Bangladesh

Europeans began to set up trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century; eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part of British India. In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. A military-backed, emergency caretaker regime suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption. In contrast to the strikes and violent street rallies that had marked Bangladeshi politics in previous years, the parliamentary elections finally held in late December 2008 were mostly peaceful and Sheikh HASINA Wajed was reelected prime minister. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.

Economical characteristics

 * Currency: Taka (ISO code: BDT)
 * Central bank discount rate: 5% (15 December 2009)
 * Commercial banks lending rate: 13% (30 September 2009)
 * Stock of money (M1): $10.35 billion (30 September 2009)
 * Quasi money (with M1 makes M2): $45.23 billion (30 September 2009)

Notable events:

 * Banking crisis: 1987-1996

Links

 * Bangladesh on Wikipedia
 * Central bank of Bangladesh
 * Studies from the Library of Congress (1986-1998)
 * BBC country profile
 * Garment Factories, Changing Women’s Roles in Poor Countries by Vikas Bajaj, July 2010
 * The Bangladesh poor selling organs to pay debts, BBC, October 2013