Bangladeshi and rebel negotiators signed a landmark peace agreement in December 1997, ending a separatist war that had lasted more than two decades.
The rebellion had claimed nearly 20,000 lives since it began in the 1970s. The rebels are mainly from the Chakma tribe, who are predominantly Buddhist, while the overwhelming majority of Bangladeshis are Muslim.
The accord gives tribes greater control of the resource-rich southeastern Chittagong Hill Tracts bordering India
and Burma.
Tribal guerrillas had launched a bush war in the 5,500-square-mile Hill Tracts in an effort to attain political
autonomy, and the expulsion from the region of about 500,000 Bengali-speaking settlers.
Some 50,000 Bangladeshi tribal refugees fled the fighting, and have been living in camps in India's Tripura state for more than a decade. They have begun returning home.
Land and People | History |
| Travel | Financial | Weather
DEMOGRAPHICS
- Literacy rate:
- 38%
- Population:
- 125,340,000
- Average life span:
- 56 male, 56 female
- Average income (US$):
- $220
- GDP per capita (US$):
- $1,130
THE LAND AND ITS PEOPLE
- Capital:
- Dhaka
- Size:
- 55,598 square miles (143,998 square km)
- Government type:
- Parliamentary democracy
- Political leaders:
- President Shahabuddin Ahmed
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Wazed
- Religions:
- Islam 83%; Hindu 16%
- Languages:
- Bangla (official), English
HISTORY
- Eighth to 12th century -- Ruled by Buddhist kings.
- 12th century -- Muslim invaders conquer region.
- 1526-1857 -- Became part of Mogul Empire.
- 1857-1947 -- British ruled territory as part of India.
- 1947 -- The territory known as East Bengal becomes part of Pakistan.
- 1971 -- Bangladesh is created when the region of East Pakistan breaks away from Pakistan and declares independence.
- 1975 -- Prime Minister Sheikh Mujib is killed in coup.
- 1981 -- President Ziaur Rahman is killed in unsuccessful coup attempt.
- 1982 -- Lt. Gen. H.M. Ershad seizes power in coup.
- 1988 -- Ershad declares nation an Islamic republic.
- 1991 -- Parliamentary system of government adopted.
- 1996 -- Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, widow of Rahman, resigns. Sheikh Hasina, daughter of Mujib, takes over.
- 1997 -- Cyclone leaves estimated 800,000 people homeless.
- 1997 -- Government and tribal rebels sign landmark peace accord.
FINANCIAL
- Monetary unit:
- Taka
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CNN WEATHER INFORMATION:
- Forecasts:
- Dhaka
- Forecast and satellite maps:
- Asia forecast map
- Asia satellite image