President: Zillur Rahman Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina Wajed
President: Dilma Rousseff
Population
161,083,804
199,321,413
Life Expectancy
70.060 years
72.790 years
Capital City
Dhaka
Brasilia
Largest city
Dhaka (population: 10,356,500)
Sao Paulo (population: 10,021,300)
Human Development Index
0.524
0.807
GDP per capita
$1,700 US
$11,900 US
Literacy Rate
43.1%
88.6%
Corruption Perception Index
2.1
3.5
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
9.4%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Eike Batista ($7.5bn US)
Unemployment Rate
5.000%
6.000%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished except for special circumstances
Political System
parliamentary democracy
federal republic
Independence date
16 December 1971 (from West Pakistan); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is known as Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh
7 September 1822 (from Portugal)
Religions
Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)
Roman Catholic (nominal) 73.6%, Protestant 15.4%, Spiritualist 1.3%, Bantu/voodoo 0.3%, other 1.8%, unspecified 0.2%, none 7.4% (2000 census)
Languages
Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
Portuguese (official and most widely spoken language); note - less common languages include Spanish (border areas and schools), German, Italian, Japanese, English, and a large number of minor Amerindian languages
Exports
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
transport equipment, iron ore, soybeans, footwear, coffee, autos
External Debt
$25,220,000,000 $
$397,500,000,000 US
Exchange Rate
taka (BDT) per US dollar - 68.554 (2008 est.), 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004)
reals (BRL) per US dollar - 1.8644 (2008 est.), 1.85 (2007 est.), 2.1761 (2006), 2.4344 (2005), 2.9251 (2004)
Military Budget as percentage of GDP
1.300%
1.700%
Beijing Olympics Medal Count
0
15
Location
Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
Eastern South America, bordering the Atlantic Ocean
Area
143,998 km sq
8,514,877 km sq
Coastline
580 km
7,491 km
Climate
tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)
