|RNational holidays:|N National Day, March 26, and Victory Day, December 16.
|RNature and climate:|N Several great rivers cross the country, the biggest Ganges and Brahmaputra, that create big deltaareas. Uninhabitable jungles and swamps covers a third of the country.
Warm and wet climate. Bangladesh is among the rainiest areas of the world. Percipitation between 1500 and 3000 mm. Average temperature in January 19°C and in July 27°C.
|RPeople:|N Mostly Bengali.
|REconomy:|N One of the poorest nations of the world. 59% of the population occupied in agriculture. Most important crops are rice, jute, tea, potatoes, sugarcanes, tobacco, spices, cotton and tropical fruits.
Bangladesh is the worlds foremost producer and exporter of jute. Also extensive export of tea.
Manufacturing is concentrated on processing jute, which accounts for 2/3:rds of export value.
Also textile manufacturing, sugarrefineries, matchfactories, glassworks and so on.
Oil and natural gas has been found off the coast.
|RHistory:|N Bangladesh formerly belonged to India, but at liberation from the UK in 1947 the attempts to create one nation of the Indian subcontinent failed. The area was divided according to religion, so that the moslem western and eastern parts, separated by 1500 km Indian territory, formed the nation of Pakistan.
Severe antagonism prevailed between the two parts of the nation from the start, as there were great cultural and historical differences between them.
The first general elections after independence were held in 1971. Sheik Majibur Rahman and his Awami League in Eastpakistan (Bangladesh) won the majority 169 of 300 seats in the parliament.
Fearing that Rahman would demand independence for Bangladesh, the president delayed with calling the elected parliament. Rahman was arrested and the Eastpakistan terrorized. Consequently the nation of Bangladesh was proclaimed at March 26th 1971.
The Pakistan army tried to intervene and thus started a bloody civil war. 10 million Bengalis fled to India.
Finally India intervened militarily, both against Westpakistan and Eastpakistan and in three weeks the violation was over and the independent nation of Bangladesh secured.
Sheik Mujibur Rahman was the first prime minister, but was murdered in 1975 and a series of coups followed.
In the second half of the 1970:s the jute declined as a major world commodity. This worsened a chronic destitution of the densely crowded population.
In a coup 1982 general H.M. Erschad seized power. In 1988 he declared Bangladesh an Islamic republic.
In 1991 a parliamentary system of government was adopted.
1988 and 1989 natural disasters and monsoon rain killed more than 4 000 people and made 30 millions homeless. In 1991 a cyclone killed over 130 000 people and caused damages for 2,7 billion US$.
