Saturday, June 18, 2011

Bangladesh

Bangladesh is one of the beautiful countries in the world and Bangladesh is an independent country. The official name is The People's Republic of Bangladesh. It is a small populous country in South-East Asia. It is bordered by India on its west, North West and a small border with east by Myanmar on the South-East and by the Bay of Bengal on the south. Its area is total 1, 47,570.55 square kilometers, where the land is 1, 36,480.27 square kilometers and water 11,090.28 square kilometers. More than 15 core people live here.


                      Bangladesh gained her independence two times. Once from Britain in 1947 and next from present Pakistan through an armed liberation war of 9 months in 1971. Bangladeshis are only one nation of the world who also gave up their blood for their mother tongue in 1952.
              
                              Bangladesh is divided into seven administrative divisions. Dhaka is one of major division in Bangladesh and also the capital of Bangladesh. Name of other six divisions are: Barisal, Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, and Rangpur The chief religion is Islam and Muslims constitutes 89% of the total population. Hinduism is the second largest religion and Hinduism constitutes 9% of the total population. There are also Christians and the Buddhists (2%) in Bangladesh, people of all communities live here with peace and amity.

                   Reflecting the long history of the region, Bangladesh has a culture that encompasses elements both old and new. Bengali literature reached its full expression in the nineteenth century, with its greatest icons being poets Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam. Rabindranath Tagore is the writer of Bangladesh’s national anthem and Kazi Nazrul Islam is the national poet of Bangladesh. Bangladesh also has a long tradition in folk literature, for example Maimansingha Gitika, Thakurmar Jhuli and stories related to Gopal Bhar. Bangladeshis common custom and traditions that people follow here include the hospitality, harmony and fellow feelings, the observance of Pohela Boishakh (the 1st day of Bangla year), Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha etc, Durga Puja, Kali Puja, Gautam Buddha and Christmas. Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Azha, being the most important holidays in the Islamic calendar, is the subject of major festivals. The day before Eid-ul-Fitr is called Chad Rat (the night of the moon) and is often celebrated with firecrackers. The people of Bangladesh are simple, sociable and pious. They are very loyal to family, ties and respectful towards the seniors and elders.
                   
                      Despite continuous domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a developing nation. Its per capita income in 2008 was US$520 compared to the world average of $10,200.Most of the people in Bangladesh live by cultivation because it is an agricultural country more than three quarters of Bangladesh’s export earnings come from the garment industry, which began attracting foreign investors in the 1980s due to cheap labour and low conversion cost. In 2002, the industry exported US$5 billion worth of products. The industry now employs more than 3 million workers, 90% of whom are women. A large part of foreign currency earnings also comes from the remittances sent by expatriates living in other countries. One significant contributor to the development of the economy has been the widespread propagation of microcredit by Muhammad Yunus (awarded the Nobel peace prize in 2006) through the Grameen Bank. By the late 1990s, Grameen Bank had 2.3 million members, along with 2.5 million members of other similar organizations.

                      The rate of literacy is 43%. Poor income and lack of consciousness are the main obstacles for education in Bangladesh. But now a day, Bangladesh Education Board to solve this major problem and they take some very useful plan about it. UNICEF and some NGO’s are very careful about this problem.

                             Bangla is the national language of Bangladesh. The national dress of Bangladesh for male is Payjama and Punjabi, and for women Sari. But most of the males of the country wear Loongi, Payjama, Punjabi, Pants and shirts. Whereas the female wear Sari, Salwar, Kamiz etc. There are quite a few tribes in the hilly regions. These tribes speak their respective languages.
                
The density of population is the highest in the world here. Dhaka is the capital of Bangladesh. About 10 million people live in the capital. The other major cities of the country are Chittagong, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Rangpur and Barisal. The main port of the country is at Chittagong, Khulna is another port city.
              
                   There are six seasons in Bangladesh. These are summer, rain, autumn, late autumn, winter and spring. In every season, Bangladesh looks very beautiful in different shape.
                 
                     Bangladesh is a land of rivers. The Padma, the Meghna and the Jamuna are the main rivers of our country. Every year natural calamities like flood, cyclone, and drought etc. visit in the Bangladesh. Bangladesh’s climate is hot and humid and the land is plain and fertile. So every year plenty of crops are grown here. Rice is the main food of Bangladeshis. Rice, tea, potato, jute, wheat etc. are the main crops of Bangladesh.
                       
                      The fruits of Bangladesh are mangoes, jack fruits, pine apples, papaws, coconuts, oranges, palms, guavas, bananas, litchis etc. The national flower of the country is Water lily, which is known as Shapla. The national fruit is jackfruit, which in Bengali is known as Kathal. The Magpie Robin is the National Bird of Bangladesh and it is common and known as the Doyel or Doel. It is a widely used symbol in Bangladesh, appearing on currency notes and a landmark in the city of Dhaka is named as the Doyel Chatwar (meaning: Doyel Square).
                                          
                       The largest sea beach in the world is Cox’s Bazar in Bangladesh. The main tourist spot in Bangladesh is including the sea-beach of Cox’s Bazar. The Sundarbans (The Largest Mangrove forest in the world) is another common tourist spot in Bangladesh. Another tourist spots are the capital of ancient Bangla, the Mahasthangarh, Rangamati, Bandorban, Sonargoan, Boddo Bihar etc.
                   
                  Bangladesh has a parliamentary system of government. The parliamentary building is known as the Jatiyo Sangshad Bhaban and was designed by architect Louis Kahn. The President is the head of state but mainly a ceremonial post elected by the parliament. Bangladesh is a unitary state and parliamentary democracy. Direct elections in which all citizens, aged 18 or over, can vote are held every five years for the unicameral parliament known as Jatiyo Sangshad.
                   
                    Though there are quite a few industries in Bangladesh, (such as Beximco, Square, Akij Group, Ispahani, Navana Group, Transcom Group, Habib Group, KDS Group, Dragon Group etc.) but the country is not that much rich industrially. The garment industry is the biggest industry which brings 66.2% of the total export earning. We have a poor economy. The currency of the country is taka. Rate of female literacy is low. Women are dominated by male.

                   Ha-du-du (Kabaddi) is the national sport of Bangladesh. Other popular sports include field hockey, tennis, badminton, handball, volleyball, chess, shooting and carom. The Bangladesh Sports Control Board regulates twenty-nine different sporting federations. But the most popular sport in Bangladesh is Cricket and Football. The national cricket team participated in their first World Cup in 1999, and the following year was granted elite Test cricket status. But now a day Bangladesh National Cricket Team and Bangladesh National football Team are improve day by day. Bangladesh also the co-host of ICC World Cup 2011. This will be Bangladesh's first time co-hosting a Cricket World Cup.
     
                   Bangladesh is unique with the beauties and bounties of nature. There is no other country in the world which is as beautiful as Bangladesh.So, we want to say, Welcome to our golden land, Welcome to our Bangladesh.

If you want to know more about Bangladesh, please visit: The Bangladesh Government Website.

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