Official Name:

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Political system:

Parliamentary democracy: The President is the Head of State while the Government is headed by the Prime Minister.

Independence:

26 March 1971

Capital:

Dhaka

Time Zone:

GMT + 6 hours

Administrative Units:

The country is divided into seven Administrative Divisions - Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal, Sylhet and Rangpur. Each Division is divided into several administrative districts.

Districts:

64

Business hours:

9:00 am to 5:00 pm; Sunday to Thursday.
Friday and Saturday are weekly holidays

Language:

Bangla is the official language; English, as second language, is widely spoken and used in business communications across the country.

Literacy rate:

61.5%

Educational institutions:

Public Universities: 41
Private Universities: 54
Colleges: 3,879
Polytechnic Institutes: 27
Medical Colleges: 63
Dental Colleges: 10
Secondary Schools: 22,293
Primary Schools: 82,218

Principal industries:

Ready-made garments (RMG), pharmaceuticals, cements, garment accessories, chemicals, fertilizers, newsprint, leather and leather goods, ship breaking, ship-building, paper, sugar, jute, oil refining, light engineering, toiletries, processed foods, electrical and electronics, assembling and manufacturing of refrigerator, freezer, LCD and LED television and computers and assembling of jeeps, buses and trucks.

Principal exports:

Readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, frozen foods (shrimps), leather, leather products, jute, jute products, tea, ceramic, textile fabrics, home textile, chemical products, handicrafts, newsprint, computer software,IT solutions, light engineering products including bi-cycle, toiletries, processed foods, ocean going vessels (below 10,000 tons) etc.

Best tourist season:

October – March

Places of tourist interest:

Dhaka, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Kaptai,Rangamati, Khagrachari, Bandarban, Kuakata, Bogra, Khulna, the Sundarbans, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Dinajpur and Comilla

International airports:

Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet

Domestic airports:

Cox’s Bazar, Jessore, Rajshahi, Syedpur, Barisal, Iswardi, Comilla and Thakurgaon

Seaports

Chittagong and Mongla

Radio stations:

State owned Bangladesh Betar, which broadcasts countrywide, has 6 stations in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet and Rangpur and 2 relay stations in Comilla and Thakurgaon. Apart from this, 13 privately owned FM radios, mostly based in Dhaka, are operating in major cities only. There are a few number of community radios operating in certain areas of the country.

Television stations:

State owned Bangladesh Television BTV has its two stations in Dhaka and Chittagong, which covers the whole country through terrestrial network. 26 privately owned satellite channels are currently telecasting news and programmes based on cable connections.

Satellite earth stations:

Talibabad (Dhaka), Betbunia (Rangamati)

Location:

Between 200 34' and 260 38' north latitude and between 880 01' and 92041' east longitude.

Boundary:

North: India
West: India
South: Bay of Bengal
East: India and Myanmar

Area:

56,977 sq. miles or 147,570 sq. km (will soon be increased with implementation of the Bangladesh-India Land Boundary Treaty).

Territorial water:

12 nautical miles

Maritime economic zone:

 200 nautical miles

Main seasons:

Spring (February-March), Summer (April-June), Monsoon (July-September), Autumn (October-November) and Winter (December-January)

Principal seasonal crops and fruits:

Rice, jute, wheat, tobacco, pulses, sugarcane, oil seeds, spices, vegetables, potatoes, jack-fruit, banana, mango, coconut, pineapple, etc.

Natural resources:

Natural gas, coal, limestone, white clay, hard rock, glass sand, etc.

Principal rivers:

Padma (Ganges), Meghna, Jamuna, Brahmaputra, Teesta, Surma and Karnaphuli.(total 310 rivers including tributaries)

Total population:

166.28 million [2014 estimated]

Male:

80.89 million [2014 estimated]

Female:

85.39 million [2014 estimated]

Annual population growth rate:

1.6% (2014 est.)

Sex ratio:

95 male(s)/100female (2014 est.)

Population below poverty line:

31.5%

Density (per sq km):

1015

Life expectancy at birth (2011)

70.65 years

Labour force:

80.27 million

Sectoral distribution of labour force:

Agriculture: 47% percent
Industry: 13% percent
Services: 40% percent

Religion:

4 major religions: Islam, Hinduism,Christianity & Buddhism.
Muslims 89.5%, Hindus 9.6%, Buddhists 0.5%, Christians 0.3%, and others 0.1%.

Ethnic groups:

Bengali 98%. There are 27 ethnic minority groups who constitute 1.1% of the total population.

GDP

US$ 186.6 billionn (2014, official exchange rate)

GDP (purchasing power parity)

US$ 535.6 billion (2014 est.), US$ 504.3 billionn (2013 est.)

GDP growth rate (%):

6.2 (2014 est.), 6.1 (2013 est.), 6.3 (2012 est)

GDP per capita:

US$ 3,400 (2014 est), US$ 3,200 (2013 est)

GDP (per capita income)

US$ 1192 (2014-15)

GDP Composition by sector

Agriculture - 15.1%, Industry- 26.5%, Services- 53.5% (2014 est.)

Total exports:

US$ 31.2 billion (2014)

Major export partners:

US - 16.3%, Germany - 11.8%, UK - 7.7%, France - 4.8%, Netherlands - 4.7%, Spain – 4.4% (2013)

Main export commodities:

Garments, knitwear, agricultural products, frozen food (fish and seafood), jute and jute goods, leather and leather goods.

Total imports:

US$ 38.5 billion (2014), US$ 35 billion (2013)

Major import partners:

China - 21.9%, India - 14%, Singapoer - 5.8%, Malaysia - 5.3% (2013)

Main import commodities

Cotton, machinery and equipments, chemicals, iron and steel, foodstuffs.

Total FDI:

US$ 1.59billion (2013), US$ 1.29 billion (2012), US$1.136 billion (2011),

Remittances

US$ 14.23 billion in 2014; was $14.46 billion in 2012-13

Forex reserves:

23.35 billion (April 2015)

Currency:

BDT (1 BDT = US $ 0.013) (June 2015)