Political unrest plagued Bangladesh during 2015. InJanuary former prime minister Khaleda Zia, leaderof the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party,

began a protest campaign against the government ofPrime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed. Clashes betweendemonstrators and police, assaults on political figures,firebomb attacks, and other violence killed scores of peo-ple and injured hundreds more. Subsequently, Zia wascharged with complicity in several of the firebombings;she was already facing corruption charges stemming fromher term in office. The political instability had a negativeeffect on the country’s economy.

Vital statisticsBirth rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2011): 19.2(world avg. 19.5).

Death rate per 1,000 pop-ulation (2011): 5.5(world avg. 8.1).

Natural increase rate per1,000 population (2011):13.7 (world avg. 11.4).

Life expectancy at birth(2011): male 67.4 years;female 69.8 years.

DemographyPopulation (2015): 159,031,000.Density (2015)2: persons per sq mi2,956.1, persons per sq km 1,140.5.

Sex distribution (2011): male 50.07%;female 49.93%.

Population projection: (2020)168,107,000; (2030) 183,471,000.

Major cities/metropolitan areas (2011):Dhaka 7,423,137/14,543,124;

Chittagong 2,971,102/4,009,423; Khulna 663,342/1,046,341; Sylhet479,837; Tungi 476,349; Rajshahi 440,604.

Urban-rural (2011):

Bangladesh

Official name: Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh(People’s Republic of Bangladesh).

Form of government: unitary multipartyrepublic with one legislative house(Parliament [3501]).

Head of state: President Abdul Hamid.Head of government: Prime Minister SheikhHasina Wazed (Wajed).

Capital: Dhaka.Official language: Bengali (Bangla).Official religion: Islam.Monetary unit: Bangladesh taka (Tk); valua-tion (Sept. 1, 2015) 1 U.S.$ = Tk 77.78; 1 £ = Tk 119.20.

Ethnic composition (1997):

Age breakdown (2014):

Religious affiliation (2010):

Area and population area population

2011Divisions Administrative centres sq mi sq km census3

Barisal Barisal 5,134 13,297 8,325,666Chittagong Chittagong 13,039 33,771 28,423,019Dhaka Dhaka 12,015 31,119 47,424,418Khulna Khulna 8,600 22,274 15,687,759Rajshahi Rajshahi 7,025 18,195 18,484,858Rangpur4 Rangpur 6,301 16,318 15,787,758Sylhet Sylhet 4,863 12,596 9,910,219TOTAL 56,9775 147,5705 144,043,697

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National economyBudget (2012–13). Revenue: Tk 1,396,700,000,000 (tax revenue 83.6%,

of which VAT 29.0%, taxes on income and profits25.3%, import duties 10.4%; nontax revenue 16.4%).Expenditures: Tk 1,652,890,000,000 (current expenditure53.3%; development expenditure 32.6%; other 14.1%).

Production (metric tons except as noted). Agriculture,forestry, fishing (2012): paddy rice 33,890,000, potatoes8,205,000, sugarcane 4,603,000, jute 1,452,000, onions1,159,000, wheat 995,000, mangoes, mangosteens, andguavas 945,000, bananas 746,000, pumpkins, squash, andgourds 365,000, tomatoes 255,000; livestock (number oflive animals) 55,000,000 goats, 23,150,000 cattle; round-wood 27,252,764 cu m, of which fuelwood 99%; fisheriesproduction 3,261,781 (from aquaculture 53%). Mining

and quarrying (2011): marine salt 1,410,000; granite 300,000.Manufacturing (value added in Tk ’000,000,000; 2007–08)11: small-scale 273.6, of which handloom-based 36.0; wearing apparel 222.7;food 120.9; textiles 63.8; cigarettes 40.0; medicine and pharmaceuticals36.1.12 Energy production (consumption): electricity (kW-hr; 2011)44,061,000,000 (44,061,000,000), by source (2012): fossil fuels 95.9%;renewable energy 4.1%, of which hydroelectric 4.0%; hard coal (met-ric tons; 2011) 900,000 (1,820,000); crude petroleum (barrels; 2011)none (10,500,000); petroleum products (metric tons; 2011) 911,000(4,135,000); natural gas (cu m; 2011) 22,048,000,000 (22,048,000,000).

Average household size (2011): 4.4.Population economically active (2004–05): total 49,461,000; participa-tion rates: ages 15–64, male 88.6%; female 24.5%; unemployed orunderemployed (2008) 38%, of which youth, n.a.

Gross national income (GNI; 2014): U.S.$171,595,000,000 (U.S.$1,080per capita); purchasing power parity GNI (U.S.$3,340 per capita).

Public debt (external, outstanding; 2013): U.S.$24,880,000,000.Land use as % of total land area (2009): in temporary crops or leftfallow 50.6%, in permanent crops 7.5%, in pasture 4.6%, forest area11.1%.

MilitaryTotal active duty personnel (November 2014):

157,05014 (army 80.3%, navy 10.8%, airforce 8.9%). Military expenditure as percent-age of GDP (2013): 0.9%; per capita expen-diture U.S.$9.

Foreign trade10

Imports (2013–14): U.S.$40,732,000,000 (petroleumproducts 10.0%, textiles 8.8%, iron and steel 6.5%,cotton 6.0%, machinery 5.7%, plastics and rubberproducts 4.4%, textile yarn 3.7%). Major import sources (2013):

Exports (2013–14): U.S.$27,454,000,000 (knitted orwoven clothing or accessories 68.7%, leather 3.2%,jute goods 3.1%, frozen shrimp and fish 1.9%). Major export destinations (2013):

Transport and communicationsTransport. Railroads (2009–10): route length2,855 km; passenger-km 8,787,000,000;metric ton-km cargo 582,000,000.Roads (2008–09): total length 166,800mi, 268,439 km (paved 24%). Vehicles(2010): passenger cars 310,436; trucks,vans, and buses 510,347.

Education and healthLiteracy (2010): total population age 15 andover literate 59.8%; males literate 63.9%;females literate 55.7%.

Health (2009): physicians 49,994 (1 per 2,783persons); hospital beds 74,415 (1 per 1,869 per-sons); infant mortality rate (2011) 35; under-nourished population (2006–08) 41,400,000(26% of total population based on the con-sumption of a minimum daily requirement of1,770 calories).

1Includes 50 indirectly elected seats reserved for women. 2Based on the total area excluding the riverarea. 3Final. 4New division approved January 2010. 5Includes the river area of 3,180 sq mi (8,236 sq km).6Includes Chakma, Saontal, and Marma tribal groups. 7Mostly Roman Catholic. 8Provisional. 9Detaildoes not add to total given because of rounding. 10Imports c.i.f.; exports f.o.b. 11Including small-scalemanufacturers. 12Export processing zone manufactures (particularly ready-made garments) are of thegreatest value. 13Subscribers. 14Of which deployed as UN peacekeepers 7,391.

Internet resources for further information:• Bangladesh Bank www.bangladesh-bank.org• Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics www.bbs.gov.bd

Structure of gross domestic product and labour force2012–138 2004–05

in value % of total labour % of labourTk ’000,000,000 value force force

Agriculture, forestry 1,369.9 13.2 21,672,000 43.8Fishing 356.7 3.4 1,095,000 2.2Mining 124.1 1.2 51,000 0.1Manufacturing 1,760.3 17.0 5,224,000 10.6Construction 899.8 8.7 1,524,000 3.1Public utilities 111.7 1.1 76,000 0.2Transp. and commun. 1,187.5 11.4 3,976,000 8.0Trade, hotels 1,517.4 14.6 7,820,000 15.8Finance, real estate 861.8 8.3 746,000 1.5Public admin., defense 284.3 2.7 882,000 1.8Services 1,556.2 15.0 4,290,000 8.7Other 350.2 3.4 2,104,000 4.3TOTAL 10,379.9 100.0 49,461,0009 100.09

Communications units unitsnumber per 1,000 number per 1,000

Medium date in ’000s persons Medium date in ’000s persons

TelephonesCellular 2014 120,35013 75913

Landline 2014 1,086 6.9

Internet users 2009 617 3.8Broadband 2014 1,89313 1213

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