Bangladesh

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

FINANCIAL

Monetary unit:
Taka
CNN Travel Guide Currency Converter

CNN TRAVEL INFORMATION

CNN City Guides: Burma

CNN WEATHER INFORMATION

CNN WEATHER INFORMATION:
Forecasts:
Dhaka
Forecast and satellite maps:
Asia forecast map
Asia satellite image