PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH Official name: Gana Prajatantri Bangladesh (People's Republic of Bangladesh) Location: South Asia International organisations: Commonwealth of Nations, Non-Aligned Movement, Organisation of Islamic Conference, United Nations, World Trade Organisation. Borders: Burma, India Coastline: Bay of Bengal Land area: 144,000 Km2 Population: 133,300,000 Ethnicity: Virtually the entire population are Bengalis. Languages: Bengali is the official language and universally spoken.

Religion: Sunni Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1%
Form of government: Parliamentary democratic republic. Bangladesh is divided into six divisions.

Capital: Dhaka Constitution: The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh came into effect 4 November 1972. It was suspended 1982-86. Head of state: The President, elected by the National Assembly for a five-year term. The President's duties are largely ceremonial. The present incumbent, Iajuddin Ahmed, took office on 6 September 2002. Head of government: The Prime Minister, appointed by the President, is usually the leader of the largest party in the National Assembly and accountable to it. Legislature: The Jatiya Samsada (National Parliament) is a unicameral legislature, with 300 members elected for five-year terms in single-member constituencies. Electoral authority: The Bangladesh Election Commission administers national elections.

Freedom House 2005 rating: Political Rights 4, Civil Liberties 4

Political history

Bangladesh was first part of British India (when it was known as East Bengal) and then from 1947 was the province of East Pakistan. In 1971 following the fall of the Pakistani military regime free elections were held and the secessionist party of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman swept the eastern province. This provoked a civil war which ended with military intervention by India.

Sheik Mujibur Rahman

Since independence Bangladesh, the world's poorest large country, has been plagued by instability. Rahman was assassinated during a military coup in 1975 and there was a second coup in 1982. Constitutional government has only been firmly established since 1991. Bangladeshi politics today are dominated by two women. Sheikh Hasina Rahman is the daughter of Mujibur Rahman, and Begum Khalida Zia is the widow of Zia ur Rahman, military ruler from 1977 to 1981. Rahman leads the Bangladesh Awami League founded by her father, in theory a socialist party but now standing mainly for family tradition. Zia heads the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, which is more conservative and more inclined to appease Islamist sentiment. Islamism in the form of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh is not yet a major force.

The antipathy between the two dynastic party leaders is legendary, and neither has been prepared to accept the results of elections when they lose. The country, already poor and devastated by natural disasters, has been further harmed by political strikes and disorders. The next elections are due in late 2006.