Bangladesh

Map of Bangladesh

Country Name	People's Republic of Bangladesh
Capital	Dhaka geographic coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 24 E time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
National holiday	Independence Day, 26 March (1971); Victory Day; note - March 1971 is the date of the Awami League's declaration of an independent Bangladesh, and 16 December, known as Victory Day, memorializes the military victory over Pakistan and the official creation of the state of Bangladesh
Independence	16 December 1971 (from West Pakistan)
Population	161,083,804 (July 2012 est.)
Sex ratio	1.04 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.9 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.96 male(s)/female total population: 0.95 male(s)/female (2011 est.)
Nationality	Bangladeshi(s)
Religions	Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9% (2004)
Languages	Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
Literacy	Age 15 and over can read and write Total population: 56.8% male: 61.3% female: 52.2% (2010 est.)
Location	Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
Geographic coordinates	24 00 N, 90 00 E
Map references	Asia
Area	total: 143,998 sq km land: 130,168 sq km water: 13,830 sq km
Area - comparative	slightly smaller than Iowa
Land boundaries	total: 4,246 km border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
Coastline	580 km
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
Climate	tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
Terrain	mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
Elevation extremes	lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m
Natural resources	natural gas, arable land, timber, coal
Exports – commodities	Garments, Knitwear, Agricultural Products, Frozen food (fish and seafood), Jute and Jute Goods,Lleather
Imports – commodities	Machinery and equipment, Chemicals, Iron and Steel, Textiles, Foodstuffs, Petroleum Products, Cement
Land use	arable land: 55.39% permanent crops: 3.08% other: 41.53% (2005)
Irrigated land	50,500 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources	1,210.6 cu km (1999)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)	total: 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%) per capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards	droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season
Environment - current issues	many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; waterborne 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
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, Ship Pollution, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
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