Demographics of Bangladesh edit extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia (using Wikipedia Reflection Script)

Demographics of the People's Republic of Bangladesh
Size:	150,448,000
Growth:	2.06% (2007 est.)
Birth:	29.8 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Death:	8.27 deaths/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Life expectancy:	62.46 years (2006 est.)
Life expectancy(m):	62.47 years
Life expectancy(f):	62.45 years
Fertility:	3.11 children born/woman (2006 est.)
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)
65-0ver years:	3.5% (male 2,731,578/female 2,361,435) (2006 est.)
Sex Ratio:
At birth:	1.06 male(s)/female (2006 est.)
Under 15 years:	1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.04 male(s)/female
Nationality:
nationality:	noun: Bengali(s) adjective: Bangladeshi
Major ethnic:	Bengali
Minor ethnic:	Santhals, Chakmas, Garos, Biharis, Oraons and Mundas
Language:
Official:	Bengali
Spoken:	Bengali, Chittagonian, Sylheti, Tribal languages and English

Bangladesh is a largely 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 Chittagong & Sylhet are particularly distinctive. The population estimates from over 150 million as of 2007, and the largest religion practiced by the people is Islam with nearly 90% of the population.

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook.

Population

Bangladesh had one of the highest rates of population growth in the world in the 1960s 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).

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.)

Gender 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

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. There are also small communities of Meitei people in the Sylhet district. 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

Ethnic group

Bengalis 98 %, Santhals, Chakmas, Garos, Biharis, Meitei, Oraons and Mundas

Religions

The largest religion of Bangladesh is Islam where according to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 89.7% are Muslims, 9.2% are Hindus and the remaining include Buddhism, Christianity and others.²

According the 2001 Census, the largest religion in Bangladesh was Islam with over 130 million Muslims at a percentage of nearly 90%, making it the majority religion in the country, the second largest was Hinduism with nearly 9% followed by others which includes Buddhists, Christians and Animists.³

The majority of the Muslims are Sunni consisting of 95% of the Muslim population, and the remaining are Shi'a and other sects. The population of Hindus has significantly dropped by 50% since 1971. This is mainly due to violence and killings which has led Hindus to flee the country and significant numbers have also converted to Islam in some areas.

See also: Islam in Bangladesh, Hinduism in Bangladesh, Buddhism in Bangladesh, Christianity in Bangladesh

Languages

• Official language: Bengali (also known as Bangla)
• Dialects: Chittagonian and Sylheti
• Tribal languages: Arakanese, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Chakma, Garo, Ho, Kokborok and Kurukh
• Other languages: English (spoken and known widely in upper-class & politics), Arabic (spoken by many Muslims), Urdu (understood by some, and spoken by Biharis)'

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.