Bangladesh, in full, Peoples 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.

 Official

Name: Peoples Republic of Bangladesh Capital: Dhaka

Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy. The head of the government is Prime Minister and the head of the state is President. Jatiya Sangsad (The National Assembly) consists of 330 members. 300 members are elected for a five-year term in single-seat constituencies and 30 women are elected by the parliamentarians. The latest elections were held in December 29, 2008. Bangladesh Awami Leaque (AL) and the grand alliance got a landslide victory. Sheikh Hasina, the Chairperson of AL, was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Government. The previous elections were held in 2001 and was won by Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).

The National Assembly

Islam, the state religion, is the faith of 88%of the population. Almost all of the countrys Muslims adhere to the Sunni branch; however, there are also a small number of Shia Muslims, including members of the Ismailia sect. Hindus make up most of the remainder of the population, but the country also includes small communities of Buddhists, Christians, and animists.

Population:

153,546,900 Population density: 1,147 persons per sq. km 2,970 persons per sq. mi Urban population distribution: 25 % Rural population distribution: 75 %

 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 variantsa 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.

More than 98 percent of Bangladeshs inhabitants are Bengalis, who are largely descended from Indo-Aryans . The IndoAryans 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 Bihris, non-Bengali Muslims who migrated from India after the 1947 partition, and various indigenous ethnic groups.

Bangladesh is one of the world's poorest nations, with overpopulation adding to its economic woes, and it is heavily reliant on foreign aid. The country's economy is based on agriculture. Rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, and tobacco are the chief crops. Bangladesh is the world's largest producer of jute. Fishing is also an important economic activity, and beef, dairy products, and poultry are also produced. Except for natural gas (found along its eastern border), limited quantities of oil (in the Bay of Bengal), coal, and some uranium, Bangladesh possesses few minerals.

GDP (purchasing power parity) $282.5 billion (2011 est.) $265.7 billion (2010 est.) $249.8 billion (2009 est.) note: data are in 2011 US dollars GDP (official exchange rate) $115 billion (2011 est.) GDP - real growth rate 6.3% (2011 est.) 6.4% (2010 est.) 5.9% (2009 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP) $1,700 (2011 est.) $1,600 (2010 est.) $1,500 (2009 est.) note: data are in 2011 US dollars GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 18.4% industry: 28.6% services: 53% (2011 est.)

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 worlds leading producers of rice. High-yielding varieties of rice are cultivated as part of a government initiative to increase the countrys 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), potatoes, sweet potatoes, sugarcane, bananas, mangoes, and pineapples.

The capital of Bangladesh.

Gateway to the bay of Bengal

The Heart of The Lake District

- LAND OF TWO LEAVES AND A BUD

HOME OF THE ROYAL BENGAL TIGER & MANGROVE FOREST

- SEAT OF LOST DYNASTIES

THE OLDEST ARCHAEOLOGICAL SITE

- A NATURAL SILK PRODUCING CENTRE