Bangladesh
Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by
India on all sides,
Burma (
Myanmar on the southeast and the Bay of
Bengal to its south. Together with the
India state of West
Bengal it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of
Bengal The name Bangladesh means "Country of
Bengal in the official
Bengal language.
The present-day borders of the country were established during the demise of the
British India Empire in 1947, when
Bengal was partitioned and the region became East
Pakistan part of the newly formed nation of
Pakistan However, it was separated from West
Pakistan by 1,600 km of
India territory. Due to political exclusion, ethnic and linguistic discrimination, and economic neglect by the politically dominant western wing, popular agitation and rising nationalism resulted in the War of Liberation in 1971. After independence, Bangladesh proclaimed a secular democratic republic. However, political turmoil in
1975 led to a sixteen year period of martial law and quasi-military rule. The restoration of democracy in
1991 has been followed by relative calm and economic progress.
Bangladesh is the world's eighth most populous country. The Bangladeshi republic is a parliamentary democracy, with an elected parliament called the Jatiyo
Sangshad The country straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra
Delta and has a historical and diverse cultural heritage. Despite a number of major challenges, including corruption and poverty, the country's
economy has grown significantly since
1991 and per-capita income has doubled from
1975 levels. Bangladesh is identified as a Next Eleven
economy and is a member of SAARC, BIMSTEC, the OIC and the Commonwealth.