The Country of Bangladesh Sofia Mamane Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School World Geography Ms. Quesada April 29, 2022 Academic Report 1 The country of Bangladesh History After gaining independence from Pakistan, Bangladesh became its own sovereign country in 1971 in the Bangladesh liberation war. Soon after it became a republic. Way before they gained independence, in 3rd Century was governed by the Mauryan empire. The Gupta Empire eventually over ran the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century. The earliest reference was a kingdom called Vanga/Banga ( where the name Bangladesh came from ) around 1000 B.C. Bangladesh was originally rule as a part of India, known as the Bengal region. It was also ruled by similar empires to India including Maurya. When the British started to take control, Muslim Bangladesh was separated from Hindu India. When British India gained their independence, Muslim Bangladesh became a part of Pakistan called “East Pakistan”. East Pakistan was neglected financially and politically from West Pakistan. Bangladesh eventually became its own sovereign country in 1971 in the Bangladesh liberation war. Soon after it became a republic. In 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became the first leader of Bangladesh. He was later assassinated in 1975. Now, his daughter, Sheikh Hasina Wajed is the prime minister. The current situation in Bangladesh is still very volatile, politically. Government Bangladesh’s government is a parliamentary democracy . Their president can serve up to two five-year terms. Citizens must be at least 18 to vote. They have the president as chief of state Academic Report 2 and prime minister as head of government. Their president at the moment is Abdul Hamid, and prime minister is Sheikh Hasina. Geography Bangladesh is 56,000 sq feet and located in East India, near the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh has mostly flat plains with some hills on the Burmese border. The Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna Rivers all flow from the Himalayas and provide nutrients that give Bangladesh its rich and fertile soil and fields. Because of the flat plains, a lot of massive flooding occurs from the rivers, as well as tropical cyclones. The flooding causes damage to crops and property. Bangladesh is bordered by India in the North and West and bordered by Myanmar to the East. Chittal deers, pythons, leopards, dolphins, and rhinos are some native species. Around 80% of the country is lowlands. Climate The climate in Bangladesh consists of tropical and monsoonal weather. Bangladesh has hot, humid summers, a cool, rainy fall, and a cold, dry winter. It is a subtropical humid climate. Bangladesh has three major seasons, March- May, June- October, November- February. April tends to be their warmest month in the year and January tends to be their coldest month. The large amount of rainfall in Bangladesh is caused by tropical depressions that enter through the Bay of Bengal. The maximum summer temperatures range between 30°C and 40°C. In 1968, a historical record low temperature was recorded at 2.8 degrees celsius, in Sreemangal, Sylhet Divison. Academic Report 3 Economics The population of Bangladesh is around 166,280,712 people. Birth rate is 21.61/1000 and infant mortality rate is 45.67/1000. The life expectancy is around 70 years old. Their largest city, Dhaka, has a population of 15.391 million people. The crops they grow consist of rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry. Their natural resources are natural gas and Arable land. Exports are garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood and imports are machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement. Transportation consists of railways, highways, waterways, ports and harbors(Chittagong, Mongla Port) and airports (18). Religion Majority of the population of Bangladesh are Muslim and the minority are Hindu. 90 percent are of Muslim religion and 9 percent are of Hindu religion. The 1% is other. Current Events On March 20, 2022, a small ferry with around 50 passengers collided with another vessel, and sank in the Shitalakhsya river. Many were able to swim to shore. Six are pronounced dead while dozens missing. Of the deceased, four of them were women and children. They are still on a rescue search for those missing. Culture and Art The culture of Bangladesh consists of three main religions, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam. Bangladesh takes part in many festivals to represent their cultures such as Eid-e-Miladunnabi, Academic Report 4 Eid-ul-Fitr, Eid-ul-Azha, Muharram etc. Hindus observe Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Kali Puja and many other pujas. They also have a very distinct literature heritage. Some of their most famous poets are Chandi Das, Daulat Kazi and Alaol. As far as music, they can divide it into classic, folk and modern. Ustad Alauddin Khan and Ustad Ayet Ali Khan are known classical music artists. They use a variety of cultural instruments that include Banshi , Dhole, Ektara, Dotara, Mandira, Khanjani, Sharinda and many more. Also, folk dance performed to the folk music is a very popular tradition. Both females and males perform in these dances. Myths and Legends Most folklore in Bangladesh originates from ancient Bengal. All of the stories were written in Bengali and have been translated to English. A very popular mythical legend goes like this “King Mandan's virgin daughter, Satyabati, once took a dip in the river when she saw a flower floating. As she smelled the flower, she became pregnant. Her furious parents drove her away from home. While Satyabati was pregnant, the queen goddess Hanila built a palace for her where she could gave birth. Unfortunately, Satyabati gave birth to a ball of bloody flesh that she threw into the river which was instantly swallowed by a female tortoise. The tortoise gave birth to a baby, named it Satya Pir, and died right after the birth. The newborn was found and brought up by a Brahmin Purohit called Kusaleswar. One day while walking by the river, Satya Pir found a manuscript of the holy Quran which he brought back to the priest. While going through the manuscript, Satya Pir understood that there was no distinct difference between a Purana and Islamic verses, as he argued that both spoke of harmony and peace. ” From the website, Academic Report 5 thedailystar.net. The story represents the power of the waters and river, which the people in Bangladesh highly relate their culture. Another big part of myths in Bangladesh is their ghost stories. Ghosts in Bengali is bhoot. The Shackchunni ghost is the ghost of married women. They are seen wearing red and white sarees and shell and coral bangles.They lurk around ponds and their motive is to spot happily married women and possess them so they can relive the joy of being alive with a husband. The Skondhata is also a very popular and known ghost in Bangladesh. They are the ghosts of people who passed away of beheading. The dead bodies are seen roaming and searching for their lost heads. They question travelers and ask them for assistance on finding their heads. They also hypnotize people to manipulate them into finding their heads. The most interesting ghost in my opinion is the Nishi. The Nishi ghost use the voice of the persons loved ones in order to call out to them and ultimately lure them in. The call that they use is know as “ Nishir Daak “. They hurt most victims on Tuesday afternoons and Saturday evenings. Fun Facts Some basic fun facts about Bangladesh are that most people that are Bengali don’t live in Bangladesh. It is home to the royal Bengal tiger. Bangladesh is most famous for the worlds biggest river delta. The capital is Dhaka. Bangladesh means “ land of the Bengal” or “ country of the Bengal “. Traffic is bad in most cities. It used to be East Pakistan. The flag consists of a red circle in the middle of a dark green rectangle. The circle is used to represent the sun that is over the country and it’s color represents the blood. The blood from their people that was shed during their independence war. Academic Report 6 Sources : vagabomb.com infoplease.com studycountry.com thoughtco.com thedailystar.net mythfolklore.blogspot.com Academic Report 7
