THE GEOGRAPHY (Foreign Office UK)
Area: 147,570 sq km (91,695.75 sq mi)
Population: 137.4m
Capital City: Dhaka (8.5m in 1997)
People: Bengalis (98%), and small
numbers of tribes people in remote
areas
Languages: Bangla, and some tribal
languages
Religion(s): Muslim (89%), Hindu (10%).
Buddhists and Christians make up about
1% of the population
Currency: Taka
Major political parties: Ruling 4 Party
Alliance - Bangladesh Nationalist Party
(BNP), Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh,
Jatiya Party (N) (JPN), Islami Oikya
Jote. Main Opposition parties -
Bangladesh Awami League (AL); Islami
Jatiya Oikya Front -Jatiya Party (E)
(JPE), Islamic Constitution Movement
(ICM); Jatiya Party (M) (JPM); Sramik
Krishak Janata League
Government: Bangladesh is a
Parliamentary Democracy with a
President elected by Parliament.
Parliament and President are both
elected for five years. The BNP-led 4
party alliance has a majority in
Parliament.
GEOGRAPHY
Bangladesh has roughly the same land
area as England and Wales. It is
enclosed by Indian territory except for
a short south-eastern frontier with
Burma and borders the Bay of Bengal
in the south. Most of the country is
formed by the alluvial plain of the
Ganges-Brahmaputra river system -
the largest delta in the world; water
flow is second only to that of the
Amazon. To the east of the delta lie the
Chittagong Hill Tracts. Flooding is
normal and life has adapted to take
account of this. But occasionally
excessive flooding, as in 1988 and 1998,
causes widespread destruction and loss
of life. Bangladesh's principal natural
resource is natural gas.
The climate is tropical and governed by
the monsoon winds which in summer
(June to September) bring very heavy
rainfall (up to 200 inches), often
accompanied by cyclonic storms. The
short winter is mild and relatively dry.
In winter the mean temperature is
about 16 degrees centigrade (53F) and
in summer 27 degrees centigrade
(80F).
THE HISTORY (Foreign Office UK)
Before partition, the territory formed
part of the Indian provinces of Bengal
and Assam. Following partition in 1947,
East Bengal, with a Muslim majority
population, emerged as the eastern
wing of Pakistan.
Recent History
In the 1970 general elections the Awami
League (AL), a Bengali nationalist party
led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, won a
landslide victory in East Pakistan. This
gave it an absolute majority in the
national parliament (since the East had
the larger population). After West
Pakistan failed to recognise the AL's
majority, Sheikh Mujib launched a
secessionist uprising, AL led 'Liberation
War' secure the independence of East
Pakistan as the new state of
Bangladesh on 16 December 1971.
Sheikh Mujib became the first
President and then Prime Minister of
Bangladesh. His AL government
introduced a secular and democratic
constitution in 1972. In December 1974,
facing growing economic difficulties,
the government declared a state of
emergency and a month later amended
the constitution, replacing
parliamentary rule with an executive
presidency and providing for the
introduction of one party rule.
Sheikh Mujib, who had assumed the
role of President, was assassinated in
August 1975 in a military coup. The
Army, under its new Chief of Staff
General Zia ur Rahman, took control.
Zia became President in 1977 and set
up his own political party, the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). In
May 1981 he too was assassinated by a
group of army officers. The
Vice-President, Abdus Sattar, was
elected the new Head of State a few
months later.
President Sattar was overthrown in a
bloodless coup by the Chief of Army
Staff, Lt Gen Ershad, in 1982. Ershad
suspended the constitution and
re-imposed martial law. He founded his
own political party, the Jana Dal and
declared himself President in 1983. The
following year he began talks with the
two opposition alliances - one led by
Mujibur Rahman's daughter, Sheikh
Hasina, and the other led by Begum Zia,
Zia ur Rahman's widow. In 1986
Ershad's renamed party, the Jatiya
Party, won parliamentary and
presidential elections and martial law
was lifted. Ershad was forced to step
down in December 1990 when he lost
army support after massive protest
demonstrations by the main opposition
political parties.
With the support of all opposition
parties, Chief Justice Shahabuddin
Ahmed assumed the post of Acting
President, appointed a neutral
caretaker government and conducted
general elections in February 1991.
Begum Zia's BNP won a surprise
victory and she took office as Prime
Minister. The constitution was amended
and a return to Parliamentary rule
approved in a referendum in
September 1991. Abdur Rahman Biswas
was elected to the now largely
ceremonial office of President, while
Shahabuddin Ahmed returned to his
post as Chief Justice (he was
re-elected as President in 1996).
The next general elections, in February
1996, were boycotted by all the main
opposition parties. Although a new BNP
government was sworn in, opposition
agitation increased, bringing the
economy near to collapse. The
government resigned in March
following a constitutional amendment
which provided for a Caretaker
Government. Fresh elections were held
on 12 June under a Caretaker
Government. These elections were
conducted peacefully, with a high
turnout of voters. The AL won most
seats and formed the Government with
Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Mujib's daughter,
as the Prime Minister.
In the summer of 1997 the opposition
staged a walk-out from parliament,
complaining about harassment of BNP
members and about their treatment in
parliament where they claimed they
were not getting their due in terms of
speaking time and seats on select
committees. The government and the
BNP reached an agreement in March
1998 which led to the return of the
BNP to parliament, but they
subsequently staged further walk-outs
in April and May. Hartals (strikes)
followed during 1998.
In January 1999 the Jatiya Party joined
forces with the mainstream opposition
parties and presented a four point
ultimatum (which included demands for
the resignation of the Chief Election
Commissioner and the release of all
'political' detainees) to the Government.
These demands were not met and the
Opposition refused to participate in
parliament and boycotted Municipal and
City Corporation elections. Efforts by
the Speaker to get the Opposition to
return to parliament failed, as the
Opposition claimed that the Speaker
was biased. Public invitations by the
Prime Minister to the Leader of the
Opposition were rejected. The
Opposition continued to use hartals to
try and force the AL Government to
resign during 2000 and the first half of
2001, without success.
In the elections held in October 2001,
the BNP-led 4 Party Alliance won an
overall majority with 219 seats out of
300 (BNP – 196 seats; Jamaat-e-Islami
–17 seats; the JPN – 4 seats; and the
IOJ – 2 seats). The Awami League,
won 58 seats. International observers
reported that the election was
generally free and fair although there
were reports of election-related
violence, ballot rigging and other
election malpractice. However the AL
publicly refused to accept the result,
and boycotted Parliament until June
2002.
THE ECONOMY (Foreign Office UK)
Basic Economic Facts
GDP: US$ 47,074 million (2001)
GDP per head: US$ 357 (population of
137.4m)
GDP Growth: 5.2% for 2003 (forecast
for 2004 is 5.8%)
Consumer Price Inflation: 3% (2002
average) (Forecast for 2003 is 5%)
Principle Exports: Garments and
knitwear, frozen seafood, jute goods
and leather. Exports are dominated by
garments and knitwear, currently 73%
of export earnings.
Major trading partners: Main
destinations of exports are: US (37%),
Germany (11.4%), UK (10.8%), France
(6.9 %), Italy (4.4%). Main origins of
imports are: India (11.9 %), China 10.3%),
Singapore (10.2%), Japan (7.7 %), Hong
Kong (5.2 %).
Aid & development: TGood
macroeconomic management since this
government came to power and the
publication of an iPRSP (interim
Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper) in
March 2003 led to the re-opening of
discussions with the International
Financial Institutions. In June 2003, the
IMF approved a Poverty Reduction &
Growth Facility (PRGF) package worth
$490 million while the World Bank
Development Support Credit of $300
million, plus up to $250 million of World
Bank projects. Bi-lateral donors
support a wide range of sectors. Work
includes a six year primary education
programme with Government
supported by six bi-laterals, the EU,
the ADB, World Bank, and UNICEF, and
a joint Dutch/UK funded financial
management reform programme.
Exchange rate: The Bangladesh Central
Bank announced a move from an
exchange rate pegged to the US dollar
to a managed floating exchange rate on
May 31st (a pre condition for an IMF
Poverty Reduction Growth Facility
(PRGF) loan)
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