President: Zillur Rahman Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina Wajed
Federal President (rotating): Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf (until 1 Jan 2013)
Population
161,083,804
7,925,517
Life Expectancy
70.060 years
81.170 years
Capital City
Dhaka
Bern
Largest city
Dhaka (population: 10,356,500)
Zurich (population: 341,730)
Human Development Index
0.524
0.955
GDP per capita
$1,700 US
$43,900 US
Literacy Rate
43.1%
99%
Corruption Perception Index
2.1
9
Percentage of Women in Parliament
0%
27.2%
Wealthiest Citizens
NA
Ernesto Bertarelli ($8.2bn US)
Unemployment Rate
5.000%
3.100%
Death Penalty
Legal
Abolished
Political System
parliamentary democracy
formally a confederation but similar in structure to a 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
1 August 1291 (founding of the Swiss Confederation)
Religions
Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998)
Roman Catholic 41.8%, Protestant 35.3%, Muslim 4.3%, Orthodox 1.8%, other Christian 0.4%, other 1%, unspecified 4.3%, none 11.1% (2000 census)
Languages
Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English
German (official) 63.7%, French (official) 20.4%, Italian (official) 6.5%, Serbo-Croatian 1.5%, Albanian 1.3%, Portuguese 1.2%, Spanish 1.1%, English 1%, Romansch (official) 0.5%, other 2.8% (2000 census) note: German, French, Italian, and Romansch are all national and official languages
Exports
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
