Bangladesh at a glance

Geography:

Bangladesh is located in the tropics in South Asia and has a total area of 147,570 sq. km, which is about three times the size of Denmark. It shares its borders with India on the west, north, and Myanmar (Burma) on the east. On the south, 66,400 kilometers of coastline merge into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is a part of the Bengal basin, which is one of the most seismically active zones of the world. However, no major earthquake has occurred in Bangladesh since 1950.1 topographically, the country is almost entirely a fertile alluvial plain formed by the two main rivers, the Ganges and the Brahmaputra and their hundreds of tributaries. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. The world’s largest littoral mangrove belt, The Sundarbans, covers an area of nearly 3600 sq km in the southwestern part of Bangladesh and another 2400 sq km in east India. About 10 % of Bangladesh is still forested. Half of the forest is in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, a quarter in the Sundarbans, and the rest scattered in small pockets throughout the country. The country is divided in the following seven divisions: Rajshahi, Sylhet, Chittagong, Khulna, Dhaka, Barisal and Rangpur Division, all named after their respective capitals. The capital city, Dhaka, with over 10 million citizens (2001) is located in the central part of the country.

History OF Bangladesh:

The area that is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and cultural past, combining Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Mongol/Mughul, Arab, Persian, Turkic, and West European cultures. Residents of Bangladesh, about 98% of who are ethnic Bengali and speak Bangla, are called Bangladeshis. Urdu speaking, non-Bengali Muslims of Indian origin, and various tribal groups, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprise the remainder. Most Bangladeshis (about 88%) are Muslims, but Hindus constitute a sizable (11%) minority. There also are a small number of Buddhists, Christians, and animists. English is spoken in urban areas and among the educated. The history of Bangladesh has been one of extremes, of turmoil and peace, prosperity and destitution. It has thrived under the glow of cultural splendor and suffered under the ravages of war. The earliest mention of Bangladesh is found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata (the story of Great Battle-9th century B.C). Evidence also suggests that there was a strong Mongoloid presence as well. Soon after, in the 5th and 6th centuries B.C. came the Aryans from Central Asia and the Dravidians from Western India. Then came the Guptas, Paals, Senas, who were Buddhist and Hindus. From the 13th century A.D., the flood of Muslim invaders and the tide of Islam up to l8th century swamped the Buddhist and Hindus. Sometimes there were independent rulers like the Hussain Shahi and Ilyas Shahi dynasties while at other times they ruled on behalf of the imperial seat of Delhi. From 15th century the Europeans, namely, Portuguese, Dutch, French and British traders exerted an economic influence over the region. British political rule over the region began in 1757 A.D. when the last Muslim ruler of Bengal was defeated at Palassey. After the end of the British rule In1947, the country was partitioned into India and Pakistan. Present Bangladesh became the Eastern Wing of the then Pakistan. However, the movement for autonomy for East Pakistan started within a couple of years because of linguistic and cultural difference and economic disparity between the two wings. The seeds of independence were sown through the Language Movement of 1952 to recognize Bangla as a state language. Ultimately then, the East Pakistan emerged as a sovereign and independent state of Bangladesh in 1971 after nine month-long the bloodiest war in modern history of Liberation (starting on 26 March 1971) under the leadership of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. On December 16, 1971, Pakistani forces surrendered, and Bangladesh-meaning “Bengal nation”–was born; the new country became a parliamentary democracy under a 1972 constitution.