Bangladesh

Once the wealthiest part of South Asia, Bengal (a rather nebulous territory that includes the country of Bangladesh and the Indian Provinces of West Bengal, Orissa, Assam and some of the Hill States) is now having to recover its former status, having been robbed of most of its wealth and power first by Colonial Britain's dictatorial agricultural policies and semi-feudal zemindar system and then by unfavourable administration by West Pakistan... but I digress - that part is in the history section of this website.

My sister Abeer once described Bangladesh as "desperately alive". Like the rest of the subcontinent, you take the many good with the many bad. The bad - frequent flooding and natural disasters, bad roads, horrible infrastructure, ineffective government and rampant political corruption. The good - stunning landscapes, a rich diversity of flaura and fauna, great food, and rapid growth in technology.

Here's something to think about:

Although South Asians as a whole have only been in the USA for 30-40 years, my people are already the wealthiest minority in the United States! You may not see it yet but just you wait, haha.

Fast Facts

Official Name: People's Republic of Bangladesh Independence Day: March 26, 1971 Area: 143,998 sq km (55,598 sq mi) Population:  147,365,352 (July 2006 est.) Capital: Dhaka (pop: ~14mil) People: 98% Bengali, 250k Bihari, < 1mil tribal Languages: Bangla, English Religions: 83.0% Muslim, 16.0% Hindu, 1.0% Other Government Type: Parliamentary Democracy Prime Minister: Khaleda Zia (Bangladesh Nationalist Party) President: Iajuddin Ahmed

GDP: US$330.8 billion (2006 est) GDP per capita: US$2200 Annual Growth: 6.1% Inflation: 7.2% (2006 est) Industries: cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar Import Partners:  India 14.1%, China 13.5%, Kuwait 8.5%, Singapore 6.2%, Japan 4.1%, Hong Kong 4.1% (2005) Export Partners: US 23.6%, Germany 13.5%, UK 9.4%, France 6.4% (2005) * Source - CIA World Factbook 2007