South Asia’s Bangladesh is formally known as the People’s Republic of Bangladesh. With 170 million people living in an area of 148,460 square kilometers, it is the seventh most populous country in the world and among the most densely inhabited (57,320 sq mi).
Bangladesh borders Myanmar to the southeast and India to the north, west, and east on land. Its shoreline runs along the Bay of Bengal to the south. It is divided from China by the hilly Indian state of Sikkim and from Bhutan and Nepal by the Siliguri Corridor. The political, economic, and cultural hub of the country is Dhaka, which also happens to be its largest metropolis. The busiest port and second-largest city is Chittagong.
Bengali is the official language; nevertheless, the administration also speaks Bangladeshi English.
Bangladesh is a portion of the historical and ethnolinguistic territory of Bengal, which was split during British India’s 1947 Partition as the Dominion of Pakistan’s eastern enclave. After a brutal struggle, Bangladesh earned independence from Pakistan in 1971. The bulk of the population is Bengali Muslim.
Gangaridai, the name of ancient Bengal, served as a pre-Islamic kingdom’s stronghold. Following the Muslim invasion in 1204, the region saw the rise of the sultanate and Mughal dynasties, which saw the establishment of an autonomous Bengal Sultanate and the prosperous Mughal Bengal turned the area into a major hub for trade, diplomacy, and regional affairs. The start of British dominance was signaled at the Battle of Plassey in 1757.
The establishment of Assam and Eastern Bengal in 1905 prepared the way for Bangladesh’s rise to power. In Dhaka, the All-India Muslim League was established in 1906. Bengal’s first prime minister, A. K. Fazlul Huq, backed the Lahore Resolution in 1940. The declaration of the Radcliffe Line created the current territorial boundaries.
With Dhaka serving as the legislative capital, East Bengal was renamed East Pakistan in 1947 after surpassing it in population inside the Dominion of Pakistan. Bengali nationalism and pro-democracy movements were sparked by the 1952 Bengali Language Movement, the Pakistani coup d’état in 1958, and the general election in 1970.
The Bangladesh Liberation War began in 1971 when the Pakistani military junta refused to cede control to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s Awami League. India supported the Mukti Bahini in their successful armed revolt, which resulted in the genocide in Bangladesh. Bangladesh, a newly formed nation, had a secular constitution in 1972, but Islam was officially recognized as the official state religion in 1988. The Bangladesh Supreme Court upheld the constitution’s secular tenets in 2010.
Bangladesh is formally recognized as a socialist state under its Constitution.
Bangladesh, a middle power in the Indo-Pacific, has the second-biggest economy in South Asia, the third-largest population of Muslims, and the fifth-most native tongue speakers. It is the biggest donor to UN peacekeeping efforts and has the third-largest military in the area. Bangladesh is a Westminster-based unitary parliamentary republic.
Approximately 99% of people are Bengalis. With its eight divisions, 64 districts, and 495 subdistricts, the nation is home to the biggest mangrove forest in the world. Because of the Rohingya massacre, Bangladesh is home to one of the biggest groups of refugees. Bangladesh has to deal with issues including political unrest, overcrowding, corruption, and the consequences of climate change.
Bangladesh is home to the headquarters of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) and has chaired the Climate Vulnerable Forum twice. It is a founder member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC).
Meaning and Origin
The name “Bengali country” or “Bangladesh” has its origins in the early 1900s, when patriotic Bengali songs like “Aaji Bangladesher Hridoy” by Rabindranath Tagore and “Namo Namo Namo Bangladesh Momo” by Kazi Nazrul Islam were composed in 1905 and 1932, respectively.
Bengali nationalists began using the phrase at political rallies in East Pakistan in the 1950s. One common word for the Bengal area and the Bengali language is Bangla. The term “Bangla” has ambiguous roots; some hypotheses suggest that it originated from a proto-Dravidian tribe in the Bronze Age and the Vanga Kingdom in the Iron Age. The phrase was first recorded in 805 AD on the Nesari plate. South Indian documents from the eleventh century contain references to Vangala Desa.
During the 14th-century Bengali Sultanate, the title was given official standing. The first “Shah of Bangala” was declared to be Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah in 1342. During the Islamic era, Bangāl emerged as the most popular name for the area. The historian Abu’l-Fazl ibn Mubarak of the 16th century writes in his Ain-i-Akbari that the old rajahs of the area erected earthen mounds in lowlands at the foot of the hills, which they named “al.”
This is where the suffix “al” originated. Riyaz-us-Salatin by Ghulam Husain Salim also makes reference to this. “Land” or “country” is the meaning of the Sanskrit word deśha, from whence the Indo-Aryan suffix Desh comes. Bangladesh hence signifies “Land of Bengal” or “Country of Bengal.”
History
Bangladesh’s history extends over four millennia into the Chalcolithic era. Early history in the area was marked by a string of Hindu and Buddhist kingdoms and empires vying for dominance over the Bengal region. Islam first appeared in the eighth century, and thanks to the conquests of Bakhtiyar Khalji and the actions of Sunni missionaries like Shah Jalal, it began to progressively take over in the early thirteenth century. Mosques were constructed all across the region by Muslim kings in an effort to preach Islam. Bengal was controlled by the Bengal Sultanate from the fourteenth century onwards. Fakhruddin Mubarak Shah formed the Bengal Sultanate and gave it its own currency.
Under leaders like Shamsuddin Ilyas Shah, the Bengal Sultanate grew, achieving both military and economic domination. Bengal was known as the richest nation in Europe for commerce. Historian C. A. Bayly claims that the area was likely the richest province in the Mughal Empire when it was eventually included into the empire.
Bengal was ruled by the Nawabs of Bengal, who were eventually commanded by Siraj-ud-Daulah, and became a semi-independent kingdom once the Mughal Empire began to crumble in the early 1700s. Following the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company eventually took control of it. Bengal experienced substantial deindustrialization while playing a major influence in Britain’s Industrial Revolution. British domination led to the establishment of the Bengal Presidency.
The division of Bengal between India and Pakistan during the Partition of India in August 1947, when the area became East Pakistan as part of the newly formed State of Pakistan after the end of British administration in the region, set the boundaries of modern-day Bangladesh.
The People’s Republic of Bangladesh emerged as a result of the nine-month-long Bangladesh Liberation War, which began with the Proclamation of Bangladeshi Independence in March 1971. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman proclaimed the country’s independence in 1971.
Bangladesh has seen social upheaval, economic rebuilding, and political turmoil since attaining independence. Authoritarian rule and military takeovers were common in the nation, especially under the administrations of General Hussain Muhammad Ershad and General Ziaur Rahman.
The Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party shared power intermittently during the 1990s parliamentary democracy revival. Bangladesh’s economy has grown significantly in the last several decades, becoming one of the fastest-growing in the world because to the rise of its infrastructure, remittances, and textile industry.
But the effects of climate change, human rights violations, and political instability still plague it. When Sheikh Hasina led the Awami League back to power in 2009, there was economic growth but also charges of dictatorship.
In tackling local problems, such as the Rohingya refugee crisis, which has put a burden on its resources and brought attention to its humanitarian duties, Bangladesh has been instrumental.
From 80% in 1971 to 44% in 1991 to 13% in 2021, the poverty rate decreased. Bangladesh surpassed both India and Pakistan in terms of per capita income to become the second-largest economy in South Asia. Bangladesh’s industrial sector became a pioneer in the construction of green factories as part of the green transition, and by 2023, the nation had the most certified green factories globally.
In Bangladesh’s general election in January 2024, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League won a fourth consecutive term. As a result of widespread demonstrations against the Awami League administration, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was compelled to step down and depart for India on August 5, 2024.
On August 8, a provisional administration was established, headed by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus as Chief Advisor.
Geographical
Bangladesh is located on the Bay of Bengal in South Asia. It has a tiny border with Myanmar to the southeast and is nearly totally encircled by India, its neighbor; yet, it is also quite close to China, Nepal, and Bhutan.
There are three regions that make up the nation. The lush Ganges Delta, the world’s biggest river delta, covers the majority of the nation. The Madhupur and Barind plateaus compose the northwest and center regions of the nation. There are hill ranges with evergreens in the northeast and southeast.
The Ganges (locally known as Padma or Pôdda), Brahmaputra (also known as Jamuna or Jomuna), and Meghna rivers, together with their tributaries, come together to form the Ganges delta. The Ganges merges with the Jamuna, the Brahmaputra’s principal channel, and then flows into the Bay of Bengal after joining the Meghna.
Bangladesh is known as the “Land of Rivers” as it has the most number of transboundary rivers of any nation-state, with over 57. Politically, water concerns are so complex because the nation is a lower riparian state of India.
Bangladesh is mostly made up of lush, wealthy flatlands. The majority of it is located less than 12 meters (39 feet) above sea level, and if sea levels were to increase by 1 meter (3.3 feet), around 10% of its land would be underwater.
The country is made up of hill systems in 12% of cases and woods in 17% of cases. The nation’s haor wetlands are important for environmental research worldwide. At 1,064 meters (3,491 feet) above sea level, Saka Haphong, which lies close to the Myanmar border, is the highest peak in Bangladesh. In the past, Tazing Dong or Keokradong was regarded as the highest.
Temperature
Bangladesh’s climate, which straddles the Tropic of Cancer, is tropical, with a hot, muggy summer from March to June and a warm winter from October to March. The nation has never recorded an air temperature lower than 0 °C (32 °F), with the record low occurring on February 3, 1905, in the northwest city of Dinajpur, when it was 1.1 °C (34.0 °F).
From June to October, a warm and muggy monsoon season provides the majority of the nation’s rainfall. Natural disasters including floods, tropical storms, tornadoes, and tidal bores happen nearly yearly in addition to the consequences of soil erosion, deforestation, and pollution. Particularly destructive were the cyclones that struck in 1970 and 1991, the latter of which claimed around 140,000 lives.
Bangladesh saw the worst floods in recorded history in September 1998; two-thirds of the nation was submerged, and 1,000 people lost their lives as a result. The death toll and financial losses from floods and cyclones have decreased over time as a consequence of several global and national catastrophe risk reduction programs. Over 500 individuals lost their lives and five million people were forced to flee their homes as a result of the devastating South Asian floods in 2007.
Climate change
It is acknowledged that Bangladesh is among the nations most susceptible to the effects of climate change. The Bay of Bengal region has been impacted by 508 cyclones in the last century, with 17 percent of them thought to have made landfall in Bangladesh. As the climate changes, it is anticipated that natural hazards resulting from elevated rainfall, increasing sea levels, and tropical cyclones will intensify.
These disasters have a significant impact on human health, housing, agriculture, and the security of water and food. According to estimates, a three-foot increase in sea level by 2050 will cause more than 30 million people to be displaced and inundate around 20% of the land. The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 has been implemented to mitigate the threat posed by the rise in sea level in Bangladesh.
Biodiversity
Bangladesh is a country in the Indo-Malayan area that is divided into four distinct terrestrial ecoregions: the Sundarbans freshwater swamp forests, the Lower Gangetic Plains wet deciduous forests, the Mizoram–Manipur–Kachin rain forests, and the Sundarbans mangroves. Long beaches, lakes, rivers, tributaries, hill forests, moist deciduous woods, freshwater swamp forests, evergreen forests, semi-evergreen forests, and flat, grassy areas with tall grass all contribute to the region’s ecosystem.
The rich alluvial soil of the Bangladesh Plain is well-known for allowing for vast agriculture. The nation is mostly covered in dense vegetation, with date palm, mango, jackfruit, bamboo, betel nut, coconut, and date palm forests frequently engulfing communities. There are up to 6000 different plant species in the nation, 5000 of which are blooming plants. Numerous aquatic plants have habitats provided by water bodies and wetland systems.
Numerous aquatic plants have habitats provided by water bodies and wetland systems. The monsoon season is when lotuses and water lilies grow brightest. There are 50 wildlife sanctuaries in the nation.
Much of the world’s biggest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, which span 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 square miles) in the southwest coastal region, is located in Bangladesh. The South, East, and West zones are its three protected sanctuaries. One of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites is the forest.
The haor wetlands are an unusual environment found in the northeastern part of Sylhet. In addition, there are mixed deciduous forests, freshwater marsh forests, and tropical and subtropical coniferous forests.
Hilly forests that are evergreen or semi-evergreen may be found in the southeast Chittagong region. The plainland Sal forest that runs beside the districts of Gazipur, Tangail, and Mymensingh is located in central Bangladesh. The nation’s sole coral reef is located on St. Martin’s Island.
Bangladesh’s hills, forests, marshes, and woods are home to a wide variety of species. Most animals live in an area that is 150,000 square kilometers (58,000 square miles) in size. Among the main predators in the Sundarbans are the black panther, clouded leopard, black panther, Bengal tiger, and fisher cat.
The Asian black bear, hoolock gibbon, oriental pied hornbill, and Asian elephant may all be found in northern and eastern Bangladesh. Chital deer are commonly spotted in the forests in the southwest. In addition, there are mongooses, pangolins, pythons, wild boars, capped langurs, Bengal foxes, sambar deer, jungle cats, king cobras, and water monitors. One of the biggest populations of Ganges and Irrawaddy dolphins may be found in Bangladesh.
The nation is home to several species of marine mammals (5), amphibians (53), reptiles (139), and marine reptiles (19). There are 628 bird species there as well.
Over the past century, a number of creatures have gone extinct in Bangladesh, including the common peafowl and the one- and two-horned rhinoceroses. Due to the concentration of people in cities, deforestation is somewhat limited. Natural ecosystems are at danger due to the rapid expansion of cities.
The nation is beset with environmental problems; scholars have dubbed the farming of shrimp in the Chakaria Sundarbans and the textile industry’s contamination of the Dhaleshwari River “ecocides.” Despite the fact that many places are legally protected, this expansion is endangering some of Bangladesh’s species.
1995 saw the passage of the Bangladesh Environment Conservation Act. The government has identified wetlands, woods, and rivers among other areas as Ecologically Critical Areas. Among the most important programs to improve conservation are the Bangladesh Bear Project and the Sundarbans Tiger Project.
On May 3, 1994, it ratified the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity. The nation was scheduled to update its National Biodiversity Strategy and Action Plan in 2014.
Finance
After India, Bangladesh has the second-biggest economy in South Asia. When it comes to per capita income, the nation has surpassed both Pakistan and India. Bangladesh was the world’s second poorest country when it gained independence on December 16, 1971, according to the World Bank, “making the country’s transformation over the next 50 years one of the great development stories.”
Poverty has since decreased by half at an unprecedented rate. Primary school enrollment is almost ubiquitous nowadays. Numerous thousands of women have started working. Maternal and child health has shown consistent advancements. Furthermore, the nation is more robust against the damaging effects of climate change and natural calamities.
There are several components to Bangladesh’s success, ranging from creating macroeconomic stability to making investments in human resources. Building on this achievement, the nation is currently laying the groundwork for additional economic expansion and employment creation by increasing expenditures in energy, inland connectivity, urban development, and transportation infrastructure.
Additionally, the nation is concentrating on disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation as it moves toward sustainable growth.” Among Asian nations, Bangladesh has advanced the most on the Human Development Index.
As per UNDP, “Asia and the Pacific has witnessed the world’s fastest progress in the Human Development Index (HDI), with Bangladesh emerging as one of the top performers, rising from the fourth lowest HDI in the region in 1990, with an HDI of 0.397, to a high of 0.661 in 2021.”
Over this time, China was the only country in the area to make more progress.”
Bangladesh has South Asia’s second-largest foreign currency reserves in 2022. Although taxes only make up 7.7% of government revenue, the reserves have increased the government’s ability to spend. A significant amount of capital has been invested in the power industry. Bangladesh was suffering from many daily blackouts in 2009.
The nation attained complete electricity in 2022. The Ashrayan Project, one of the main anti-poverty initiatives of the Bangladeshi government, attempts to end homelessness by giving away free houses. Between 1971 and 2021, the poverty rate decreased from 80% to 44.2% in 1991 and 12.9% in 2021. In 2022, the literacy rate was 74.66%.
Bangladesh has the seventh-largest labor force in the world, with around 70 million people employed as of 2021, and a 5.2% unemployment rate. In an effort to draw in FDI and create 10 million jobs, the government is creating 100 special economic zones. In addition to the long-standing Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA), the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (BEZA) and the Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) were created to assist investors in establishing factories.
The currency of Bangladesh is the taka. About 51.3% of the GDP is generated by the service sector, which also employs 39% of the labor force. The industrial sector employs 20.4% of the labor force and contributes 35.1% of the GDP. Despite making up only 13.6% of the GDP, the agriculture industry employs 40.6% of the labor force. The nation is a significant producer of fruits, vegetables, flowers, fish, rice, tea, and jute. Shrimps and lobsters are two of Bangladesh’s most famous exports.
Private sector
The share of state-owned businesses in the GDP is decreasing, with the private sector making up 80% of it. Small and medium-sized enterprises and family-owned conglomerates dominate Bangladesh’s economy. In Bangladesh, Beximco, BRAC Bank, BSRM, GPH Ispat, Grameenphone, Summit Group, and Square Pharmaceuticals are a few of the biggest publicly traded corporations.
The Chittagong Stock Exchange and the Dhaka Stock Exchange are examples of capital markets. With 171.854 million cellular users as of January 2021, its telecommunications sector is among the fastest-growing in the world. Bangladesh’s apparel sector accounts for more than 80% of its export revenue. Shipbuilding, medicines, steel, ceramics, electronics, and leather goods are some of the other important sectors. Forbes officially recognized Muhammad Aziz Khan as the first billionaire from Bangladesh.
Infrastructure
Bangladesh has started a number of massive projects since 2009. For example, US$3.86 billion was spent on building the 6.15 km long Padma Bridge. The bridge was the nation’s first large-scale self-financed undertaking. Other massive initiatives include the Bangladesh Delta Plan, which aims to lessen the effects of climate change, the Dhaka Metro, a mass rapid transport system in the nation’s capital, the Karnaphuli Tunnel, an underwater road in Chittagong, and the Dhaka Elevated road.
Tourism
The tourist sector is growing and accounts for 3.02% of the GDP. Bangladesh received $391 million in revenue from foreign tourists in 2019. The nation is home to five tentative list sites in addition to the three UNESCO World Heritage Sites (the Sundarbans, the Paharpur Buddhist Ruins, and the Mosque City).
Tourist activities include beachgoing, hiking, rowing, water skiing, river cruise, and fishing. According to a 2019 study by the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), 1.9% of Bangladesh’s total employment in 2018 came directly from the travel and tourism sector, creating 1,180,500 jobs. The same data states that Bangladesh receives about 125,000 foreign visitors annually. In 2012, the GDP of direct travel and tourism was derived from domestic expenditure to the tune of 97.7%.
Energy
Bangladesh is moving toward a green economy bit by bit. It offers 20 million individuals the world’s largest off-grid solar power scheme. The nation is currently developing the Palki, an electric vehicle intended for mass manufacture. Organic fertilizer is created using biogas.
Large undeveloped natural gas deposits still exist in Bangladesh, especially in its marine region. Bangladesh is now compelled to purchase LNG from elsewhere due to a lack of exploration and declining proved reserves. The Russian invasion of Ukraine exacerbated the gas shortages even further.
Although about half of Bangladesh’s power is produced by government-owned enterprises, privately held businesses like the Summit Group and Orion Group are becoming more and more significant suppliers of machinery, reactors, and other equipment in addition to producing electricity.
Bangladesh produced 5 gigawatts of power in 2009, but by 2022, it was producing 25.5 gigawatts. By 2041, it intends to generate 50 gigawatts. Approximately 55% of Bangladesh’s natural gas output comes from American corporations like Chevron and General Electric, which are also among the biggest investors in power plants. Turbines made in the United States account for 80% of Bangladesh’s installed gas-fired power production capacity.
In June 2022, the government ceased purchasing LNG at the spot price. Increased fuel imports caused a reduction in the nation’s foreign exchange reserves. Down from 40% in 2021, Bangladesh purchased 30% of its LNG on the spot price market in 2022. Bangladesh is still involved in futures exchange markets trading LNG.
By the end of 2023, the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant—Bangladesh’s first nuclear power plant—will have been completed.
Characteristics
With 165.1 million inhabitants, Bangladesh is the ninth most populous nation in the world, the fifth most populous in Asia, and the most densely populated big country in the world, with a headline population density of 1,265 persons/km2 as of 2020, according to the 2022 Census.
Once one of the highest in the world, its total fertility rate (TFR) dropped dramatically, from 5.5 in 1985 to 3.7 in 1995 to 2.0 in 2020—below the sub-replacement fertility of 2.1. As of 2021, just 39% of Bangladeshis were living in metropolitan regions; the majority of them reside in rural areas.
With 26% of the population being 14 years of age or less and only 5% being 65 years of age or older, it has a median age of about 28 years.
Bangladesh is a homogenous society in terms of ethnicity and culture, with 99% of its people being Bengalis. The Chakmas, Marmas, Santhals, Mros, Tanchangyas, Bawms, Tripuris, Khasis, Khumis, Kukis, Garos, and Bisnupriya Manipuris are among the Adivasi people. Between 1975 and 1997, the indigenous people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts area underwent a period of turmoil and insurrection as part of a campaign for autonomy.
Despite the signing of a peace agreement in 1997, the area is still militarized. The Supreme Court granted citizenship to Pakistani nationals who spoke Urdu in 2008. Since 2017, Bangladesh has taken in over 700,000 Rohingya refugees, making it one of the world’s biggest refugee populations.
Urban Centres
The largest city in Bangladesh, Dhaka, is governed by two city corporations that divide up the management of the city’s northern and southern regions. Dhaka South, Dhaka North, Chittagong, Comilla, Khulna, Mymensingh, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Barisal, Rangpur, Gazipur, and Narayanganj are the twelve municipal corporations that have mayoral elections.
However, there are a total of 8 districts. In total, there are eight districts. These cities are Khulna, Mymensingh, Barishal, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Chittagong, and Dhaka. Five-year periods are awarded to elected mayors. Bangladesh has 506 urban centers in total, of which 43 have a population of 100,000 or more.
Language
More than 99% of people in Bangladesh speak Bengali as their first language, making it the country’s official and most widely spoken language. Bengali is said to be a dialect continuum, with several dialects being spoken all throughout the nation. A large portion of the populace speaks and understands both their regional dialects and Standard Colloquial Bengali, a condition known as diglossia. These include Sylheti and Chittagonian, however, some linguists classify them as distinct languages.
Bangladesh’s past as a British Empire colony means that English is a major language in the country’s legal and educational systems. It is taught as a required topic in all schools, colleges, and universities and is widely spoken and understood. Many people also attend the English-medium educational system.
The Chakma language, another indigenous Eastern Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Chakma people, is one of the tribal languages, but one that is becoming less and less common. Garo, Meitei, Kokborok, and Rakhine are the others. The Santali language, which is spoken by the Santal people, is the most widely spoken of the Austroasiatic languages.
Urdu is a native language spoken by many of the stranded Pakistanis and Old Dhakaites. However, the latter’s use is still heavily criticized.
Religion
In 1972, Bangladesh was declared a secular state under its constitution. Among its four guiding fundamental values is secularism. In addition to designating Islam as the official state religion, the constitution also protects religious freedom. The constitution declares that individuals of all religions should be treated equally and forbids discrimination and politics based on religion.
With around 91.1% of the population adhering to it, Islam is the most prevalent religion in the nation. The great majority of people who live in Bangladesh are Bengali Muslims, who follow Sunni Islam. With a majority of Muslims, the nation is the third most populated state in the world and has the fourth highest Muslim population worldwide.
Religions in Bangladesh (2022)
Hindus made up 28% of the population in India prior to the country’s division in 1941. During the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence, a large-scale migration of Hindu refugees from what was then East Pakistan to India occurred as a result of the Pakistan Army’s genocide campaign. After the establishment of Bangladesh, the Hindus represented 13.50% in 1974.
7.9% of people in 2022 identify as Hindu, primarily Bengali Hindus, who make up the nation’s second-largest religious group and the third-largest Hindu community worldwide, after only Indians and Nepalis. With 0.6% of the population, Buddhism is the third most popular religion. In the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladeshi Buddhists are primarily found among the tribal ethnic groups. At the same time, a large population of Bengali Buddhists resides in coastal Chittagong.
At 0.3%, Christianity is the fourth most popular religion, with a tiny minority of Bengali Christians following closely behind. 0.1% of people are atheists or follow non-religious alternative faiths like animism.
Learning
According to the constitution, education must be free and mandatory for all children. The Ministry of Education is in charge of overseeing education in Bangladesh. Locally, state-funded schools and primary education policies are implemented by the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education.
In public schools, elementary and secondary education is provided at no cost and is mandated by the state. As of 2019, Bangladesh’s literacy rate was at 74.7% percent, with 77.4% of men and 71.9% of women literate. The three-tiered, massively subsidized educational system in the nation is run by the government, which also finances a large number of private, secondary, and upper-secondary schools.
With the University Grants Commission (UGC), established by Presidential Order 10 in 1973, the Bangladeshi government provides funding to more than 45 state institutions in the postsecondary education sector.
There are five stages in the education system: primary (grades 1 through 5), junior secondary (grades 6 through 8), secondary (grades 9 through 10), upper secondary (grades 11 and 12), and tertiary, or university level. Hossain (2016) states that Bangladesh’s secondary education system has a seven-year official educational period.
Grades six through eight are part of the first three years, which are referred to as junior secondary. The following two years, known as secondary, are made up of grades ten and nine. Grades eleven and twelve are part of the last two years, which are referred to as higher secondary.
According to information from Hossain (2016) and Daily Star (2010), the Bangladesh Education Ministry mandates the passing of a public test known as the Primary School Certificate (PSC) in order to graduate from the fifth grade.
In order to enroll in ninth grade, eighth graders must pass the Junior School Certificate (JSC) test, while tenth graders must pass the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exam in order to move on to eleventh grade. Finally, in order to apply to universities, pupils must pass the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) test in grade twelve.
There are three main categories of universities in Bangladesh: international (run and supported by foreign organizations), private (owned and managed by private companies), and public (owned and funded by the government). There are two foreign, 105 private, and 47 public universities in the nation.
The oldest is the University of Dhaka, which was founded in 1921, while Bangladesh National University has the most enrollment. One of the top universities for engineering education is Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET). With its establishment in 1966, the University of Chittagong boasts the biggest campus.
Bangladesh’s oldest higher education institution is Dhaka College, which opened its doors in 1841. There are 29 government and private medical colleges that offer medical education. The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is connected to all medical colleges.
In 2023, Bangladesh came in at position 105 in the Global Innovation Index.
Health
According to Bangladesh’s constitution, every individual has the basic right to healthcare services. The major institutional healthcare provider in Bangladesh is the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, which is divided into two divisions: the Medical Education and Family Welfare Division and the Health Service Division. Bangladesh’s healthcare system is still seen as inadequate, despite improvements brought about by the country’s growing economy and sharp decline in poverty.
With just a small portion of the health profession being properly trained, Bangladesh is facing a serious shortage of health workers. There are still serious shortcomings in the therapeutic methods used by village doctors, including a pervasive prescription of hazardous and unsuitable drugs.
Bangladesh’s inadequate healthcare infrastructure is severely underfunded by the government. Healthcare accounted for around 2.48% of GDP as of 2019. Domestic general government spending on healthcare accounted for 18.63% of the overall budget, with out-of-pocket costs accounting for the great majority (72.68%) of the total. Approximately 75% of all healthcare costs were incurred in the domestic private sector. In 2020, there will be 5.3 doctors for every 10,000 people, around 6 physicians and 3 nurses, and 8 hospital beds for every 10,000 people.
In Bangladesh, the average life expectancy at birth was 73 years (75 years for women and 71 years for men) as of 2020. The country also has comparatively high rates of neonatal and child mortality (24 and 29 per 1,000 live births, respectively). 173 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births is still a high rate of maternal death. Bangladesh’s residents’ discontent and mistrust of their own healthcare system make it a major source market for medical tourism for several nations, most notably India.
Heart disease, stroke, and chronic respiratory disorders account for 62% and 60% of adult mortality in men and women, respectively, and are the leading causes of death. In Bangladesh, malnutrition is a serious and enduring issue that mostly affects rural areas and affects over half of the population. 450,000 children suffer from severe acute malnutrition, and about 2 million suffer from mild acute malnutrition. Five percent of children under five suffer from anemia, 41 percent are stunted, 16 percent are wasted, and 36 percent are underweight. About 15% of women are small in size, 25% are underweight, and more than half have anemia.
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