Bangladesh Facts and Figures: At a Glance Dr. Kazi Shahdat Kabir.

Bangladesh Facts and Figures: At a Glance

Dr. Kazi Shahdat Kabir

Bangladesh: Facts & Figures

Basic Facts

Official name People’s Republic of BangladeshCapital Dhaka

National Flag

Position of BangladeshPosition of Bangladesh

Land boundaries

• Total 4,246 km

Border countries India 4,053 km, Myanmar 193 km

• Coastline 580 km

• The Indian States of West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura border Bangladesh in the west, north and east respectively. Myanmar forms the southern part of the eastern frontier.

Land boundaries

• The total length of the land border is about 4,246 km, of which 93.9% is shared with India and about 6.1% with Myanmar. The country is bounded in the south by the Bay of Bengall. Although Bangladesh is a small country, the length of the coastline is more than 580 km.

• Significance of having border with only one country.

Bangladesh: Facts & Figures

AreaTotal 147,569.55 sq km

55,599 sq miLand: 1,19,624 sq km Water: 8236 sq km

Forest: 19710 sq km

Rural: 137957.56sq km

Urban: 9612.44sq km

FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF STATE POLICY

• The principles of absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah, nationalism, democracy and socialism meaning economic and social justice constitute the fundamental principles of state policy. These principles are expressed as follows :

- Absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah is the basis of all actions.

- Promotion of local government institutions.- Participation of women in national life.- Democracy and human rights.

FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS AS PROVIDEDBY THE CONSTITUTION

- Equality of all citizens before law

- No discrimination against any citizen on grounds of religion, race, sex or place of birth.

- Equal rights of women with men.

- Equality of opportunity in public employment.

Bangladesh: Facts & Figures

Government

Form of government RepublicHead of state President

Head of government Prime ministerNational Parliament 300 members

Voting qualifications Universal at age 18

Constitution 16 December 1972 (numerous amendments)

Highest court Supreme Court

Monetary unit 1 taka (Tk), consisting of 100 paisa

National symbols

Bangladesh Anthem Amar Shonar Bangla

Animal Royal Bengal Tiger

Bird Oriental Magpie Robin

Fish Hilsa

Flower White Water Lily

Fruit Jackfruit

Sport Kabadi

Calendar Bengali calendar

State Religion: Islam but other religions may be practiced in peace and harmony.

Administrative Divisions

Administrative Units as on 31st December’ 2007*Units NumberDivision 6 Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet Zila /Districts 64City Corporation 6Municipalities 308Upazila 481Thana 599Union 4,498

*Source: LGRD Ministry and Police Headquarters.

Administrative Divisions

• Dhaka is the capital and largest city of Bangladesh. Other major cities include Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, and Barisal.These metropolitan cities have mayoral elections, while other municipalities elect a chairperson. Mayors and chairpersons are elected for a span of five years.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM• The Supreme Court of Bangladesh is the highest

Judicial organ in the country which comprises of the Appellate Division and the High Court Division. The Supreme Court consists of the Chief Justice and a number of other judges. The Chief Justice and the Judges appointed to the Appellate Division sit only in that Division and other judges sit in the High Court Division.

• The Chief Justice and other Judges are appointed by the President. A Judge holds office until he attains the age of sixty seven years.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM

• The Appellate Division hears and determines appeals from judgments, decrees, orders or sentences of the High Court Division.

• The High Court Division has superintendence and control over all subordinate courts and functions as the Appellate Court. There are some other special Courts, such as Labour court, Juvenile Court, Administrative Tribunal etc.

THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM

• At the district level, the district court is headed by the District and Sessions Judge who is assisted by Additional District Judges, Chief Judicial Magistrate and Other Judicial Magistrates, Joint District Judges and Assistant Judges.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONBangladesh has a unitary form of government. The President is the Head of State and the Prime Minister is the Head of Government. The Prime Minister is assisted by a Council of Ministers. The permanent officer-in-charge of the Ministries /Divisions is designated as Secretary who belongs to the Civil Service.

For administrative purposes, the country is divided into six divisions, each headed by a Divisional Commissioner.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

There are 64 Districts under the 6 Divisions. The district is administered by a Deputy Commissioner who is assisted by Additional Deputy Commissioners. The Districts are divided into Upazilas headed by a Upazila Nirbahi Officer.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

• The head of the police administration is the Inspector-General of Police (IGP). The divisional police administration is headed by the Deputy Inspector General of Police and the district police-administration by the Superintendent of Police and there is an Inspector of Police in each Thana.

PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The Superintendents of Police and the Inspectors of Police work in close co-operation with the Deputy Commissioners and Upazila Nirbahi Officers for maintenance of law and order under their respective jurisdictions.

The chief police officers in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Barisal and Sylhet city are designated as Metropolitan Police Commissioner.

PeoplePopulation ranks first in the world in terms of population density and is

considered the 8th most populous country in the world

Population Population: 150,448,339 (July 2007 est.) Population growth

Population growth rate: 2.056% (2007 est.) Projected population in 2025 204,538,715 (2006 estimate)Population density 1,101 persons per sq km (2006 estimate)Birth rate: 29.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

Urban/rural distribution

Share urban 24 percent (2003 estimate)Share rural 76 percent (2003 estimate)

The sex ratio of the population is about 104 males per 100 females.

Bangladesh: Facts & Figures

LanguagesBangla (official), English

Religious affiliationsMuslim 89.7 percent

Hindu 9.2 percent

Other 1 percent

Literacy rate

•Total 47.5 percent (2007 estimate)•Female 33 percent (2005 estimate)•Male 54.9 percent (2005 estimate)

•Number of years of compulsory schooling 5 years (2002-2003)•Number of students per teacher, primary school 56 students per teacher (2002-2003)

Educational institutions: 2006

• Public Universities 27

• Private Universities 54

• Govt. Medical colleges 15

• Private Medical colleges 27

• General Colleges 3197

Bangladesh: Facts & Figures

Armed forcesTotal number of military personnel

125,000 (2004)

Importance of skilled Army in Bangladesh

A cultural festival

Tribal house

Love and Save Bangladeshall the best to you all