Facts about Bangladesh

Facts about Bangladesh

The official name of Bangladesh is the People's Republic of Bangladesh. The word Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the local language.

Historically, Bangladesh is prone to monsoon flooding and cyclones due to its unique geographic make up. The country is almost entirely flat and is dominated by the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta where the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna Rivers make their way down from the Himalayas and converge on the lowlands.

The alluvial soil deposited by these rivers each year means Bangladesh has some of the most fertile delta lands in the world, farming is very important because of this.

The highest peak in Bangladesh is Saka Haphong in the southeastern Mowdok Range at just 1,052 m (3,451 ft).

Due to Bangladesh being so low lying and tropical, the ground has never frozen over with a record low of 4.5°C in Jessore during the winter of 2011.

Over 98% of Bangladeshis speak the official language of Bengali. English is spoken as a second language.

Bangladesh has a population of 163 million people (163,654,860) as of July 2013 making it the world's eighth most populated country.

For such a large population, Bangladesh is a relatively small country, 147,570 km² (56,977 mi²), making it one of the world's most densely populated countries.

The largest city and capital of Bangladesh is Dhaka. The city has an estimated population of 15 million people making it one of the largest city in the world. It is known as the "City of Mosques".

In 1947, a Bengal area was divided off from India and became the eastern area of the new country called Pakistan, the western part of which was on the other side of India. East Pakistan rebelled with a Civil war in 1971, and gained independence from the West (Pakistan) to become the country of Bangladesh.

Facts about Argentina

The currency of Bangladesh is called the taka which means 'currency' in Bengali.

Over 30% of Bangladesh's population live below the poverty line, however, the economy and standards of living have been improving over recent years.

The national animal of Bangladesh is the endangered Royal Bengal Tiger.

The Magpie Robin (or Doyel or Doel) is the national bird of Bangladesh.

The national flower of Bangladesh is the white-flowered water lily, called Shapla.

Jackfruit (Kathal in Bengali) is the national fruit and the Mango tree is the national tree of Bangladesh.

The most popular sport in Bangladesh is cricket. The national cricket team first participated in the Cricket World Cup in 1999.

Kabaddi (or Ha-Du-Du) is the national game of Bangladesh. It is often called the 'game of rural Bengal' and has no definite rules.