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Introduction |
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Background: |
Bangladesh came
into existence in 1971 when Bengali East Pakistan seceded from
its union with West Pakistan. About a third of this extremely
poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season,
hampering economic development.
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Geography |
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Location: |
Southern Asia,
bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
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Geographic
coordinates: |
24 00 N, 90 00 E
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Map references: |
Asia
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Area: |
total:
144,000 sq km
land: 133,910 sq km
water: 10,090 sq km
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Area -
comparative: |
slightly smaller
than Iowa
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Land boundaries: |
total: 4,246
km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
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Coastline: |
580 km
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Maritime claims: |
territorial sea:
12 nm
contiguous zone: 18 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the
continental margin
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Climate: |
tropical; mild
winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June);
humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
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Terrain: |
mostly flat
alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
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Elevation
extremes: |
lowest point:
Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m
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Natural
resources: |
natural gas, arable
land, timber, coal
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Land use: |
arable land:
62.11%
permanent crops: 3.07%
other: 34.82% (2001)
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Irrigated land: |
38,440 sq km (1998
est.)
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Natural hazards: |
droughts, cyclones;
much of the country routinely inundated during the summer
monsoon season
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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
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Environment -
international agreements: |
party to:
Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol,
Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification,
Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection,
Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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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 |
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Population: |
144,319,628 (July
2005 est.)
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Age structure: |
0-14 years:
33.1% (male 24,590,207/female 23,162,420)
15-64 years: 63.5% (male 46,764,824/female 44,868,733)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 2,650,683/female 2,282,761)
(2005 est.)
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Median age: |
total: 21.87
years
male: 21.88 years
female: 21.85 years (2005 est.)
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Population
growth rate: |
2.09% (2005 est.)
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Birth rate: |
30.01 births/1,000
population (2005 est.)
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Death rate: |
8.4 deaths/1,000
population (2005 est.)
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Net migration
rate: |
-0.69
migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)
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Sex ratio: |
at birth:
1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.16 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.)
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Infant mortality
rate: |
total: 62.6
deaths/1,000 live births
male: 63.65 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 61.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)
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Life expectancy
at birth: |
total
population: 62.08 years
male: 62.13 years
female: 62.02 years (2005 est.)
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Total fertility
rate: |
3.13 children
born/woman (2005 est.)
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HIV/AIDS - adult
prevalence rate: |
less than 0.1%
(2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS -
people living with HIV/AIDS: |
13,000 (2001 est.)
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HIV/AIDS -
deaths: |
650 (2001 est.)
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Nationality: |
noun:
Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladeshi
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Ethnic groups: |
Bengali 98%, tribal
groups, non-Bengali Muslims (1998)
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Religions: |
Muslim 83%, Hindu
16%, other 1% (1998)
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Languages: |
Bangla (official,
also known as Bengali), English
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Literacy: |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 43.1%
male: 53.9%
female: 31.8% (2003 est.)
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Government |
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Country name: |
conventional
long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh
conventional short form: Bangladesh
former: East Pakistan
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Government type: |
parliamentary
democracy
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Capital: |
Dhaka
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Administrative
divisions: |
6 divisions;
Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Sylhet
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Independence: |
16 December 1971
(from West Pakistan); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of
independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is known as
Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state
of Bangladesh
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National
holiday: |
Independence Day,
26 March (1971); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of
independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is Victory Day
and commemorates the official creation of the state of
Bangladesh
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Constitution: |
4 November 1972,
effective 16 December 1972, suspended following coup of 24 March
1982, restored 10 November 1986, amended many times
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Legal system: |
based on English
common law
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Suffrage: |
18 years of age;
universal
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Executive
branch: |
chief of state:
President Iajuddin AHMED (since 6 September 2002); note - the
president's duties are normally ceremonial, but with the 13th
amendment to the constitution ("Caretaker Government
Amendment"), the president's role becomes significant at times
when Parliament is dissolved and a caretaker government is
installed - at presidential direction - to supervise the
elections
head of government: Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA (since 10
October 2001)
cabinet: Cabinet selected by the prime minister and
appointed by the president
elections: president elected by National Parliament for a
five-year term; election scheduled for 16 September 2002 was not
held since Iajuddin AHMED was the only presidential candidate;
he was sworn in on 6 September 2002 (next election to be held by
NA 2007); following legislative elections, the leader of the
party that wins the most seats is usually appointed prime
minister by the president
election results: Iajuddin AHMED declared by the Election
Commission elected unopposed as president; percent of National
Parliament vote - NA
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Legislative
branch: |
unicameral National
Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote
from single territorial constituencies (the constitutional
amendment reserving 30 seats for women over and above the 300
regular parliament seats expired in May 2001); members serve
five-year terms
elections: last held 1 October 2001 (next to be held
before October 2006)
election results: percent of vote by party - BNP and
alliance partners 47%, AL 40%; seats by party - BNP 195, AL 58,
JI 17, JP (Ershad faction) 14, IOJ 3, JP (Naziur) 4, other 9;
note - the election of October 2001 brought a majority BNP
government aligned with three other smaller parties -
Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Oikya Jote, and Jatiya Party (Manzur)
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Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court (the
chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president)
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Political
parties and leaders: |
Awami League or AL
[Sheikh HASINA]; Bangladesh Communist Party or BCP [Saifuddin
Ahmed MANIK]; Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP [Khaleda ZIA,
chairperson]; Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI];
Jamaat-e-Islami or JI [Motiur Rahman NIZAMI]; Jatiya Party or JP
(Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD]; Jatiya Party (Manzur
faction) [Naziur Rahman MANZUR]
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Political
pressure groups and leaders: |
NA
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International
organization participation: |
AsDB, C, CP, FAO,
G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICFTU, ICRM, IDA,
IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM,
ISO, ITU, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, ONUB, OPCW, SAARC,
SACEP, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIK,
UNMIL, UNMISET, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTO
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Flag
description: |
green with a large
red disk slightly to the hoist side of center; the red sun of
freedom represents the blood shed to achieve independence; the
green field symbolizes the lush countryside, and secondarily,
the traditional color of Islam
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Economy |
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Economy -
overview: |
Despite sustained
domestic and international efforts to improve economic and
demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated,
and ill-governed nation. Although half of GDP is generated
through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis
are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the
single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth
include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned
enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor
force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in
exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power
supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Economic
reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and
corruption at all levels of government. Progress also has been
blocked by opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector
unions, and other vested interest groups. The BNP government,
led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary
strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's
political will to do so has been lacking in key areas. One
encouraging note: growth has been a steady 5% for the past
several years.
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GDP: |
purchasing power
parity - $275.7 billion (2004 est.)
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GDP - real
growth rate: |
4.9% (2004 est.)
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GDP - per
capita: |
purchasing power
parity - $2,000 (2004 est.)
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GDP -
composition by sector: |
agriculture:
21.2%
industry: 27.1%
services: 51.7% (2004 est.)
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Labor force: |
65.49 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait,
UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated
at $1.71 billion in 1998-99 (2004 est.)
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Labor force - by
occupation: |
agriculture 63%,
industry 11%, services 26% (FY95/96)
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Unemployment
rate: |
40% (includes
underemployment) (2004 est.)
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Population below
poverty line: |
45% (2004 est.)
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Household income
or consumption by percentage share: |
lowest 10%:
3.9%
highest 10%: 28.6% (1995-96 est.)
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Distribution of
family income - Gini index: |
33.6 (FY95/96)
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Inflation rate
(consumer prices): |
6% (2004 est.)
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Investment
(gross fixed): |
23.5% of GDP (2004
est.)
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Budget: |
revenues:
$5.921 billion
expenditures: $8.262 billion, including capital
expenditures of NA (2004 est.)
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Public debt: |
43% of GDP (2004
est.)
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Agriculture -
products: |
rice, jute, tea,
wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices,
fruit; beef, milk, poultry
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Industries: |
cotton textiles,
jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement,
chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
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Industrial
production growth rate: |
6.5% (2004 est.)
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Electricity -
production: |
16.45 billion kWh
(2002)
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Electricity -
production by source: |
fossil fuel:
93.7%
hydro: 6.3%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
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Electricity -
consumption: |
15.3 billion kWh
(2002)
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Electricity -
exports: |
0 kWh (2002)
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Electricity -
imports: |
0 kWh (2002)
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Oil -
production: |
3,581 bbl/day (2001
est.)
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Oil -
consumption: |
71,000 bbl/day
(2001 est.)
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Oil - exports: |
NA
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Oil - imports: |
NA
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Oil - proved
reserves: |
28.45 million bbl
(1 January 2002)
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Natural gas -
production: |
9.9 billion cu m
(2001 est.)
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Natural gas -
consumption: |
9.9 billion cu m
(2001 est.)
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Natural gas -
exports: |
0 cu m (2001 est.)
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Natural gas -
imports: |
0 cu m (2001 est.)
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Natural gas -
proved reserves: |
150.3 billion cu m
(1 January 2002)
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Current account
balance: |
$216.6 million
(2004 est.)
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Exports: |
$7.478 billion
(2004 est.)
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Exports -
commodities: |
garments, jute and
jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001)
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Exports -
partners: |
US 22.7%, Germany
14.5%, UK 10.8%, France 6.7% (2004)
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Imports: |
$10.03 billion
(2004 est.)
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Imports -
commodities: |
machinery and
equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs,
petroleum products, cement (2000)
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Imports -
partners: |
India 14.6%, China
11.7%, Singapore 7.8%, Japan 5.8%, Hong Kong 4.8% (2004)
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Reserves of
foreign exchange and gold: |
$3 billion (2004
est.)
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Debt - external: |
$19.97 billion
(2004 est.)
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Currency (code): |
taka (BDT)
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Currency code: |
BDT
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Exchange rates: |
taka per US dollar
- 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002), 55.807 (2001),
52.142 (2000)
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Fiscal year: |
1 July - 30 June
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Communications |
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Telephones -
main lines in use: |
740,000 (2003)
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Telephones -
mobile cellular: |
1.365 million
(2003)
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Telephone
system: |
general
assessment: totally inadequate for a modern country
domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk
systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and
some fiber-optic cable in cities
international: country code - 880; satellite earth
stations - 2 Intelsat (Indian Ocean); international
radiotelephone communications and landline service to
neighboring countries (2000)
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Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 12, FM 12,
shortwave 2 (1999)
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Radios: |
6.15 million (1997)
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Television
broadcast stations: |
15 (1999)
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Televisions: |
770,000 (1997)
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Internet country
code: |
.bd
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Internet hosts: |
1 (2003)
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Internet Service
Providers (ISPs): |
10 (2000)
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Internet users: |
243,000 (2003)
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Transportation |
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Railways: |
total: 2,706
km
broad gauge: 884 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
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Highways: |
total:
207,486 km
paved: 19,773 km
unpaved: 187,713 km (1999)
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Waterways: |
8,372 km
note: includes 2,575 km main cargo routes (2004)
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Pipelines: |
gas 2,012 km (2004)
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Ports and
harbors: |
Chittagong, Mongla
Port
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Merchant marine: |
total: 41
ships (1,000 GRT or over) 319,897 GRT/440,575 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 28, container 6,
passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4
foreign-owned: 10 (China 1, Singapore 9)
registered in other countries: 14 (2005)
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Airports: |
16 (2004 est.)
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Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 15
over 3,047 m: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 3
1,524 to 2,437 m: 4
914 to 1,523 m: 1
under 914 m: 6 (2004 est.)
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Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
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Military |
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Military
branches: |
Army, Navy, Air
Force
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Military
manpower - military age and obligation: |
18 years of age for
voluntary military service; no conscription (2005)
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Military
manpower - availability: |
males age 18-49:
35,170,019 (2005 est.)
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Military
manpower - fit for military service: |
males age 18-49:
26,841,255 (2005 est.)
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Military
expenditures - dollar figure: |
$995.3 million
(2004)
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Military
expenditures - percent of GDP: |
1.8% (2004)
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Transnational Issues |
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Disputes -
international: |
discussions with
India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river
boundary, exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries,
allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade,
migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the
porous border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off
high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint
Bangladesh-India boundary inspection in 2005 revealed 92 pillars
are missing; dispute with India over New Moore/South
Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime
boundary delimitation; Burmese Muslim refugees strain
Bangladesh's meager resources
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Refugees and
internally displaced persons:: |
IDPs: 61,000
(land conflicts, religious persecution) (2004)
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Illicit drugs: |
transit country for
illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries
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