re landless and forced to live on and cultivate
flood-prone land; water-borne diseases prevalent in surface water;
water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use
of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally
occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling
water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil
degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation

Environment - international agreements:
party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note:
most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing
from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel
of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty
into the Bay of Bengal

People Bangladesh

Population:
144,319,628 (July 2005 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 33.1% (male 24,590,207/female 23,162,420)
15-64 years: 63.5% (male 46,764,824/female 44,868,733)
65 years and over: 3.4% (male 2,650,683/female 2,282,761) (2005 est.)

Median age:
total: 21.87 years
male: 21.88 years
female: 21.85 years (2005 est.)

Population growth rate:
2.09% (2005 est.)

Birth rate:
30.01 births/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Death rate:
8.4 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Net migration rate:
-0.69 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.)

Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 1.16 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2005 est.)

Infant mortality rate:
total: 62.6 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 63.65 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 61.48 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 62.08 years
male: 62.13 years
female: 62.02 years (2005 est.)

Total fertility rate:
3.13 children born/woman (2005 est.)

HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
13,000 (2001 est.)

HIV/AIDS - deaths:
650 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases:
degree of risk: high
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and