LOCATION:
Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
AREA:
total: 143,998 sq km
CLIMATE:
tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
NATURAL RESOURCES:
natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
LANGUAGES:
Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
RELIGIONS:
Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9% (2004)
POPULATION:
158,570,535 (July 2011 est.)
GOVERNMENT TYPE:
parliamentary democracy
CAPITAL:
name: Dhaka
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
LEGAL SYSTEM:
mixed legal system of mostly English common law and Islamic law
GDP - real growth rate:
6% (2010 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 18.6%
industry: 28.5%
services: 53% (2010 est.)
AGRICULTURE - products:
rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry
INDUSTRIES:
cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar
EXPORTS:
$19.24 billion (2010 est.)
EXPORTS - partners:
US 22.1%, Germany 14.1%, UK 8.5%, France 6.8%, Netherlands 6.1% (2010)
IMPORTS:
$24.72 billion (2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 65
$19.68 billion (2009 est.)
IMPORTS - partners:
China 18.9%, India 12.7%, Singapore 6%, Malaysia 4.7%, Japan 4% (2010)
