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Country Profile: Bangladesh
FactfileCapital and largest cityDhakaOfficial languagesBengaliArea144, 000 sq kmPopulation150, 448, 340 (2007 est.)CurrencyTaka |
Language
Bengali is an Indo-Aryan language, derived in part from Sanskrit. It is spoken by those people living in Bengal, which is comprised of Bangladesh and West Bengal - and with around 230 million speakers, it is one of the most widely spoken languages in the world, as well as the second most spoken language in India. There are several dialects of Begali, which have been clustered into four groups by a linguist - Rarh, Banga, Kamarupa and Varendra.
Economy
Bangladesh remains a developing nation, with its per capita income well below the world average - despite domestic and international support. Its GDP is $301.4 billion, and the majority of the labour-force works in the agricultural sector. The fibre jute used to be the economic mainstay of Bangladesh, however with the invention of man-made fibres during the 20th century, the jute industry went into decline. Bangladesh's other agricultural products include tea, rice, pulses, potatoes, fruit, milk and mustard, as well as industries such as cotton, engineering and chemical fertilisers. Its major trading partners include the UK, US, Germany, France, Italy, India, China, Singapore, Kuwait, Japan and Hong Kong. Over 75% of Bangladesh's export earning comes from the clothes industry, of which 90% of the 3 million workers are women.
Reasons why Bangladesh struggles to grow its economy include natural causes such as cyclones and flooding, but recently, there has been an increase in foreign investment which has boosted the country's economical growth. There has also been some improvement in growth due to Nobel prize winner Muhammad Yunus and his development of microcredit, which is an idea relating to small loans for countries of poverty as a prompt for developing entrepreneurship.
Science and Technology
Bangladesh has recognised the need for it to develop in areas of science and technology, as a method of also helping their economy to grow. Although reliant on imported technology, there has been a movement towards developing domestic programmes of research into science and technology, through the National Council of Science and Technology.
Energy and Infrastructure
As it stands, 88% of Bangladesh's power comes from natural gas, as well as much of the country's energy coming from traditional sources such as wood, crop residues, and also 19% from imported coal and oil - leaving only 2% from the renewable and green form of hydroelectricity. Measures are in place to improve the country's infrastucture, by modernising the road and rail systems, as well as plans for a bridge over the Jamuna to better connect areas of the country. The government has allowed the privatisation of some parts of the telecommunications sector in order to modernise the country's communication services, for example through the licensed privatisation of various cell phone services.
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