A Beehive of Activity
Part 1
Bangladesh Trip
Letter – December 2009
What do you think Bangladesh (BD)
is like? If you think it is flat, floods
easily, poor, crowded, and hot, you are not far off. It is all that and much more. To get to know BD better requires a short
introductory lesson on geography, geology, demography and history. BD is located in South Asia in a precarious
position (both geographical and politically).
It is bordered by India, Myanmar, and the Bay of Bengal . There are several mountain ranges, like the
Himalayas, and moderately high plateaus that drain into the flat, fertile land
of BD. This is a good and a bad
thing. The good thing is the soil is
rich and grows rice, wheat, jute, tea, tobacco, and sugarcane. The not so good thing is the flooding when
there is a major snow melt in the mountains.
Also, BD lies in monsoon territory and it does not take much to flood a
country which consists of mainly low and flat land.
BD is
147,570 square kilometers. Land makes up
81%, forest 13% and river 6%. The
population is approximately 158.6 million (2008 estimate) with an annual growth
rate of 1.8% and density is reported to be 939 persons per square kilometer
(2005). Wikipedia lists BD coming in 9th
as the most densely populated countries proceeded by Macau, Monaco, Singapore,
Hong Kong, Gibraltar, Vatican City, Malta, and Bermuda. Walking out the door of the airport I sensed
one could never be alone in BD with all the people waiting outside. Crowds like this in the states would be indicative
of a major sporting event or a Rolling Stones concert or the opening of a
Krispie Kremes. I was thankful for
having a guardian angel to help me locate my BD friend in the crowd.
Besides
their agricultural resources, their mineral resources are natural gas,
limestone, hard rock, coal, lignite, silica sand, white clay, and radioactive
sand. In case you are not familiar with
radioactive sand, I will leave you to research that yourself. It boils down to sand that is radioactive. Major imports are wheat, oil seeds, crude
petroleum, raw cotton, edible oil, petroleum products, fertilizer, cement,
staple fiber, yarn, iron and steel.
Major exports include: garments, raw jute, jute manufactures, jute
products, tea, leather and leather products, frozen shrimp, other fish products,
newsprint, paper, naphtha, furnace oil, and urea (used in fertilizer).
Life
expectancy is 57 years of age for men and 63 for women (2009 est). 48% of the population is literate with 54%
being men and 41% being women. Birth
rate is 2.74 children born per woman. The
national flag is a green rectangle with a red circle slightly off center. The story behind the flag is “the red disk
represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence; the green
field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh”.
I came
to Bangladesh to visit a special friend, Sanwar. I met him during my first week in Jeddah,
Saudi Arabia when I hailed down a taxi. He
started out as a reliable and friendly taxi driver and quickly turned into a
friend and guardian. My time in BD was not the typical tourist trip
but one showing the heart and soul of the country through the people.
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http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/asia/bd.htm#maps
