Bangladesh 2014

INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 GEOGRAPHY AND ECONOMY
Bangladesh is located in the northeastern part of South Asia and covers an area of 147,570 square
kilometers. It is almost entirely surrounded by India, except for a short southeastern frontier with
Myanmar and a southern coastline on the Bay of Bengal (see map on facing page). It lies between
latitudes 20° 34′ and 26° 38′ north and longitudes 88° 01′ and 92° 41′ east. The Moguls ruled the country
from the 13th until the 18th century, when the British took over and administered the subcontinent until
1947. During British rule, Bangladesh was a part of India. In 1947, the independent states of Pakistan and
India were created. The present territory of Bangladesh was a part of Pakistan. Bangladesh emerged on
March 26, 1971, as an independent country on the world’s map following a war of liberation.
Most of Bangladesh is low, flat land that consists of alluvial soil. The most significant feature of the
terrain is the extensive network of rivers that is of primary importance to the socioeconomic life of the nation.
Chief among these, lying like a fan on the face of the land, are the Ganges-Padma, Brahmaputra-Jamuna,
and Megna rivers.
The tropical climate of Bangladesh is dominated by seasonal monsoons. The country experiences a
hot summer season with high humidity from March to June; a somewhat cooler, but still hot and humid,
monsoon season from July through early October; and a cool, dry winter from November through the end of
February. The fertile delta is subject to frequent natural calamities, such as floods, cyclones, tidal bores, and
drought.
The administrative divisions of the country consist of 7 divisions, 64 districts, and 545
upazilas/thanas. Muslims make up almost 90 percent of the population of Bangladesh, Hindus account for
about 9 percent, and other religions constitute the remaining 1 percent (BBS 2014). The national language
of Bangladesh is Bangla, which is spoken and understood by all.
Industry has emerged as the largest sector of the economy, contributing about 30 percent of the
gross domestic product (GDP). The GDP has continued to grow over 6 percent in the last five years and
exhibited a robust growth rate of 6.5 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2014-2015 (BBS 2015a). The overall growth
was led by the manufacturing and construction sectors, which recorded impressive expansions of 20 and 7
percent, respectively, in FY 2014-2015. The accelerated growth in these sectors was mainly due to huge
investments in large and medium-scale industry. Agriculture is the second largest sector of the economy,
contributing 16 percent to the total GDP in FY 2014-2015. The largest contributor in the agricultural sector
is crops and horticulture (9 percent) followed by the fishery sector (4 percent). The gross national income
(GNI) per capita in Bangladesh has increased to US$1,314 in FY 2014-2015 (BBS 2015b). Bangladesh thus
becomes a lower middle-income country based on a new income classification of world economies (World
Bank 2015).
Recent socioeconomic development of Bangladesh is reflected in the human development index
(HDI) of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP 2013). Bangladesh’s HDI value for 2014 is
0.570—which is in the medium human development category—positioning the country at 142 out of 188
countries and territories (UNDP 2015). Between 1990 and 2014, the country’s HDI value increased from
0.386 to 0.570, an annual increase of about 1.64 percent. Among the eight South Asian countries, Bangladesh
is in fifth position based on HDI rank, following Sri Lanka, Maldives, India, and Bhutan.
Introduction • 1