s.
Bangladesh has several universities, the
largest of which is the University of Dhaka (1921). Others include Bangladesh
University of Engineering and Technology (1962) and Jahangirnagar University
(1970), both in Dhaka; Bangladesh Agricultural University (1961) in Mymensingh;
the University of Chittagong (1966); and the University of Rājshāhi (1953).
Colleges include Bangladesh College of Textile Technology (1950) in Dhaka, and
Chittagong Polytechnic Institute (1962). The country’s colleges and universities
together enroll more than 500,000 students.
F | Culture |
Bangladeshi culture is, in many respects,
inseparable from that of greater Bengal. Beginning in the early 19th century a
majority of the most widely read and admired Bengali writers and artists, Hindu
as well as Muslim, worked for a time in the Indian metropolis of Calcutta (now
Kolkata). Thus began the Bengal Renaissance, a cultural movement among Bengalis
in Calcutta that reached its height in the early 20th century. After the capital
of British India was moved from Calcutta to New Delhi in 1911, Calcutta
continued to be a center of Bengali culture.
The writers of the Bengal Renaissance
were the pioneers of modern Bengali literature. Poet Michael Madhusudan Datta
broke with established tradition to write Bengali poetry in the blank verse
style, and the novelist and essayist Bankim Chandra Chatterjee wrote what is
considered the first Bengali novel, Durgeshnandini (1865). The Hindu
writer, artist, and philosopher Rabindranath Tagore (in Bengali, Ravīndranātha
Thākura) earned distinction as the first non-European writer to be awarded the
Nobel Prize in literature, in 1913 for his volume of poems Gitanjali
(Song Offerings, 1910). Several contemporaries of Tagore also gained
recognition for their works. Most notably, Kazi Nazrul Islam became the first
widely acclaimed Muslim Bengali writer. Today he is revered in Bangladesh as the
voice of Bengali independence and nationalism. Common themes in many Bengali
works include rural life, class conflict, and human struggle. See also
Indian Literature.
Painting, sculpture, and architecture
were strongly influenced by Muslim rule in the region during the 16th and 17th
centuries (see Islamic Art and Architecture). Modern painting was
pioneered by Zainul Abedin, Kamrul Hassan, and S. M. Sultan, among others. Their
abstract and realist paintings achieved international renown, including Abedin’s
black-and-white sketches of the Calcutta famine of 1943. Many of their works are
part of the permanent collection of the Bangladesh National Museum.
Classical, light-classical, devotional,
and popular music enjoy a wide following in Bangladesh. Classical forms include
Hindustani devotional songs (see Indian Music). The principal schools of
classical Indian dance, including bharata natyam and kathakali,
are performed by professional dance troupes of Bangladesh (see Indian
Dance). The manipuri is a traditional and widely popular devotional dance
that has both classical and folk forms. Bengali folk dances are commonly
performed during festivals and other special occasions. Folk music styles
include baul, devotional songs that often combine Hindu and Muslim themes
and are performed by wandering mystics. Traditional musical instruments of
Bangladesh include the banshi (bamboo flute), dhole (wooden
drums), and dotara (a two-stringed instrument).
G | Libraries and Museums |
Cultural institutions are concentrated in
Dhaka, which is the site of the Bangla Academy (1972), devoted to the promotion
and development of the Bengali language and literature. The country’s largest
library is part of the University of Dhaka, and the Bangladesh National Museum,
also in Dhaka, is noted for its art and archaeology collections. The Varendra
Research Museum, controlled by the University of Rājshāhi, is an important
center for archaeological, anthropological, and historical research.
IV | ECONOMY |
First as part of British India and then of
Pakistan, the area now constituting Bangladesh suffered from chronic economic
neglect. The region produced large quantities of agricultural goods, including
most of the world’s jute, but received little investment in such basic items as
transportation facilities and industrial plants. Much of the industrial
investment, particularly in jute manufacturing, was made by West Pakistani-owned
firms. After Bangladesh gained independence, the government took over most of
the assets owned by West Pakistanis. Today most of these firms remain
government-owned; a program to privatize them has made little progress.
Bangladesh’s vast reserves of natural gas,
many just recently discovered, hold great potential for the country’s future
economic development. However, the government’s reluctance to sanction gas
exports to India and its reputation for rampant corruption have tended to
discourage foreign investment. Foreign direct investment in Bangladesh has been
minor relative to most other countries in Asia.
Bangladesh’s gross domestic product (GDP)
was estimated at $61.9 billion in 2006. Agriculture contributed 20 percent of
the GDP, industry (including manufacturing) contributed 28 percent, and services
contributed 53 percent. In 2004 Bangladesh’s budget included $5.58 billion in
expenditures and $4.90 billion in revenues.
A | Labor |
The civilian labor force of Bangladesh was
estimated in 2006 to include 71 million people. Agriculture (including fishing)
employs 52 percent of the workers, while 14 percent worked in industry and 35
percent in services. Unemployment and underemployment are significant problems
in the country.
B | Agriculture |
Agriculture in Bangladesh consists mostly
of subsistence farming on small farms. Per-capita output tends to be low. Rice,
of which two or three crops can be grown each year, is the leading food crop in
all areas and accounts for most of the cultivated area. Some 44 million metric
tons were harvested in 2006, placing Bangladesh among the world’s leading
producers of rice. High-yielding varieties of rice are cultivated as part of a
government initiative to increase the country’s self-sufficiency in food grains.
Other cereal crops, notably wheat, have grown in importance since the 1980s, and
the area of land under wheat cultivation continues to increase. Pulses, an
important source of protein in most Bangladeshi diets, are also cultivated.
Other crops include various oilseeds (mainly for cooking oil), potatoes, sweet
potatoes, sugarcane, bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.
The principal cash, or export, crop is
jute (a plant used to make burlap and twine), grown throughout the annually
flooded portions of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta; the amount of jute harvested
in 2006 was about 801,000 metric tons. Tea, also a valuable cash crop, is grown
almost exclusively in the northeast, around Sylhet. Cattle and buffalo are
numerous, raised for dung (a source of fuel), hides (for leather), and
meat.
C | Fishing, Forestry, and Mining |
Aquatic animals provide a major source of
animal protein in the Bangladeshi diet. Hilsa (a kind of herring) and prawns are
among the principal commercial species. The amount of fish caught in 2005 was
2.2 million metric tons, mostly consisting of freshwater varieties. Most
freshwater fish are raised in farm ponds throughout the country. The leading
commercial types of trees are wild sundari, gewa, and teak. Bamboo is also an
important forest product.
Natural gas production is the primary
mining activity in Bangladesh. Extensive development began in the 1990s after
vast reserves were discovered both onshore and offshore in the Bay of Bengal.
Apart from natural gas production, mining and quarrying are of negligible
importance in Bangladesh.
D | Manufacturing |
The manufacturing sector is made up
principally of small-scale enterprises. The chief manufactures of the country
are jute products (such as cordage and sacks), textiles, garments, processed
food, beverages, tobacco items, and goods made of wood, cane, or bamboo.
Large-scale factories process jute and sugarcane. Much of the nation’s heavy
industry, including a small steel mill, is in the port of Chittagong.
E | Energy |
The greatest share of Bangladesh’s
electricity, 94 percent in 2003, is generated in thermal plants using either
coal, natural gas, or petroleum products. Most of the rest is produced by
hydroelectric facilities, including a large installation on the Karnaphuli
River. In 2003 Bangladesh consumed 16.2 billion kilowatt-hours of
electricity.
F | Transportation |
The numerous rivers of Bangladesh and the
marked seasonal fluctuation in their width and depth, as well as their frequent
changes of course, greatly inhibit the development of an integrated road and
rail transport system. Bridging the major channels is often not feasible
economically, and reliance on ferry connections makes most long-distance
overland travel exceedingly slow. However, the Brahmaputra was bridged in 1998,
allowing more rapid road and rail transport from Dhaka to the western part of
the country. Bangladesh has 239,226 km (148,648 mi) of roads, of which 10
percent are paved; the road network may be severely damaged by monsoon flooding.
In 1999 there was only 1 vehicle in use for every 1,000 residents. The country
is served by 2,855 km (1,774 mi) of operated railroad track.
Much of the country’s domestic freight and
passenger traffic is carried on inland waterways. Commercially operated
navigable routes in the rainy season total at least 8,000 km (5,000 mi), but
shrink to some 4,000 km (2,500 mi) in the dry season. Small boats can navigate
an additional 18,000 km (11,000 mi) in wet months. International freight traffic
is handled at the ports of Chittagong and Chālna; the former leads in imports
and overall value and the latter leads in exports.
Government-owned Bangladesh Airlines
(Biman) provides international and domestic air service. The main international
airport is at Dhaka.
G | Communications |
In 2004, 20 daily newspapers, including
both Bengali- and English-language dailies, were published in Bangladesh,
chiefly in Dhaka. The country also has many weekly and monthly periodicals.
Radio Bangladesh and Bangladesh Television are under government direction. In
1997 the country had 50 radio receivers and 7 televisions sets for every 1,000
residents. In 2005 there were 8 telephone mainlines for every 1,000 people.
H | Currency and Banking |
The principal unit of currency in
Bangladesh is the taka (68.90 taka equal U.S.$1; 2006 average); the taka
is divided into 100 paisa. The government-run Bangladesh Bank handles
central-banking operations. Some banks are government-owned, but there are many
privately owned banks, as well as branches of foreign banks.
The Grameen (Village) Bank has pioneered
innovative approaches to providing credit to the rural poor in Bangladesh. The
bank’s successful approach has been used as a model in many other developing
countries. Because the bank does not require collateral, it can extend credit to
individuals who traditionally were excluded from the banking system. Borrowers,
the majority of whom are women, use the credit to improve their standard of
living through small-scale enterprises such as pottery, basket making, and
textile weaving. The bank was founded in 1983 by university economics professor
Muhammad Yunus, who was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. By
2006 the bank had more than 2,000 branches nationwide and had made loans to more
than 6.5 million people, helping them break out of poverty.
I | Commerce and Foreign Trade |
The per-capita volume of Bangladeshi
internal and foreign trade is low. Domestic trade in rural areas is conducted
largely through thousands of periodic markets called hats. Since
independence in 1971 the value of Bangladesh’s annual imports has usually been
at least twice that of exports; in 2003 imports cost $8.7 billion, and exports
earned $5.8 billion. The principal exports are jute products and raw jute;
clothing, seafood, tea, and hides and leather goods are the other important
exports. Imports include foodstuffs, basic manufactures, mineral fuels,
machinery, and transportation equipment. Exports go mainly to European countries
(especially Germany and Italy), the United States, Hong Kong, and Japan; imports
come chiefly from India, European countries, China, Japan, Hong Kong, South
Korea, Singapore, and the United States. Only a relatively insignificant number
of tourists visit Bangladesh each year.
V | GOVERNMENT |
Since the nation’s formation in 1971, the
government of Bangladesh has undergone many changes. A democratic, parliamentary
form of government was established by the 1972 constitution, but constitutional
amendments in 1975 set up a presidential form of government. Bangladesh again
became a parliamentary democracy in 1991 after voters approved new amendments to
the 1972 constitution to abolish the near-absolute powers of the
presidency.
Bangladesh has an unusual electoral setup.
Prior to parliamentary elections, the prime minister and his or her government
must resign so that a neutral caretaker government can take over. The caretaker
government assumes responsibility for running a fair and impartial election.
Citizens aged 18 and older may vote.
A | Executive and Legislature |
The president, elected by parliament to a
renewable five-year term, is head of state. The prime minister, or head of
government, is appointed by the president following parliamentary elections,
based on a majority nomination of parliament. Bangladesh has a unicameral
(single-chamber) parliament, the Jatiya Sangsad, with 300 members. All members
are directly elected by voters to serve five-year terms.
B | Judiciary |
The highest tribunal in Bangladesh is the
Supreme Court, which is divided into a high court and an appellate division. The
chief justice and the other justices of the Supreme Court are appointed by the
president.
C | Local Government |
For administrative purposes, Bangladesh is
divided into six divisions—Barisāl, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rājshāhi, and
Sylhet. Each division includes a number of districts, or zillas, which
are the largest and most important units of local government in the country. The
country’s 64 zillas are comprised of upazillas (subdistricts), which in
turn are made up of unions, or groups of villages with popularly elected
councils.
D | Political Parties |
The principal political parties in
Bangladesh are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), which favors centrist
policies and a free-enterprise economic system; the Awami League, which
advocates a secular state and limited socialist economic policies; the Jatiya
Party, similar to the BNP in its platform; and the Jamaat-e-Islami Party, an
Islamic party advocating a greater role for Islam in public life.
E | Social Services |
Health and welfare services in Bangladesh
are limited. In 2004 the country had one physician for every 3,889 residents and
one hospital bed for every 3,333 inhabitants. Much of the welfare work in the
country is administered by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and Bangladesh
is a major recipient of assistance from abroad.
F | Defense |
Military service in Bangladesh is
voluntary. In 2004 the nation had an army of 110,000 members, a navy of 9,000
members, and an air force of 6,500 members. There are also paramilitary forces,
including the 40,000-member Bangladesh Rifles that serves as a border patrol
unit. Bangladesh has been a frequent contributor to international peacekeeping
forces. The country has served as a nonpermanent member of the United Nations
Security Council.
G | International Organizations |
Bangladesh is a member of the Commonwealth
of Nations and was admitted to the United Nations and its affiliated
organizations in 1974. It also belongs to the Colombo Plan for Cooperative
Economic and Social Development, headquartered in Sri Lanka. It is a member of
the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), which was formed
in 1985 largely at the initiative of Bangladeshi president Ziaur Rahman to
provide a forum for regional issues, and the Organization of the Islamic
Conference (OIC), which promotes solidarity among nations where Islam is an
important religion.
VI | HISTORY |
For the history of present-day Bangladesh
prior to the partition of British India in 1947, see India.
In 1947 British India was partitioned to
form two new independent states: India, comprising the predominantly Hindu areas
of the former British colony, and Pakistan, comprising the predominantly Muslim
areas. Pakistan was divided into an east wing (present-day Bangladesh) and a
west wing (present-day Pakistan). The two wings were separated by 1,600 km
(1,000 mi) of Indian territory. Differences between the two wings of Pakistan
soon developed, in part because their distance made governing difficult, but
also due to substantial cultural differences. Chief among these was language.
The West Pakistan-dominated government insisted that Urdu be the sole national
language. Bengalis insisted that Bengali (Bangla) be accorded the same status.
Riots ensued, one resulting in the death of a number of students in Dhaka. In
1954 the national legislature agreed that both Urdu and Bengali would be
national languages. In 1949 Bengali leaders founded the Awami League to fight
for the autonomy of East Pakistan.
The 1956 constitution of Pakistan decreed
that each wing would have the same number of representatives in the parliament,
even though East Pakistan had a larger population and was thus underrepresented.
East Pakistan accepted this arrangement on the assumption that other
inequalities would be remedied. These included underrepresentation in the civil
and military services and the much lower rate of new economic investment in East
Pakistan. Although the east wing earned a greater amount of foreign exchange
than the west, largely as the result of its exports of jute and other products,
the bulk of the foreign exchange was expended in the west. In addition, the
central government and military were based in West Pakistan.
In 1966 Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (“Mujib”),
leader of the Awami League, set forth a political and economic program that
aimed to redress these inequities. The six points of his program were intended
to secure the autonomy of East Pakistan. The main demands were for a
parliamentary government elected by universal adult suffrage, with legislative
representation on the basis of population; a federal government with
responsibilities limited mainly to foreign affairs and defense; and provincial
autonomy in fiscal affairs and domestic policing. To the central government, the
most dangerous of the six points was the one that provided for taxes to be
collected only at the provincial level, as this would have forced the central
government to operate under subsidies from the provinces.
In 1969 President Ayub Khan of Pakistan was
replaced by General Agha Muhammad Yahya Khan. Yahya announced that a
parliamentary election would be held in 1970 and decreed that the equal
representation of the two wings would end. Instead, parliamentary seats would be
determined by the population of each of Pakistan’s five provinces, giving East
Pakistan, the largest province, 162 of the 300 seats in the National Assembly.
In the elections, Mujib and the Awami League ran on the platform of the six
points and won 160 seats.
The Awami League’s overwhelming victory
surprised Yahya and his advisers, who had underestimated the support for the
Awami League. Yahya had expected no single party to win a majority, an outcome
that would have given him more power over the parliament.
Mujib claimed the prime ministership and
asserted that the six points would be enacted as the basis of a new
constitution. Leaders in the west, headed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, objected to
these assertions. Demonstrations in the east were followed by a military
crackdown. Mujib and other leaders were arrested; many were killed. A civil war
ensued. Large numbers of Bengalis were massacred by the Pakistani military, and
some 10 million Bengalis fled to the neighboring Indian state of West
Bengal.
In early December 1971 the Indian military
intervened in support of Bengali forces in East Pakistan. India’s intervention
was brief and decisive. The Pakistani military surrendered in mid-December. On
December 16 of that year East Pakistan became the sovereign nation of
Bangladesh.
Bangladesh was soon recognized by most other
nations, although Pakistan withheld diplomatic recognition until 1974 and China
did not recognize the nation until 1976. The United Nations admitted Bangladesh
in 1974.
A | Independent Republic |
Bangladesh’s initial government was formed
in January 1972 under the leadership of Mujib, who became prime minister. His
immediate tasks were to rebuild the war-ravaged nation, reestablish law and
order, and reintegrate the numerous Bengali war refugees returning from India
and those repatriated from Pakistan. A longer-range goal was to foster economic
growth in order to raise the very low living standards of the densely populated
nation. In the first years of independence Bangladesh received much aid from
abroad, and Mujib nationalized major industries as part of his program of
developing the country along the lines of democratic socialism. He had little
success, however, in improving the economy, and lawlessness prevailed.
In mid-1974 the country was devastated by
floods that destroyed much of the grain crop and led to widespread famine. At
the same time, political disorder was increasing, and in late 1974 the
government declared a national state of emergency. In early 1975 Mujib became
president under a remodeled constitution that granted him virtually dictatorial
power. He immediately implemented a one-party system that allowed only his newly
formed party, the Bangladesh Krishak-Sramik Awami League (BAKSAL), to
participate in government. He was unable to stabilize the political situation,
however, and was killed in a military coup d’état on August 15, 1975. (In 1998
15 former army officers were convicted of his assassination and sentenced to
death.)
In November military leaders ousted
Mujib’s successor, Khandakar Mushtaque Ahmed, who had initiated martial law, and
installed Abusadat Muhammad Sayem as president. General Ziaur Rahman (“Zia”)
assumed the presidency when Sayem resigned in 1977. Martial law was lifted in
1979, following parliamentary elections in which a party that formed to support
Zia, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), gained a majority. Despite a
continuing food shortage, the nation made considerable economic progress in 1980
and 1981.
President Zia was assassinated in May 1981
as part of an abortive military coup. He was succeeded by Vice President Abdus
Sattar, who won election to the presidency in his own right in November.
However, a military coup in March 1982 brought Lieutenant General Hossain
Mohammad Ershad to power.
B | Ershad Regime |
Ershad immediately proclaimed martial law,
suspending the constitution and prohibiting all political activities. Ershad
ruled under a figurehead president until December 1983, when he assumed the
presidency. Although martial law remained in effect, Ershad allowed limited
political activities to resume, and his supporters formed the Jatiya Dal Party.
Two major opposition alliances formed under the leadership of the Awami League,
represented by Sheikh Hasina Wajid, the eldest daughter of Mujib, and the BNP,
headed by Begum Khaleda Zia, the widow of President Zia. Although rivals, the
two parties joined forces to lead a broader opposition front, the Movement for
the Restoration of Democracy. The movement demanded an end to martial law,
restoration of civil rights, release of political prisoners, and parliamentary
elections.
In March 1986 Ershad eased martial law
restrictions in order to satisfy some of the demands of the opposition.
Parliamentary elections were finally held in May. While the BNP-led alliance
boycotted the elections, the Awami League chose to participate. The Jatiya Dal
won a comfortable parliamentary majority, and Ershad proceeded with plans for a
presidential election in October. Opposition parties, including the Awami
League, boycotted the election, declaring it a sham as long as martial law
remained in effect. Ershad won a five-year term with more than 80 percent of the
vote.
In November a parliamentary session
boycotted by the Awami League passed legislation protecting Ershad’s military
regime from reprisals. Ershad then lifted martial law and reinstated the
constitution. Subsequently, the Awami League withdrew from parliament and
rejoined the BNP and other opposition parties in staging general strikes and
public demonstrations. In response, Ershad declared a state of emergency and
dissolved the parliament. New elections were held in March 1988 with both the
BNP and the Awami League boycotting. In consequence, the Jatiya Party (formerly
the Jatiya Dal) won a landslide victory. In September of that year, devastating
floods inundated about three-fourths of the country and left an estimated 30
million people homeless.
In concert with activist student
organizations, the BNP and the Awami League continued to work together to demand
free and fair elections in Bangladesh. Faced with a massive wave of strikes and
violent demonstrations, Ershad was forced to resign in December 1990. He was
subsequently convicted and imprisoned on charges of corruption and illegal
weapons possession.
C | Tumultuous Politics |
General elections were held in February
1991 under a caretaker government headed by a chief justice. The BNP won a
plurality of the seats and managed to form a government with the support of
another former opposition party, the Jamaat-e-Islami. BNP leader Zia became
prime minister. An amendment to the constitution made the prime minister head of
government, and the president of Bangladesh became chief of state with largely
ceremonial duties.
In May 1994 opposition parties began a
series of boycotts of parliament, amid a deepening personal feud between Prime
Minister Zia and Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina. The Awami League-led
opposition demanded that future elections be held under a neutral caretaker
government. In December opposition members in parliament resigned en masse to
force new elections. They organized a series of violent strikes in January 1995.
The parliament was dissolved in November to make way for a general election;
however, opposition parties refused to participate without the appointment of a
neutral caretaker government. The general election went ahead in February 1996,
but the opposition boycott, low voter turnout, and violent incidents undermined
the landslide victory of the ruling BNP.
The opposition parties refused to
recognize the election results and called a general strike, which strained
Bangladesh’s economy. With strikes and violent demonstrations threatening the
stability of the country, Zia bowed to opposition demands. After pushing through
a constitutional amendment to provide for a neutral caretaker government, she
resigned in March.
New elections, held in June 1996 under the
supervision of the caretaker government, brought a shift in power to Bangladesh.
The Awami League won the most seats and, forming a coalition with the Jatiya
Party, gained a majority in parliament. Sheikh Hasina was named prime minister.
The BNP, winning slightly more than one-third of parliamentary seats, formed the
official opposition. Despite the BNP’s active opposition tactics, Sheikh Hasina
became the first prime minister of Bangladesh to complete a full five-year term
in office.
Before the 2001 elections, the Jatiya
Party split into three factions, with one joining the BNP-led four-party
alliance. Ershad, who had been released from prison in January 1997 and
continued to lead the Jatiya Party, was not permitted to be a candidate due to
his former conviction. In the October elections the Awami League was soundly
defeated as the BNP-led coalition won more than two-thirds of the parliamentary
seats. Zia became prime minister a second time.
In November 2001 the BNP-led parliament
elected Badruddoza Chowdhury, a former foreign minister and the founding member
of the BNP, as the president of Bangladesh. He resigned abruptly in June 2002
after protests from the BNP over his failure to pay his respects at the tomb of
former president Ziaur Rahman on the anniversary of his assassination. The
ruling coalition then chose Iajuddin Ahmed, a former university professor, as
the country’s president.
Under the constitution of Bangladesh, the
prime minister and the government must step down 90 days prior to parliamentary
elections so that a neutral caretaker government can take over to ensure free
and fair elections. Accordingly, Prime Minister Zia and her BNP government
resigned in October 2006. However, the Awami League claimed that the proposed
head of the caretaker government, a former Supreme Court chief justice, was
biased in favor of the BNP. Opposition parties led by the Awami League staged
nationwide protests, which turned violent as rival sets of supporters clashed in
the streets. President Ahmed then appointed himself as interim leader of the
caretaker government. The opposition alliance demanded reforms ahead of
elections, including updated voter registration lists and a reorganization of
the election commission.
The elections were scheduled for January
22, 2007, but the opposition alliance announced it would boycott the polls. The
opposition staged a blockade that paralyzed the country, and violent protests
continued. On January 11 President Ahmed declared a state of emergency, to be
enforced by military troops. He stepped down as interim leader and appointed
Fakhruddin Ahmed, a former central bank governor, to head a new military-backed
caretaker government. President Ahmed announced that elections would be
postponed until the caretaker government had successfully rooted out corruption,
promising the achievement of that goal by the end of 2008.
Subsequently, more than 150 politicians,
businesspeople, and civil servants were arrested on corruption charges. Among
those arrested were former prime ministers Begum Khaleda Zia and Sheikh Hasina;
both were detained without bail and faced trial. In September 2007 the caretaker
government announced that President Ahmed would continue in his post, although
his term was set to expire that month, due to the absence of an elected
government that would normally appoint a president. Meanwhile, the suspension of
basic rights such as freedom of assembly continued to be enforced under the
state of emergency.
D | Other Developments |
Bangladesh contended with some of the
worst natural disasters in its history in the 1990s. In 1991 more than 120,000
people were killed and millions left homeless when a powerful cyclone struck the
coastal areas in the Ganges River delta. In 1998 the country experienced the
worst monsoonal flooding in a decade. Seasonal flooding continues to be a
recurring problem in Bangladesh, an exceptionally low-lying country. Floods
regularly cause loss of life as well as extensive infrastructural and
agricultural damage. Rising sea levels attributed to global warming threaten to
intensify flooding in the country.
In the early 1990s Bangladesh’s already
devastated economy was further strained by an influx of an estimated 270,000
refugees from the Arakan province of Myanmar (formerly Burma). The refugees were
Rohingya Muslims, an ethnic minority in Arakan, who claimed to be fleeing
political persecution under the new military regime of Myanmar. Many of the
refugees were subsequently repatriated to Myanmar, but some returned to
Bangladesh in the late 1990s.
In 1996 Bangladesh and its most powerful
regional neighbor, India, reached an agreement on the sharing of the waters of
the Ganges. Relations had been strained since 1975, when the Indian diversion
barrage at Farakka, just inside the Indian border, began to route water from the
Ganges into the Hugli (Hooghly) in order to alleviate a siltation and
salinization problem at Kolkata. During the low-flow months of April and May,
the diversion of water created a problem for irrigation systems in southwestern
Bangladesh. The treaty, designed to facilitate more equitable water sharing,
thus addressed one of Bangladesh’s most prolonged and troublesome foreign
relations issues.
In 1997 the government took steps to
resolve a longstanding insurgency in the eastern Chittagong Hill Tracts
District. Some minority ethnic (or tribal) groups, primarily Buddhist Chakmas,
had demanded autonomy in the region since the 1970s, often resorting to
guerrilla warfare. In the early 1990s the insurgency resulted in a flood of
Chakma refugees into India. Most returned to Bangladesh after a 1997 peace
agreement guaranteed the tribal groups in the Chittagong region greater powers
of self-governance.
Bangladesh’s continuing economic problems,
combined with its status as one of the world’s most populated countries, poses
one of its biggest challenges in the years ahead. Widespread poverty has
remained a pervasive problem in Bangladesh, as successive governments have
generally failed to attend to the welfare of the people. Although the economy
has grown regularly since the late 1970s, the benefits of that growth have not
filtered down to the average person. Bangladesh remains at or near the bottom of
almost all international lists measuring economic and social development, while
being placed at the top of lists for corruption in government. Meanwhile,
Bangladesh has received only minor foreign direct investment in comparison to
other Asian countries.
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