ly in southeast

Natural resources: natural gas, arable land, timber

Land use:
arable land: 67%
permanent crops: 2%
meadows and pastures: 4%
forest and woodland: 16%
other: 11%

Irrigated land: 27,380 sq km (1989)

Environment:
current issues: many people are landless and forced to live on and
cultivate flood-prone land; limited access to potable water;
water-borne diseases prevalent; water pollution especially of fishing
areas results from the use of commercial pesticides; intermittent
water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and
central parts of the country; soil degradation; deforestation; severe
overpopulation
natural hazards: droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely
flooded during the summer monsoon season
international agreements: party to - Biodiversity, Climate Change,
Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not
ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea

@Bangladesh:People

Population: 128,094,948 (July 1995 est.)

Age structure:
0-14 years: 40% (female 25,195,262; male 26,352,299)
15-64 years: 57% (female 34,862,105; male 37,867,705)
65 years and over: 3% (female 1,761,336; male 2,056,241) (July 1995
est.)

Population growth rate: 2.32% (1995 est.)

Birth rate: 34.62 births/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Death rate: 11.43 deaths/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1995 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 104.6 deaths/1,000 live births (1995 est.)

Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 55.46 years
male: 55.69 years
female: 55.22 years (1995 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.39 children born/woman (1995 est.)

Nationality:
noun: Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladesh

Ethnic divisions: Bengali 98%, Biharis 250,000, tribals less than 1
million

Religions: Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, Buddhist, Christian, other

Languages: Bangla (official), English

Literacy: age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population: 35%
male: 47%
female: 22%

Labor force: 50.1 million
by occupation: agriculture 65%, services 21%, industry and mining 14%
(1989)
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, UAE, and Oman (1991)

@Bangladesh:Government

Names:
conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh
conventional short form: Bangladesh
former: East Pakistan