Seven interesting facts about Bangladesh

Here are a few interesting facts about Bangladesh,

Little Bangladesh is home to 170 million people.

This nation, tucked at the tip of the Bay of Bengal, is the world’s 8th most populous nation. With a land area of close to 148,000 square kilometers, Bangladesh is also one of the world’s most densely populated nations. Approximately 1,035 people share 1 kilometer of land. This population density gives rise to many problems brought about by overpopulation.

Bangladesh is now one of the world’s fastest developing countries.

Though still faced with severe problems such as political instability, climate change, religious extremism, and poverty, the Bangladeshi economy has grown in leaps and bounds since 1975. Poverty incidence has been halved and very recently, Bangladesh has already surpassed both India and Pakistan in life expectancy and human development.

Bangladesh is the site of the most severe flooding in world history.

In September 1998, torrential monsoon rains caused the Brahmaputra, Ganges, and Megha rivers to overflow, thus causing severe flooding that swallowed up to 300,000 houses, 10,000 kilometers of road, 30 million houses, and killing 135,000 cattle and over 1,000 people. This flood submerged 65%of Bangladesh’ total land area under water. In fact, Bangladesh is one of the countries most endangered by the effects of climate change.

Bangladesh has one of the highest levels of deforestation and animal extinction all over the world.

The large population of Bangladesh has made it very competitive for its people to acquire much needed resources for food and livelihood. The severe competition for resources has hastened deforestation and the clearing of land for human settlement. Thus, many animals that used to be endemic only to Bangladesh are no longer found there nor anywhere else in the world.

Bangladesh is perceived to be one of the world’s most corrupt nations.

One of the factors that still hamper sustainable economic development in Bangladesh is the perceived lack of transparency in national government. A number of Bangladeshi politicians have been involved in high profile corruption cases and foreign investors have repeatedly narrated their hardships in dealing with the government, as red tape is highly rampant.

Every 1 in 4 Bangladeshis lives below the poverty line.

Down from 57% a few decades back, Bangladesh continues to struggle with poverty, as 25%, or 42.5 million of its population continue to live with less than $1.25 a day – the global poverty threshold. It is expected though that continued social reforms will further decrease this number.

Bangladesh is home to the largest population of children suffering from malnutrition.

As population growth continues to grow at an exponential rate, many Bangladeshi children continue to suffer from malnutrition and lack of decent health care. The government aims to resolve this by encouraging couples to delay having additional children until such time that the couple has reached economic viability to have more children.