THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF BANGLADESH

Officially Name : The People's Republic Of Bangladesh The People's Republic of Bangladesh is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south. Together with the Indian state of West Bengal, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. The name Bangladesh means "Country of Bengal" in the official Bengali language. Bengali is native to the region of eastern South Asia known as Bengal, which comprises present day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal and Assam mostly in the districts of Cachar, Karimganj, Hailakandi, Dhubri, Goalpara and Nogaon. With nearly 230 million total speakers, Bengali is one of the most spoken languages . With its long and rich literary tradition, Bengali serves to bind together a culturally diverse region. In 1952, when Bangladesh used to be East Pakistan, this strong sense of identity led to the Bengali Language Movement, in which several people braved bullets and died on February 21. This day has now been declared as the International Mother Language Day

OFFICIAL STATUS

Bengali is the national and official language of Bangladesh and one of the 23 official languages recognized by the Republic of India.It is the official language of the states of West Bengal and Tripura. It is a major language in the Indian union territory of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.It was made an official language of Sierra Leone in order to honour the Bangladeshi peacekeeping force from the United Nations stationed there. It is also the co-official language of Assam, which has three predominantly Sylheti-speaking districts of southern Assam: Cachar, Karimganj, and Hailakandi.The national anthems of both India and Bangladesh were written by the Bengali Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore

SPOKEN AND LITERARY VARIETIES

Bengali exhibits diglossia between the written and spoken forms of the language. Two styles of writing, involving somewhat different vocabularies and syntax, have emerged

BANGLA ACCADEMY

Bangla Academy established on 3 December 1955, is the national academy for promoting Bangla language in Bangladesh. The main office of the organisation is located at the Burdwan House on the campus of the University of Dhaka, beside Ramna Park.

NATIONAL SYMBOLS OF BANGLADESH

Anthem : Amar Shonar Bangla Animal : Royal Bengal Tiger Bird Oriental : Magpie Robin Fish : Hilsa Flower : White Water Lily Fruit : Jackfruit Sport : Kabadi Calendar : Bengali calendar

MAJOR CITY AREA POPULATION

City / City population[36] / Metro population[36] Dhaka / 11,918,442 / 23,024,863 Chittagong / 6,920,222 / 11,256,369 Khulna / 3,400,689 / 8,492,659 Rajshahi / 2,727,083 / 4,983,641 Sylhet / 1,339,368 / 2,658,025 Barisal / 1,291,769 / 2,365,125

GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

Bangladesh is a low-lying, riverine country located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710 kilometers (440 mi) on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. Formed by a delta plain at the confluence of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries, Bangladesh's alluvial soil is highly fertile, but vulnerable to flood and drought. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate characterized by heavy seasonal rainfall, high temperatures, and high humidity. Natural disasters, such as floods, toradoes, and tidal bores affect the country yearly. Bangladesh also is affected by major cyclones — on average 16 times a decade. One cyclone struck the southeastern coast in May 1991, killing 136,000 people. The cyclone Sidr struck the southwestern coast on November 15, 2007 affecting not only the coastal districts of the administrative division Khulna but also about half of the tropical forest Sundarbans