Total population of Bangladesh, 1961-2003, in thousands. Source: FAO

Bangladesh is ethnically homogeneous. Indeed its name derives from the Bengali ethnic and linguistic group which comprises 98% of the population. Bengalis, who are also present in large number in the West Bengal province of India are one of the most populous ethnic groups in the world. Variations in Bengali culture and language do exist of course. There are many dialects of Bengali spoken throughout the country. The dialect spoken by those in Sylhet is particularly distinctive. Image File history File links File links The following pages link to this file: Demographics of Bangladesh ... Image File history File links File links The following pages link to this file: Demographics of Bangladesh ... Possible meanings: Faro Airport (Portugal) Federation of Astrobiology Organizations Financial Aid Office Food and Agriculture Organization This page expands a three-character combination which might be any or all of: an abbreviation, an acronym, an initialism, a word in English, or a word in another language. ... The term Ethnicity redirects here. ... The Bengali people are the ethnic community from Bengal (divided between India and Bangladesh) on the Indian subcontinent with a history dating back four millennia. ... , West Bengal (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ Poshchimbôŋgo) is a state in eastern India. ... Sylhet (previously Shilhat and Jalalabad; Sylheti: Bengali: সিলেট, Sileţ) is a major city in north-eastern Bangladesh. ...

The most significant minorities are the Urdu speaking Biharis around Dhaka, Rangpur and elsewhere and various tribal groups such as the Chakma concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. The Biharis emigrated from the Indian province of Bihar during the 1947 partition of India. In the 1971 independence struggle they supported West Pakistan, and those that remained became refugees. Refugees International has called them a neglected and stateless people as they are denied citizenship and much of the 300,000 of them live in refugee camps, many being born there.^[1] Urdu ( , , trans. ... Biharis also refers to the natives or citizens of Bihar state of independent India (including non-Mulsims). ... Dhaka (previously Dacca; Bengali: Ḍhākā; IPA: ) is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka District. ... Rangpur, city in Bangladesh, not to be confused with Rampur, the names of a city and a former state in India. ... The Chakma, who are also known as the Changma, is a Mongoloid tribe inhabiting in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of Bangladesh. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses, see Bihar (disambiguation). ... This article is under construction. ... Refugees International is an NGO headed by Ken Bacon. ...

The religions practiced in the region have changed significantly through history. At various times in the distance past, Buddhism and Hinduism were each the dominant religions. The 1947 partition of Bengal along religious lines augmented the existing Sunni Muslim majority in the region. The most recent estimate of religious makeup from the 2001 census reported that the population was 89.58% Muslim, 9.34% Hindu, 0.62% Buddhist, 0.31% Christian and 0.15% Animist. [1] .^[2][3] About 5% of the Muslims (and most of the Biharis) are Shia. A statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha in Tawang Gompa, India. ... Hinduism (known as in modern Indian languages[1]) is a religious tradition[2] that originated in the Indian subcontinent. ... This article is under construction. ... Sunni Islam (Arabic سنّة) is the largest denomination of Islam. ... There is also a collection of Hadith called Sahih Muslim A Muslim (Arabic: مسلم, Persian: Mosalman or Mosalmon Urdu: مسلمان, Turkish: Müslüman, Albanian: Mysliman, Bosnian: Musliman) is an adherent of the religion of Islam. ... The following table analyzes the Demographics of Islam as of mid-year 2005. ... Shiʻa Islam (Arabic شيعى follower; English has traditionally used Shiite) makes up the second largest sect of believers in Islam, constituting about 30%–35% of all Muslim. ...

As in neighboring India, more than half of the population lives in agrarian rural villages. But urbanization is proceeding rapidly and the capital Dhaka is one of the fastest growing and largest cities in the world. Other major urban centers include Chittagong and Khulna. ^[4] The least densely populated areas are in the Sundarbans jungle and the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Agrarian has two meanings: It can mean pertaining to Agriculture It can also refer to the ideology of Agrarianism and Agrarian parties. ... Dhaka (previously Dacca; Bengali: Ḍhākā; IPA: ) is the capital of Bangladesh and the principal city of Dhaka District. ... This article is about Chittagong as a city in Bangladesh. ... Khulna is the third-largest city in Bangladesh. ... Ganges River Delta, Bangladesh and India The Sundarbans delta is the largest mangrove forest in the world. ...

Bangladesh had one of the highest rates of population growth in the world in the 1960's and 1970's. Since then however it has seen a marked reduction in its total fertility rate, from 6.2 thirty years ago to 3.2 (2003 UNDP figures). The (total) fertility rate of a population is the average number of child births per woman. ...

Demographic data from the CIA World Factbook

Population pyramid of Bangladesh

Image File history File links Bangladesh_population_pyramid_2005. ... Image File history File links Bangladesh_population_pyramid_2005. ... This distribution is named for the pyramidal shape of its graph. ...

Population

150,448,000(July 2007 est.)

124,355,263 (2001 Census)

Age structure

0-14 years: 32.9% (male 24,957,997/female 23,533,894)

15-64 years: 63.6% (male 47,862,774/female 45,917,674)

65 years and over: 3.5% (male 2,731,578/female 2,361,435) (2006 est.)

Median age

Total: 22.2 years

Male: 22.2 years

Female: 22.2 years (2006 est.)

Population growth rate

2.06% (2007 CIA est.)

Birth rate

29.8 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Death rate

8.27 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Net migration rate

-0.68 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2006 est.)

Sex ratio

At birth: 1.06 male(s)/female

Under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female

15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female

65 years and over: 1.16 male(s)/female

Total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (2006 est.)

Infant mortality rate

Total: 60.83 deaths/1,000 live births

Male: 61.87 deaths/1,000 live births

Female: 59.74 deaths/1,000 live births (2006 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

Total population: 62.46 years

Male: 62.47 years

Female: 62.45 years (2006 est.)

Total fertility rate

3.11 children born/woman (2006 est.)

HIV/AIDS

Adult prevalence rate: less than 0.1% (2001 est.)

People living with HIV/AIDS: 13,000 (2001 est.)

Deaths: 650 (2001 est.)

Major infectious diseases

Degree of risk: high

Food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A and E, and typhoid fever

Vectorborne diseases: dengue fever and malaria are high risks in some locations

Water contact disease: leptospirosis

Animal contact disease: rabies (2005)

Nationality

Noun: Bangladeshi(s)

Adjective: Bangladeshi

Ethnic groups

Ethnic group: Bengalis 98 %, Santhals, Chakmas, Garos, Biharis, Oraons and Mundas

Religions

Muslim - 89.58%, Hindu - 9.34%, Boudhists - 0.62%, Christian - 0.31% and Animists - 0.15% (2001 Census) [2]

Muslim - 88.31%, Hindu 10.52%, Boudhists - 0.58%, Christian - 0.33% and Animist - 0.26% (1991 census)

Muslim - 86.65%, Hindu - 12.13%, Boudhists - 0.62%, Christian - 0.31%, Animist - 0.30% (1981 Census)

Languages

Bangla (official, also known as Bengali)

Literacy

Definition: age 15 and over can read and write

Total population: 43.1%

Male: 53.9%

Female: 31.8% (2003 est.)

Other demographic data

Naturally there is some degree of uncertainty about the population, especially in a developing country such as Bangladesh with a high level of illiteracy and rural population. Thus the margin of error is such that in 2005 it was unknown which of Bangladesh and Russia has the larger population. For example the UN's ESA ranked Russia 7th and Bangladesh 8th, whereas the CIA World Factbook ranked Bangladesh 7th and Russia 8th. At any rate, the population of Russia is in decline while that of Bangladesh is growing. Most rankings in 2007 now show Bangladesh to be larger. The following table lists various recent estimates of the population.

References

• This article contains material from the CIA World Factbook (2006 edition) which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.
• This article contains material from the US Department of State's Background Notes which, as a US government publication, is in the public domain.