Bangladesh Country Information

Fact and Figures

Location - Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India

Capital - Dhaka

Population - 158million

People - Bengali 98%, other 2%

Language - Bangla, English

Religion - Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1%

Literacy rate - 47.9%

Life expectancy - 60.63 years

% Living below $1.25/day - 50%

Sources The CIA World Fact Book 2009, Compassion International, www.news.bbc.co.uk

Bangladesh

The first European trading posts were set up in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century and in 1757, it fell under the rule of the British East India Company. In 1947, the primarily Muslim areas of West Pakistan and East Bengal separated from India and jointly became the new country of Pakistan.

In 1971, East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan and was renamed Bangladesh. A military-backed interim government suspended the planned parliamentary elections in January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption.

About a third of this severely overpopulated and poverty-stricken country floods each year during the monsoon season. This hampers economic development, particularly in the poorer communities who cannot afford to buy land and are forced to settle on and cultivate the most flood-prone areas.

During the floods, homes and crops are destroyed, leaving entire communities without food and shelter. The brutal rains also cause other problems. Displaced sewage allows waterborne diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera to run rampant, while soil degradation, severe erosion and the destruction of thousands of miles of roadway, add to the population’s hardships.

The first Compassion church-based projects opened in Bangladesh in 2004 and just three years later, witnessed an exceptionally destructive monsoon season. In August 2007, as 26 rivers overflowed their banks and nearly 5 million people were forced to flee their homes, Compassion was able to assist more than 1,100 registered children and their families. Now more than 14,683 children in 93 projects are receiving physical, social, economic and spiritual help.

Compassion Bangladesh does not have any Child Survival Programmes yet.

Over 14,683 children are currently being assisted in more than 93 Child Sponsorship Programmes in Bangladesh.

Compassion Bangladesh does not have any Leadership Development Programme students yet.