Bangladesh ( Bengali: বাংলাদেশ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh (Bangla: গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh) is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma (Myanmar) to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language.

The borders of present-day Bangladesh were established with the partition of Bengal and India in 1947, when the region became East Pakistan, part of the newly formed nation of Pakistan. However, it was separated from the western wing by 1,600 km (994 mi) of Indian territory. Due to political exclusion, ethnic and linguistic discrimination, and economic neglect by the politically-dominant West Pakistan, popular agitation grew against West Pakistan and led to the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, which the Bengali people won with the support of India. After independence, the new state endured famines, natural disasters and widespread poverty, as well as political turmoil and military coups. The restoration of democracy in 1991 has been followed by relative calm and economic progress. Today, Bangladesh is a secular, democratic republic.

Bangladesh is the eighth most populous country and is among the most densely populated countries in the world. The country also has a high poverty rate. However, per-capita (inflation-adjusted) GDP has more than doubled since 1975, and the poverty rate has fallen by 20% since the early 1990s. The country is listed among the "Next Eleven" economies. Dhaka, the capital, and other urban centers have been the driving force behind this growth.[8] After many years Goldman Sachs stated Bangladesh as Next Eleven countries there are no other analyst stated Bangladesh as Emerging markets countries until February 2011 when Citigroup categorized Bangladesh as one of Global Growth Generators countries. Geographically, the country straddles the fertile Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta and is subject to annual monsoon floods and cyclones. Bangladesh is a parliamentary democracy with an elected parliament called the Jatiyo Sangshad. The country is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the OIC, SAARC, BIMSTEC, and the D-8. As the World Bank notes in its July 2005 Country Brief, the country has made significant progress in human development in the areas of literacy, gender parity in schooling and reduction of population growth. However, Bangladesh continues to face a number of major challenges, including widespread political and bureaucratic corruption, economic competition relative to the world, serious overpopulation, widespread poverty, and an increasing danger of hydrologic shocks brought on by ecological vulnerability to climate change.

History of Bangladesh

In 1947 India divided into two parts, one remains India and another named Pakistan. Pakistan had two parts, one was the West Pakistan & another was East Pakistan. Dhaka was the capital of the East Pakistan. Pakistan government and military ware largely dominated by the upper classes from the West. The Bengali Language movement of 1952 was the first sign of friction between two wings of Pakistan. Dissatisfaction with the central government over economic & cultural issues continued to rise through the next decade. In 1971, a bloody war took place and after nine months liberation war Pakistan surrendered and Bangladesh become an independent country on 16 December in 1971.

Geography

Bangladesh is a low-lying, riverine country located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710 km (441 mi) on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. Formed by a delta plain at the confluence of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries, Bangladesh's alluvial soil is highly fertile, but vulnerable to flood and drought. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate characterized by heavy seasonal rainfall, high temperatures, and high humidity. Natural disasters, such as floods, tornadoes, and tidal bores affect the country yearly. Bangladesh also is affected by major cyclones, on average 16 times a decade. A cyclone struck the southeastern coast in May 1991, killing 136,000 people. Cyclone Sidr struck the southwestern coast on November 15, 2007, affecting not only the coastal districts of the administrative division Khulna but also about half of the tropical forest Sundarbans.

Government

After a bloody struggle for liberation from Pakistan in 1971, Bangladesh was established as a parliamentary democracy. The country was under military rule for many years, but a democratically elected government was re-established in 1991. Parliamentary elections took place in 1996 and 2001, with a peaceful transfer of power. The major political parties are the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Awami League, the Jatiya Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami Party.In late 2006 a caretaker government was put in place to ensure stability for the duration of the national election process.  National elections are scheduled for December 2008.

Economy

Bangladesh has experienced steady economic growth at a rate of approximately five percent annually during the past decade. Manufacturing of ready-made garments provides employment for over 2 million people, many of them women, and generates nearly 75 percent of the export earnings of the country. The discovery of substantial reserves of natural gas in Bangladesh could significantly boost the country's economy and the people's well-being if the reserves are managed carefully.

Agriculture

Bangladesh has made impressive gains in the production of wheat and rice, the staple crop. It remains one of the few countries with the potential to grow three rice crops a year.  While the last year has produced additional challenges, Bangladesh continues to work to become essentially self-sufficient in rice production.

Bangladesh has been one of the victims of climate change. From 1971 to 1998, there have been greater temperature variations between seasons: higher temperatures during the monsoon season and slightly lower temperatures in the winter. The temperature increase in monsoon season has been greater than the temperature decrease in winter. Thus, the overall mean annual temperatures have been increasing. These trends in temperature variations are expected to become more pronounced in the years to come. By the year 2100, it is expected that the annual mean maximum temperatures will increase by 0.88 °C and the annual mean minimum temperatures will decrease by 0.11 °C. These two trends combined will result in an increase of 0.39 °C in the overall annual mean temperature. Small changes like these can have a great effect on climate and natural disasters. Increase in temperature will cause mild melting of the Himalayan glaciers, which along with an expected overall monsoon rainfall increase of 588.65 mm by the year 2075 will result in increased severe flooding in inland areas. It is also expected that floods will be followed by drought due to a significant decrease in precipitation during the winter months.
Bangladesh is also facing a greater rate of sea level rising than other countries, with an increase of to 4.0 m to 7.8 m on different coastal stations. Such sea level rises will submerge low lying coastal areas and will result in salt water