n.
officially People's Republic of Bangladesh
Country, south-central Asia.
Area: 56,997 sq mi (147,570 sq km). Population (2002 est.): 133,377,000. Capital: Dhaka . The vast majority of the population are Bengalis. Language: Bengali (official). Religions: Islam (official; mainly Sunni), Hinduism (more than 10%). Currency: taka. Bangladesh is generally flat, its highest point being only 660 ft (200 m) above sea level. It is characterized by alluvial plains dissected by numerous connecting rivers. The southern part consists of the eastern sector of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. The chief rivers are the Ganges (Ganga) and the Brahmaputra (there known as the Jamuna), which unite to form the Padma. Though primarily agricultural, the country has been unable to feed itself. The monsoonal rains that occur from May to October produce extreme flooding over much of Bangladesh, often causing severe crop damage and great loss of life; a cyclone in 1991 left 130,000 Bengalis dead, and several in 1997 were extremely disastrous. Bangladesh is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president and its head of government the prime minister. In its early years Bangladesh was known as Bengal . When the British left the subcontinent in 1947, the area that was East Bengal became the part of Pakistan called East Pakistan. Bengali nationalist sentiment increased after the creation of an independent Pakistan. In 1971 violence erupted; some one million Bengalis were killed, and millions more fled to India, which finally entered the war on the side of the Bengalis, ensuring West Pakistan's defeat. East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh. Little of the devastation caused by the war has been repaired, and political instability, including the assassination of two presidents, has continued.