The 2010 CIA World Factbook. United States. Central Intelligence Agency

      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

      Land use:

      arable land: 55.39%

      permanent crops: 3.08%

      other: 41.53% (2005)

      Irrigated land:

      47,250 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

      People ::Bangladesh

      Population:

      156,118,464 (July 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 7

      Age structure:

      0–14 years: 34.6% (male 27,065,625/female 26,913,961)

      15–64 years: 61.4% (male 45,222,182/female 50,537,052)

      65 years and over: 4% (male 3,057,255/female 3,254,808) (2010 est.)

      Median age:

      total: 22.9 years

      male: 22.4 years

      female: 23.4 years (2010 est.)

      Population growth rate:

      1.55% (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 79

      Birth rate:

      23.43 births/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 71

      Death rate:

      5.81 deaths/1,000 population (July 2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 172

      Net migration rate:

      −2.12 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 174

      Urbanization:

      urban population: 27% of total population (2008)

      rate of urbanization: 3.5% annual rate of change (2005–10 est.)

      Sex ratio:

      at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female

      under 15 years: 1.01 male(s)/female

      15–64 years: 0.89 male(s)/female

      65 years and over: 0.93 male(s)/female

      total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2010 est.)

      Infant mortality rate:

      total: 52.54 deaths/1,000 live births country comparison to the world: 48 male: 55.04 deaths/1,000 live births

      female: 49.94 deaths/1,000 live births (2010 est.)

      Life expectancy at birth:

      total population: 69.44 years country comparison to the world: 148 male: 67.64 years

      female: 71.3 years (2010 est.)

      Total fertility rate:

      2.65 children born/woman (2010 est.) country comparison to the world: 79

      HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:

      less than 0.1% (2001 est.) country comparison to the world: 139

      HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:

      12,000 (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 95

      HIV/AIDS - deaths:

      fewer than 500 (2007 est.) country comparison to the world: 82

      Major infectious diseases:

      degree of risk: high

      food or waterborne diseases: bacterial and protozoal diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

      vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations

      water contact disease: leptospirosis

      animal contact disease: rabies

      note: highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza has been identified in this country; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2009)

      Nationality:

      noun: Bangladeshi(s)

      adjective: Bangladeshi

      Ethnic groups:

      Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998)

      Religions:

      Muslim 89.5%, Hindu 9.6%, other 0.9% (2004)

      Languages:

      Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English

      Literacy:

      definition: age 15 and over can read and write

      total population: 47.9%

      male: 54%

      female: 41.4% (2001 Census)

      School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):

      total: 8 years

      male: 8 years

      female: 8 years (2007)

      Education expenditures:

      2.4% of GDP (2008) country comparison to the world: 163

      Government ::Bangladesh

      Country name:

      conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh

      conventional short form: Bangladesh

      local long form: Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh

      local short form:

      former: East Bengal, East Pakistan

      Government type:

      parliamentary