Essential Information & explanations, latest texts & monographs on Bangladesh.

The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank by David Bornstein

Lonely Planet Bangladesh (Bangladesh, 4th Ed) by Richard Plunkett

A Photographic Guide to the Birds of India : And the Indian Subcontinent, Including Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and the Mald by Bikram Grewal

Shame: A Novel by Tasalima Nasarina

Daktar by Viggo Olsen

Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives by Richard Grimmett

Brick Lane by audible.com

Meyebela: My Bengali Girlhood by Taslima Nasrin

Lonely Planet India & Bangladesh: Road Atlas by Lonely Planet Publications

The Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: On the Difficult Road to Peace (Internationl Peace Academy Occasional Paper Series) by Amena Mohsin

Stories About the Partition of India by Alok Bhalla

Freedom Unfinished : Fundamentalism and Popular Resistance in Bangladesh Today by Jeremy Seabrook

Blockade!: A Guide to Non-Violent Intervention by Richard K. Taylor

The Price of a Dream: The Story of the Grameen Bank and the Idea That Is Helping the Poor to Change Their Lives by David Bornstein

South Asia: Nepal, Bangladesh,& Bhutan: A Global Studies Handbook by Nanda R. Shrestha

Bangladesh

The People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia that forms the eastern part of the ancient region of Bengal, with Bangladesh meaning "Land of the Bengali". Lying north of the Bay of Bengal, on land it borders India almost exclusively, save for a small section bordering Myanmar in the southeast. গণ প্রজাতঁত্রী বাংলাদেশGana Prajātantrī Bānglādesh (In Detail) (In Detail) National motto: None Official language Bengali Capital Dhaka President Iajuddin Ahmed Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia Area - Total - % waterRanked 91st 144,000 km² 7.0% Population - Total (2002) - Density Ranked 8th 133,376,684 926/km² Independence - Declared - Recognized from Pakistan March 26, 1971 December 16, 1971 Currency Taka (BDT) Time zone UTC +6 National anthem Amar Sonar Bangla Internet TLD .BD Calling Code880 Table of contents showTocToggle("show","hide") 1 History 2 Politics 3 Divisions 4 Geography 5 Economy 6 Demographics 7 Culture 8 Miscellaneous topics 9 External Links History Main article: History of Bangladesh Bengal became Islamic starting in the 13th century and developed into a wealthy centre of trade and industry under the Mogul Empire during the 16th century. European traders had arrived in the late 15th century and eventually the British East India Company controlled the region by the late 18th century, from which the British extended their rule over all of India. When Indian independence was achieved in 1947, it was divided in a predominantly Muslim Pakistan and a predominantly Hindu India. Bengal was thus divided into an eastern part called East Pakistan and a western part, the Indian state of West Bengal. The abolition of the Zamindari system in East Bengal (1950) and the language movement (1952) were two most important events. East Pakistan was dominated and frequently neglected by West Pakistan and tensions turned into a struggle for independence in 1971. In March 26, The Pakistani Army started one of the bloodiest genocides in recent times, killing innocent men, women and children. The Eighth East Bengal Regiment under the leadership of Major Ziaur Rahman revolted against the Pakistan Army and took up the Bangladesh flag as its mainstay on the night between March 26 and 27 1971. Then he took up the momentous decision. Major Ziaur Rahman declared the Independence of Bangladesh using a makeshift Radio Tranmitter from the Port city of Chittagong. The attempted repression of this movement resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Bengalis and a refugee problem that led to Indian intervention in December and, subsequently, independence from Pakistan. The Pakistani Army surrendered in December 16, 1971, and Bangladesh became an independent Nation. Politics Main article: Politics of Bangladesh The President, while head of state, holds a largely ceremonial post, with real power held by the Prime Minister, who is head of government. The president is elected by the legislature every 5 years and his normally limited powers are substantially expanded during the tenure of a caretaker government, mainly in controlling the transition to a new government. The prime minister is appointed by the president and must be a member of parliament (MP) whom the president feels commands the confidence of the majority of other MPs. The cabinet is composed of ministers selected by the prime minister and appointed by the president. The unicameral Bangladeshi parliament is the House of the Nation or Jatiya Sangsad, whose 300 members are elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies for five-year terms of office. The highest judiciary body is the Supreme Court, of which the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president. Divisions Main article: Divisions of Bangladesh Bangladesh is subdivided into 6 divisions, all named after their respective capitals:

See List of cities in Bangladesh. Geography Main article: Geography of Bangladesh Bangladesh consists mostly of a low-lying river delta located on the Indian subcontinent with a largely marshy jungle coastline on the Bay of Bengal known as the Sundarbans, home to the (Royal) Bengal Tiger. The densely populated delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna rivers and their tributaries as they flow down from the Himalayas. Bangladesh's alluvial soil is highly fertile but vulnerable to both flood and drought. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (highest point: the Keokradong at 1,230 m) in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, the Bangladeshi climate is tropical with a mild winter from October to March, a hot, humid summer from March to June, and a humid, warm rainy monsoon from June to October. Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores affect the country almost every year, combined with the effects of deforestation, soil degradation and erosion. Dhaka is the country's capital and largest city, other major cities include Chittagong, Rajshahi, and Khulna. Cox's Bazar, south of Chittagong, is the longest natural beach in the world. Economy Main article: Economy of Bangladesh Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and ill-governed nation. Although more than 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 labour force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (such as natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms, caused by political infighting and corruption. Demographics Main article: Demographics of Bangladesh Apart from very small countries such as Singapore and Bahrain, Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in the world. The Bangladeshi population is relatively homogenous and consists of about 98% ethnic Bengali, who speak Bengali or Bangla. Urdu-speaking, non-Bengali Muslims from other regions of India such as Bihar, as well as various tribal groups who live mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeast, comprise the remainder. Most Bangladeshis (about 83%) are Muslims, but Hindus constitute a sizable (16%) minority. There also are a small number of Buddhists, Christians, and animists. Bengali, a member of the Indo-Aryan languages and written in a script similar to Devanagari, is the official national language. However English is generally used in official tasks and in (higher) education. Bangladesh is plagued by overpopulation, while many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land. Resulting diseases and pollution form a problem, but more pressing is the contamination of ground water by naturally occurring arsenic, caused in part by western NGO's public health efforts encouraging the drilling of wells as an alternative to using water from contaminated surface water. Arsenic poisoning affects about a quarter of the population. Culture Main article: Culture of Bangladesh

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