Europeans began to set up trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century; eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part of British India.

In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan.

East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied.

East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh.

About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

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

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Age structure: 0-14 years: 33.1% (male 25,639,640/female 24,174,937) 15-64 years: 63.4% (male 48,659,087/female 46,712,687) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 2,818,638/female 2,443,350) (2007 est.)

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Median age: total: 22.5 years male: 22.5 years female: 22.5 years (2007 est.)

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Population growth rate: 2.056% (2007 est.)

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Birth rate: 29.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Death rate: 8.13 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Net migration rate: -0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.)

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Sex ratio: at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.061 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.042 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.154 male(s)/female total population: 1.052 male(s)/female (2007 est.)

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Infant mortality rate: total: 59.12 deaths/1,000 live births male: 60.13 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth: total population: 62.84 years male: 62.81 years female: 62.86 years (2007 est.)

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Total fertility rate: 3.09 children born/woman (2007 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2001 est.)

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HIV/AIDS - deaths: 650 (2001 est.)

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Major infectious diseases: degree of risk: high food or waterborne diseases: bacterial 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 among birds in this country or surrounding region; it poses a negligible risk with extremely rare cases possible among US citizens who have close contact with birds (2007)

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Nationality: noun: Bangladeshi(s) adjective: Bangladeshi Ethnic groups: Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998)

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Religions: Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)

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Languages: Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English

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Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 43.1% male: 53.9% female: 31.8% (2003 est.)

Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all levels of government. Opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups also have blocked progress. The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key areas. On an encouraging note, growth has been a steady 5-6% for the past several years.

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GDP (purchasing power parity): $336.1 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP (official exchange rate): $69.21 billion (2006 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate: 6.4% (2006 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP): $2,300 (2006 est.)

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GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 19.9% industry: 20.6% services: 59.5% (2006 est.)

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Labor force: 68 million note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2006 est.)

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Labor force - by occupation: agriculture: 63% industry: 11% services: 26% (FY95/96)

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Unemployment rate: 2.5% (includes underemployment) (2006 est.)

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Population below poverty line: 45% (2004 est.)

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Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 3.9% highest 10%: 28.6% (1995-96 est.)

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Distribution of family income - Gini index: 31.8 (2000)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.2% (2006 est.)

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Investment (gross fixed): 24.9% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Budget: revenues: $6.389 billion expenditures: $8.694 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (2006 est.)

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Public debt: 46.7% of GDP (2006 est.)

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Agriculture - products: rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry

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Industries: cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar

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Industrial production growth rate: 7.2% (2006 est.)

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Electricity - production: 18.09 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - consumption: 16.82 billion kWh (2004)

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Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Electricity - imports: 0 kWh (2004)

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Oil - production: 6,813 bbl/day (2004)

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Oil - consumption: 85,000 bbl/day (2004 est.)

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Oil - exports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - imports: NA bbl/day

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Oil - proved reserves: 56 million bbl (1 January 2005)

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Natural gas - production: 13.1 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - consumption: 13.1 billion cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - exports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - imports: 0 cu m (2004 est.)

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Natural gas - proved reserves: 300.2 billion cu m (1 January 2005 est.)

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Current account balance: $339 million (2006 est.)

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Exports: $11.17 billion (2006 est.)

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Exports - commodities: garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001)

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Exports - partners: US 25.1%, Germany 12.7%, UK 9.9%, France 5% (2006)

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Imports: $13.77 billion (2006 est.)

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Imports - commodities: machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement

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Imports - partners: China 18%, India 12.7%, Kuwait 8%, Singapore 5.6%, Hong Kong 4.2% (2006)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold: $3.278 billion (2006 est.)

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Debt - external: $22.55 billion (2006 est.)

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Economic aid - recipient: $1.575 billion (2000 est.)

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Currency (code): taka (BDT)

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Exchange rates: taka per US dollar - 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002)

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Fiscal year: 1 July - 30 June