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An overview of Bangladesh
Government and Politics
Geography
Economy of Bangladesh
Climate of Bangladesh
HISTORY of Bangladesh
Islam in Bangladesh
Factfile
 People
Factfile
People
Personal Profile
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Government
National government. Bangladesh has a parliamentary system of government. A prime minister is the head of government and is chosen from the political party that wins the most seats in Parliament. Cabinet members are appointed by the prime minister to head departments that carry out the functions of the government. A president serves as head of state. The position of president is mainly ceremonial. The president is elected by Parliament to a five-year term.
The Jatiya Sangshad (parliament) makes the country's laws. It has 300 members, each elected for a five-year term. Between 1972 and 1987, the elected members chose 30 women to occupy reserved seats.
Local government. Villages are the smallest units of local government in Bangladesh. Villages are grouped together to form unions. These unions, in turn, form administrative units called upazillas. A group of upazillas forms a zilla, or district, which is the largest local government unit. Bangladesh is divided into four administrative divisions: Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, and Rajshahi. Each division contains a number of districts. Governing councils at each level of local government consist of office bearers, or officials who are elected by the people.
Political parties. Bangladesh has many political parties. The three most important parties are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Jatiya Dal (National Party), and the Awami League. The BNP gained control of parliament after elections in February 1991. The Jatiya Dal had held a majority of seats in parliament before the 1991 elections. The BNP and the Jatiya Dal have similar platforms. Both favour a free enterprise economic system. The Awami League led Bangladesh's fight for independence. The league supports many socialist economic policies.
Armed forces. During the civil war of 1971, a guerrilla resistance army called the Mukti Bahini (Freedom Force) was formed in what was then East Pakistan. After the war, members of the Mukti Bahini became part of the regular army, navy, and air force of Bangladesh. The country also has a militia.
People
Population and ancestry. For Bangladesh's total population, see the Facts in brief table with this article. Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries. It has a population density of over 800 people per square kilometre.
Most of the people of Bangladesh are probably descendants of peoples who migrated to the area thousands of years ago from what are now Burma, Tibet, and northern India. The term Bangladeshis refers to all the people of Bangladesh. More than 95 per cent of Bangladesh's population are Bengalis. The Bengalis are a short, dark-skinned people. They speak a language also called Bengali.
Bangladesh also has several minority groups. They include various ethnic groups that live mainly in the Chittagong Hills of southeastern Bangladesh. The largest groups include the Chakmas, the Marmas, the Mros, and the Tipperas.
Way of life. Most Bangladeshis farm the land with simple tools and ancient methods, much as their ancestors did many years ago. Since the mid-1970's, however, there has been increasing use of fertilizers and new kinds of seeds. About 75 per cent of all adult Bangladeshis cannot read and write.
About 82 per cent of the people of Bangladesh live in rural areas. Clusters of thatch-roofed houses dot the countryside. Most rural villagers build homes made of bamboo. A typical home consists of only one or two rooms. About three-fifths of homes in rural areas have neither electricity nor plumbing.
Most of the families in the cities and towns live crowded together in small wooden houses. Some wealthy city families have large brick or concrete homes. In urban slums, the houses are built of cardboard, scraps of wood, or sticks. Most Hindus and members of other minority groups live together in distinct neighbourhoods.
Many of the people of Bangladesh do not have enough food to eat. Although food production has increased since the mid-1970's, the country neither raises nor imports enough to feed its large population. Few Bangladeshis have much variety in their meals. Rice and fish are the two most important foods. They are usually served together in a spicy curry sauce. Tea sweetened with sugar is a popular beverage, though some people may drink only water most of the time.
People throughout Bangladesh wear loose, lightweight clothing because of the warm, humid climate. Most of the women wear a sari, a long piece of plain or printed cloth wrapped around the waist and draped over one shoulder. A short blouse is worn underneath. Many Muslim men wear a lungi, a tight skirtlike garment. The dhoti, worn by Hindu men, is a piece of cloth wrapped around the waist and between the legs. Men may also wear shirts. People of rural areas generally go barefoot. City dwellers may wear shoes or sandals.
Many Bangladeshis like to spend their leisure time chatting with friends and relatives. The men usually gather in cafes, and the women visit one another at home. The people enjoy religious festivities.
Religion affects much in the lives of most Bangladeshis, including food, marriage customs, and family relationships. About 85 per cent of the people are Muslims. The laws of Islam, the Muslim religion, forbid the eating of pork. Most Muslim parents arrange marriages for their children. Under Islamic law, a Muslim man may have up to four wives at a time. But a law in Bangladesh prohibits a man taking a second wife during his first marriage without his first wife's consent. The men in a Muslim family have far more authority and freedom than the women have. Many Muslim women avoid social contact with men who do not belong to their family, and they participate in few activities outside the home. They cover their heads with veils in the presence of strangers. In 1988, a constitutional amendment made Islam the state religion of Bangladesh.
Less than 15 per cent of the people of Bangladesh are Hindus. Hindus are divided into various social classes called castes. Each caste observes its own customs and rules of behaviour. Caste regulations limit the extent to which members of one caste may associate with members of another caste. Hindu parents also arrange their children's marriages. Intermarriage between castes is rare. Hindu women have more social freedom than Muslim women do, though Hindu women have few legal rights.
Most of the ethnic groups of the Chittagong Hills area practise Buddhism. Some groups combine Buddhist principles with local religious beliefs. Less than 1 per cent of the people of Bangladesh are Christians.
Education. About 30 per cent of all Bangladeshis 15 years of age or older can read and write. No law requires children to go to school, and less than half the youngsters of school age do so. Bangladesh has about 53,000 primary and secondary schools and about 850 colleges and technical colleges.
The University of Dhaka is the country's largest university. Dhaka is also the home of the Jahangirnagar Muslim University and the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology. Other universities are in Chittagong, Mymensingh, and Rajshahi.
Health. Food shortages and insanitary living conditions in Bangladesh contribute to widespread cholera, leprosy, tuberculosis, and other diseases. Epidemic diseases kill thousands of Bangladeshis annually.
Government organizations, the Red Crescent Society and other non-government groups are working to improve health conditions. One of the nation's objectives is "Health for all by the year 2000." By then, the government hopes to reduce the annual birth rate to 1 per cent.
The arts. Bengali literature has flourished for hundreds of years. In medieval times, Bengali literature was often strongly religious or romantic. Since the 1800's, several writers, including the poet Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Rabindranath Tagore, who won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1913, and the country's national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam, attracted international attention.
Bangladesh has a rich tradition in painting and terracotta sculpture. Much of the country's traditional architecture developed under Muslim rule during the 1500's and 1600's. This style features domes, towers, and pointed arches. Traditional painting has the brilliant colours and elaborate decorations of Muslim religious art. The 1971 war of independence made a deep impression on painters. Modern painting in Bangladesh was pioneered by Zainul Abedin and Quamrul Hasan.
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