cu m (1 January 2002)
Current account balance:
$216.6 million (2004 est.)
Exports:
$7.478 billion (2004 est.)
Exports - commodities:
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood
(2001)
Exports - partners:
US 22.4%, Germany 14.5%, UK 11.2%, France 6.9%, Italy 4% (2004)
Imports:
$10.03 billion (2004 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles,
foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000)
Imports - partners:
India 15.1%, China 12.5%, Singapore 7.5%, Kuwait 5.5%, Japan 5.3%,
Hong Kong 4.5% (2004)
Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$3 billion (2004 est.)
Debt - external:
$19.97 billion (2004 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$1.575 billion (2000 est.)
Currency (code):
taka (BDT)
Currency code:
BDT
Exchange rates:
taka per US dollar - 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003), 57.888 (2002),
55.807 (2001), 52.142 (2000)
Fiscal year:
1 July - 30 June
Communications Bangladesh
Telephones - main lines in use:
740,000 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
1.365 million (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: totally inadequate for a modern country
domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems
include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some
fiber-optic cable in cities
international: country code - 880; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (Indian Ocean); international radiotelephone communications
and landline service to neighboring countries (2000)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 12, FM 12, shortwave 2 (1999)
Radios:
6.15 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
15 (1999)
Televisions:
770,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.bd
Internet hosts:
1 (2003)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
10 (2000)
Internet users:
243,000 (2003)
Transportation Bangladesh
Railways:
total: 2,706 km
broad gauge: 884 km 1.676-m gauge
narrow gauge: 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2004)
Highways:
total: 207,486 km
paved: 19,773 km
unpaved: 187,713 km (1999)
Waterways: 8,372 km note: includes 2,575 km main cargo routes (2004)
Pipelines:
gas 2,012 km (2004)
Ports and harbors:
Chittagong, Mongla Port
Merchant marine:
total: 41 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 319,897 GRT/440,575 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 2, cargo 28, container 6, passenger/cargo 1,
petroleum tanker 4
foreign-owned: 10 (China 1, Singapore 9)
registered in other countries: 14 (2005)
Airports:
16 (2004 est.)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 15 over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 3 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 6 (2004 est.)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2004 est.)
Military Bangladesh
Military branches:
Army, Navy, Air Force
Military service age and obligation: 18 years of age for voluntary military service; no conscription (2005)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 18–49: 35,170,019 (2005 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 18–49: 26,841,255 (2005 est.)
Military expenditures - dollar figure:
$995.3 million (2004)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP:
1.8% (2004)
Transnational Issues Bangladesh
Disputes - international:
discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of
river boundary, exchange 162 miniscule enclaves in both countries,
allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade,
migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous
border; Bangladesh protests India's attempts to fence off
high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint
Bangladesh-India boundary inspection in 2005 revealed 92 pillars are
missing; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha
Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation;
Burmese Muslim refugees strain Bangladesh's meager resources
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
IDPs: 61,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2004)
Illicit drugs:
transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries
This page was last updated on 20 October, 2005
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@Barbados
Introduction Barbados
Background:
The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in
1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island
until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily
dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the
20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political