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National Trade Data Bank
ITEM ID     : ST BNOTES BANGLADE
DATE        : Oct 28, 1994

AGENCY      : U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
PROGRAM     : BACKGROUND NOTES
TITLE       : Background Notes - BANGLADESH

Source key      : ST
Program key     : ST BNOTES
Update sched.   : Occasionally
Data type       : TEXT
End year        : 1993
Date of record  : 19941018
Keywords 3      :
Keywords 3      : | BANGLADESH

BACKGROUND NOTES:  BANGLADESH
PUBLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS
US DEPARTMENT OF STATE

DECEMBER 1992
Official Name:  People's Republic of Bangladesh

PROFILE

Geography
Area:  143,998 sq. km. (55,813 sq. mi., about the size of
Wisconsin).  Cities: Capital--Dhaka (pop. 7 million).  Other
cities--Chittagong (2.8 million), Khulna (1.8 million), Rajshahi
(1 million).  Terrain:  Mainly flat alluvial plain, with hills in
the southeast.  Climate:  Semitropical, monsoon.

People
Nationality:  Noun and adjective--Bangladeshi(s).  Population
(1991):  116 million.  Annual growth rate:  2.4%.  Ethnic groups:
Bengali 98%, tribals, non-Bengali Muslims.  Religions:  Muslim
83%; Hindu 16%; Christian, Buddhist, others 1%.  Languages:
Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English.  Education:
Attendance--73% (primary school), 26% (secondary school).
Literacy--47% for males; 22% for females.  Health (1991): Life
expectancy--54 yrs. male, 52 yrs. female.  Work force (35
million):  Agriculture--74%.  Services--15%.  Industry--11%.

Government
Type:  Parliamentary democracy.  Independence (in present form):
1971.  Constitution:  1972 (as amended).

Branches:  Executive--prime minister, president.
Legislative--unicameral parliament (330 members).
Judicial--civil court system on British model.

Administrative subdivisions:  divisions, districts, subdistricts,
unions, villages.

Political parties:  30-40 active political parties.  Only 4
parties have more than 10 members in the current parliament:  the
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), the Awami League (AL), the
Jamaat-E-Islami (JI), and the Jatiyo Party (JP).  Suffrage:
Universal at 18.

Flag:  Red circle on dark green field.

Economy
GDP (1991):  $23 billion.  Real annual growth rate (1991):  3.6%.
Per capita GDP:  $198.

Natural resources:  Natural gas, water.

Agriculture (37% of GDP):  Products--rice, jute, tea, sugar,
wheat.

Industry (17% of GDP):  Types--jute goods, garments, frozen
shrimp, textiles, fertilizer, sugar, tea, leather, metal
re-processing, pharmaceuticals, newsprint.

Trade (1991):  Exports--$1.7 billion:  ready-made garments, jute
goods, leather, frozen fish, shrimp, raw jute, tea.  Exports to
US (1991 est.)--$515 million.  Imports--$3.5 billion:  capital
goods, foodgrains, petroleum, consumer goods, fertilizer,
chemicals, vegetable oils, textiles.  Imports from US (1991
est.)--$140 million.

Official exchange rate  (1992): Taka 39=US$1.

PEOPLE
Bangladesh, or "Bengal Nation," is the most densely populated
agricultural country in the world.  With a per capita gross
domestic product of $198 (1991), it is also one of the poorest.
Bangladesh's 116 million people are concentrated in an area about
the size of Wisconsin.  Its population growth rate is currently
estimated at 2.4% annually; a conservative estimate projects a
population of 140 million by the year 2000.  At present, 44% of
the population is under 15 years of age.  Urbanization is
proceeding rapidly, and it is estimated that only 30% of the
population entering the labor force in the future will be
absorbed into agriculture, although many will likely find other
kinds of work in rural areas.  The areas around the capital city,
Dhaka, and around Comilla are the most densely settled.  The
Sundarbans, an area of thick tropical jungle inland from the
coastline on the Bay of Bengal, and the Chittagong Hill Tracts on
the southeastern border with Burma and India, are the least
densely populated areas.

About 98% of Bangladeshis are ethnic Bengali and speak Bangla.
Urdu-speaking, non-Bengali Muslims of Indian origin and various
tribal groups, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprise the
remainder.  Most Bangladeshis (about 83%) are Muslims, but Hindus
constitute a sizable (16%) minority.  There are also a small
number of Buddhists, Christians, and animists.  English is spoken
in urban areas and among the educated.

HISTORY
The area which is now Bangladesh has a rich historical and
cultural past, the product of the repeated influx of varied
peoples, bringing with them the Dravidian, Indo-Aryan,
Mongol-Mughul, Arab, Persian, Turkic, and European cultures.
About 1200 A.D., Muslim invaders under Sufi influence, supplanted
Hindu and Buddhist dynasties, and converted most of the
population of the eastern areas of Bengal to Islam.  Since then,
Islam has played a crucial role in the region's history and
politics.  In the 16th century, Bengal was absorbed into the
Mughul Empire.

Portuguese traders and missionaries reached Bengal in the latter
part of the 15th century.  They were followed by representatives
of the Dutch, the French, and the British East India Companies.
During the 18th and 19th centuries, especially after the defeat
of the French in 1757, the British gradually extended their
commercial contacts and administrative control beyond Calcutta
into the remainder of Bengal and northwesterly up the Ganges
River valley.  In 1859, the British Crown replaced the East India
Company, extending British dominion from Bengal in the east to
the Indus River in the west.

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Muslim and Hindu
leaders began to press for a greater degree of independence.  At
the movement's forefront was the largely Hindu Indian National
Congress.  Growing concern about Hindu domination of the movement
led Muslim leaders to form the All-India Muslim League in 1906.
In 1913, the League formally adopted the same goal as the Indian
National Congress:  self-government for India within the British
Empire.  The Congress and the League were unable, however, to
agree on a formula to ensure the protection of Muslim religious,
economic, and political rights.  Over the next 2 decades,
mounting tension between Hindus and Muslims led to a series of
bitter intercommunal conflicts.

Pakistan and Partition
The idea of a separate Muslim state emerged in the 1930s.  It
gained popularity among Indian Muslims after 1936, when the
Muslim League suffered a decisive electoral defeat in the first
elections under the 1935 constitution.  On March 23, 1940,
Muhammad Ali Jinnah, leader of the Muslim League, publicly
endorsed the "Pakistan Resolution" that called for the creation
of an independent state in regions where Muslims were a majority.

At the end of World War II, the United Kingdom, under
considerable international pressure to reduce the size of its
overseas empire, moved with increasing urgency to grant India
independence.  The Congress Party and the Muslim League could
not, however, agree on the terms for drafting a constitution or
establishing an interim government.  In June 1947, the UK
declared it would grant full dominion status to two successor
states--India and Pakistan.  Pakistan would consist of the
contiguous Muslim-majority districts of western British India,
plus parts of Bengal.  The various princely states could freely
join either India or Pakistan.  These arrangements resulted in a
bifurcated Muslim nation separated by more than 1,600 kilometers
(1,000 mi.) of Indian territory.  West Pakistan comprised four
provinces and the capital, Lahore.  East Pakistan was formed of a
single province.  Each province had a legislature.

East and West Pakistan
Pakistan's history for the next 26 years was marked by political
instability and economic difficulties.  Dominion status was
rejected in 1956 in favor of an "Islamic Republic within the
Commonwealth."  Attempts at civilian political rule failed, and
the government imposed martial law between 1958 and 1962 and 1969
and 1972.  Frictions between West and East Pakistan culminated in
a 1971 army crackdown against the East Pakistan dissident
movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose Awami League (AL)
Party had won 167 seats out of 313 National Assembly seats on a
platform of greater autonomy for the eastern province.

Mujibur Rahman was arrested and his party banned.  Many of his
aides and more than 1 million Bengali refugees fled to India,
where they established a provisional government.  India and
Pakistan went to war in late November 1971.  The combined
Indian-Bengali forces soon overwhelmed Pakistan's small army
contingent in the East.  By the time Pakistan's forces
surrendered on December 16, 1971, India had taken numerous
prisoners and gained control of a large area of East Pakistan,
which is now Bangladesh.

Bangladesh
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.  Mujib came to office with immense
personal popularity but had difficulty quickly transforming this
support into political legitimacy.  The 1972 constitution created
a strong prime ministership, an independent judiciary, and a
unicameral legislature on a modified British model.  More
importantly, it enunciated as state policy the Awami League's
four basic principles--nationalism, secularism, socialism, and
democracy.

 The Awami League won a massive majority in the first
parliamentary elections in March 1973.  It continued as a mass
movement, espousing the cause that brought Bangladesh into being
and representing disparate and often incoherent elements under
the banner of Bangla nationalism.  No other political party in
Bangladesh's early years was able to duplicate or challenge its
broad-based appeal, membership, or organizational strength.

The new government focused on relief, rehabilitation, and
reconstruction of the country's war-ravaged economy and society.
Economic conditions remained tenuous, however, and food and
health difficulties continued to be endemic.  In 1974, Mujib
proclaimed a state of emergency and amended the constitution to
limit the powers of the legislative and judicial branches,
establish an executive presidency, and institute a one-party
system.  Calling these changes the "Second Revolution," Mujib
assumed the presidency.  All political parties were dissolved
except for a single new party, the Bangladesh Krishak Sramik
Awami League (BAKSAL), which all members of parliament were
obliged to join.

Implementation of promised political reforms was slow, and Mujib
increasingly was criticized.  In August 1975, he was assassinated
by mid-level army officers, and a new government, headed by a
former associate, Khandakar Moshtaque, was formed.  Successive
military coups occurred on November 3 and 7, resulting in the
emergence of Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ziaur Rahman (Zia), as
strongman.  He pledged the army's support to the civilian
government headed by the president, Chief Justice Sayem.  Acting
at Zia's behest, Sayem then promulgated martial law, naming
himself Chief Martial Law Administrator (CMLA).

Ziaur Rahman.  Ziaur Rahman was elected for a 5-year term as
president in 1978.  His government removed the remaining
restrictions on political parties and encouraged opposition
parties to participate in the pending parliamentary elections.
More than 30 parties vied in the parliamentary elections of
February 1979, but Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) won
207 of the 300 elected seats.

In 1981, Zia was assassinated by dissident elements of the
military.  Vice President Justice Abdus Sattar was
constitutionally sworn in as acting president.  He declared a new
national emergency and called for elections within 6 months.
Sattar was elected president and won.  Sattar was ineffective,
however, and Army Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. H.M. Ershad assumed
power in a bloodless coup in March 1982.

Hussain Mohammed Ershad.  Like his predecessors, Ershad dissolved
parliament, declared martial law, assumed the position of CMLA,
suspended the constitution, and banned political activity.
Ershad reaffirmed Bangladesh's moderate, non-aligned foreign
policy.

In December 1983, he assumed the presidency.  Over the ensuing
months, Ershad sought a formula for elections while dealing with
potential threats to public order.

On January 1, 1986, full political rights, including the right to
hold large public rallies, were restored.  At the same time, the
Jatiyo (People's) Party (JP), designed as Ershad's political
vehicle for the transition from martial law, was established.
Ershad resigned as chief of army staff, retired from military
service, and was elected president in October 1986.  (Both the
BNP and the AL refused to put up an opposing candidate.)

In July 1987, the opposition parties united for the first time in
opposition to government policies.  Ershad declared a state of
emergency in November, dissolved parliament in December, and
scheduled new parliamentary elections for March 1988.

All major opposition parties refused to participate.  Ershad's
party won 251 of the 300 seats; three other political parties
which did participate, as well as a number of independent
candidates, shared the remaining seats.  This parliament passed a
large number of legislative bills, including a controversial
amendment making Islam the state religion.

By mid-1990, opposition to Ershad's  rule had escalated.
November and December 1990 were marked by general strikes,
increased campus protests, public rallies, and a general
disintegration of law and order.  Ershad resigned in December
1990.

GOVERNMENT
On February 27, 1991, an interim government oversaw what may be
the most free and fair elections in the nation's history.  The
center-right Bangladesh Nationalist Party won a plurality of
seats and formed a coalition government with the Islamic
fundamentalist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).

The new Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, was the widow of the
assassinated former president Ziaur Rahman.  Before the death of
her husband in 1981, her participation in politics was minimal.
She joined the BNP in 1982 and became chairman of the party in
1984.  Besides presently serving as Prime Minister, she holds the
Defense and Establishment ministries.

In September 1991, the electorate approved changes to the
constitution, formally creating a parliamentary system and
returning governing power to the office of the prime minister, as
in Bangladesh's original constitution.  In October 1991, members
of parliament elected a new head of state, President Abdur Rahman
Biswas.

Principal Government Officials
Prime Minister--Begum Khaleda Zia
President (head of state)--Abdur Rahman Biswas
Foreign Minister--Mustafizur Rahman
Ambassador to the United States--Abul Ahsan
Ambassador to the United Nations--Humayun Kabir

Bangladesh maintains an embassy in the United States at 2201
Wisconsin Avenue, NW, Washington, DC  20007 (tel. [phone];
fax. [phone]) and a consulate general at the Bangladesh
Mission to the United Nations, 821 UN Plaza, New York, NY  10017
(tel. [phone]).

ECONOMY
As one of the world's poorest and most densely populated
countries, Bangladesh  struggles constantly to produce or import
enough food for its rapidly increasing population.  An estimated
10-15% of the population is at serious nutritional risk; the
majority faces food insecurity.  Bangladesh's predominantly
agricultural economy depends heavily on an erratic monsoonal
cycle, which leads to periodic flooding and drought.  Although
improving, Bangladesh's transportation, communications, and power
systems are poorly developed.  Bangladesh has virtually no
mineral resources except for an estimated 17 trillion cubic feet
of proven natural gas reserves (which meets two-thirds of
Bangladesh's commercial energy needs); coal reserves estimated at
250 million metric tons in the northwest; and estimated oil
reserves of 7.5 million barrels.  It has a weak industrial base
and a largely unskilled labor force.

At its founding in 1971, Bangladesh, with the help of massive
infusions of donor relief and development aid, slowly began to
turn its attention again to developing new industrial capacity
and rehabilitating its economy.  The statist economic model
adopted by its early (Pakistani and Bangladeshi) leadership,
however, including the nationalization of the key jute industry,
had resulted in inefficiency and economic stagnation.  Beginning
in 1975, the government gradually increased private sector
participation in the economy, including privatization of more
than 30 state enterprises.  However, rapid population growth,
inefficiency in the public sector, and restricted natural
resources and capital hindered development.

In the mid-1980s encouraging, if halting, signs of progress
appeared.  Economic policies to encourage private enterprise and
investment, denationalize public industries (including jute,
textiles, and banking), reinstate budgetary discipline, and
liberalize the import regime were accelerated.  In 1985, the
government also began an economic structural adjustment program
with the International Monetary Fund.

Economic reform efforts have continued under the Zia Government.
Inflation fell in 1992 to an estimated 5%--down from 8% in 1991.
Foreign exchange reserves ($1.5  billion in May 1992) are higher
than had been expected, because of improving export performance
and continued high levels of remittances from overseas workers.
The exchange rate has remained generally stable, although the
taka was devalued by about 8% in 1991 to compensate for the
effect of inflation.  The new government has improved revenue
collection by means of a value-added tax.

On the other hand, privatization of public-sector industries
continues at a slow pace, due in part to worker unrest in
affected industries.  The government also has proven unable to
resist demands for wage hikes in government-owned industries.
Growth has been slowed by an antiquated banking system which has
impeded access to capital, a serious problem in rural areas,
where many farmers have difficulty getting access to credit at
reasonable rates.

Agriculture
Most Bangladeshis earn their livings directly or indirectly from
agriculture.  Rice and jute are the primary crops; wheat is
assuming greater importance; and tea is grown in hilly regions of
the northeast.  Bangladesh's fertile soil and normally ample
water supply yield three rice crops in many areas.  Through
better flood control and irrigation measures, more intensive use
of fertilizers and high-yielding seed varieties, increased price
incentives, and improved distribution and rural credit networks,
Bangladesh's labor-intensive agricultural sector has achieved
steady increases in foodgrain production.  Foodgrain production
in 1992 was about 20 million metric tons, a 5% increase over the
previous year.  Rice is Bangladesh's principal crop, although
yields per hectare are among the lowest in Asia.  While rice
output rose 3.2% in 1992, much recent growth in foodgrain output
can be attributed to the irrigated spring crop, which has
increased steadily due to the greater availability of fertilizer
and irrigation equipment.  Wheat production also is expected to
rise from 900,000 to about 1 million metric tons in 1992.  Jute,
which historically has accounted for the bulk of Bangladesh's
export receipts, faces an uncertain future due to competition
from synthetic fiber substitutes.  Fishing, especially for
shrimp, has become an increasingly important source of export
earnings.

Overpopulation and underemployment remain serious problems, and
finding alternative sources of employment for landless peasants
is a continuing challenge.

Industry
Although small, the industrial sector contributes significantly
to export receipts; it also provides employment and a market for
cash crops.  Jute products--mainly burlap sacking and carpet
backing for export--and cotton textiles for domestic consumption
predominate.  Since the early 1980s production of ready-made
garments for the US market has grown rapidly.  Bangladesh is the
fifth largest supplier of cotton apparel to the United States,
and it has begun exporting  to West European markets.  Breaking
up ships for scrap, using methods that are highly labor
intensive, now meets most of Bangladesh's domestic steel needs.
Other industries include sugar, tea, leather goods, newsprint,
pharmaceuticals, and fertilizer production.  The industrial (and
foreign exchange) impact of the discovery of modest reserves of
oil in 1986 remains to be assessed.

The government continues to court foreign investment.  To this
end, the United States and Bangladesh signed a bilateral
investment treaty which took effect in 1989.  Bangladesh also has
established an export processing zone (EPZ) in Chittagong and
plans to create additional zones.  The government has offered
special incentives and simplified procedures for potential
investors.

Aid and Trade
Since independence in 1971, Bangladesh has received more than $22
billion in grant aid and loan commitments from foreign donors,
about $15 billion of which has been disbursed.  Major donors
include the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the UN
Development Program, the United States, Japan, Saudi Arabia,  and
a number of West European countries.  As of 1991, the United
States had provided more than $3.3 billion in food and
development assistance.  Food aid provides food, promotes
production, and helps stabilize prices.  Other US programs target
family planning and health, agricultural development, and rural
unemployment.  In 1991, the US forgave Bangladesh $293 million of
development assistance debt.

Bangladesh historically has run a large trade deficit, about $1.5
billion annually during the late 1980s.  This was financed
largely through foreign assistance.  The balance of payments
swung into surplus in 1990-91 because of increased exports of
garments and depressed domestic demand for imports.  In recent
years, remittances from workers in the Middle East have been
Bangladesh's most important source of foreign exchange earnings.
The US trade balance with Bangladesh has been negative since
1986, due largely to  imports of ready-made garments.  Jute
carpet backing is the other major US import.  US exports to
Bangladesh include wheat, fertilizer, cotton, communications
equipment, and aircraft and medical supplies, some of which is
financed by the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

DEFENSE
The 100,000-member, 6-division army is organized along British
lines.  It is supported by artillery, armor, and combat units.
In addition to traditional defense roles, the army has been
called on to provide support to civil authorities for internal
security.

Recognition of economic and fiscal constraints has led to the
establishment of paramilitary and auxiliary forces.  In addition
to in-country military training, some advanced and technical
training is done abroad, including grant aid training in the
United States.  China and Pakistan are major defense suppliers to
Bangladesh.

FOREIGN RELATIONS
Bangladesh pursues a moderate foreign policy, emphasizing
multinational diplomacy, especially at the United Nations.
Bangladesh was admitted to the United Nations in 1974 and served
on the Security Council in 1978.  Dhaka actively  participates in
international conferences, especially those dealing with
population, food, and development issues.  In 1982-83, Bangladesh
chaired the "Group of 77," an informal association encompassing
most of the world's developing nations.

Since 1975, Bangladesh has sought close relations with other
Islamic states and friendly relations with the Association of
Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).  In 1983, it hosted the foreign
ministers meeting of the Organization of the Islamic Conference
(OIC).  It contributed 2,300 troops to the Gulf war coalition in
1991 and has taken a leading role in the Group of 42 Least
Developed Countries.

Other Nations
India.  India is Bangladesh's most important neighbor;
geographic, cultural, historic, and commercial ties are strong.
During and immediately after the Bangladesh independence struggle
in 1971, India supported the East Bengali nationalists, assisted
refugees from East Pakistan, intervened militarily to help bring
about the independence of Bangladesh, and furnished relief and
reconstruction aid.

Indo-Bangladesh relations have not been without strains.
Long-standing transborder water resource issues are contentious
issues, particularly control of river flooding and the equitable
division of dry-season water on which both countries' economies
depend.  A bilateral water-sharing agreement for the Ganges River
lapsed in 1988 and has not been renewed.  Both nations have,
however, begun to cooperate on the issue of flood warning and
preparedness.  Discussions on the return to Bangladesh of tribal
refugees, who fled into India beginning in 1986 to escape
violence caused by an insurgency in their homeland in the
Chittagong Hill Tracts, continue as well.

Pakistan.  Bangladesh enjoys warm relations with Pakistan,
despite the inauspicious early days of their relationship.
Landmarks in their reconciliation are:

-- An August 1973 agreement between India and Pakistan on
repatriation, including 90,000 Pakistani prisoners of war
stranded in 1971;
--  A February 1974 accord by Dhaka and Islamabad on mutual
recognition (followed more than 2 years later by establishment of
formal diplomatic relations);
--  The organization by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees of
an airlift that moved almost 250,000 Bengalis from Pakistan to
Bangladesh and non-Bengalis from Bangladesh to Pakistan; and
--  Exchanges of high-level visits, including a visit by the
former Prime Minister of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto, to Bangladesh
in 1989 and a visit by Prime Minister Zia to Pakistan in 1992.

Still to be resolved are the division of assets from the pre-1971
period and the status of more than 250,000 non-Bengali Muslims
(known as "Biharis" or "stranded Pakistanis") remaining in
Bangladesh but seeking resettlement in Pakistan.

Other South Asian Countries.
Bangladesh maintains friendly relations with Bhutan, Maldives,
Nepal, and Sri Lanka.  It strongly opposed the Soviet invasion of
Afghanistan.  Dhaka played an instrumental role in the
establishment of SAARC, and at the Bangalore summit in November
1986, Abul Ahsan, now Ambassador to the US, was chosen the
organization's first Secretary General.  Bilateral ties with
Burma are also good, despite border strains near the Chittagong
Hill tracts and a recent influx of over 270,000 Muslim refugees
from predominantly Buddhist Burma.

Russia.  The former Soviet Union supported India's actions during
the 1971 Indo-Pakistan war and was among the first to recognize
Bangladesh.  Moscow initially contributed considerable relief and
rehabilitation aid to the new nation.  After Sheikh Mujib was
assassinated and replaced by military regimes, however,
Soviet-Bangladesh relations cooled.  In 1989, the USSR ranked
14th among total aid donors to Bangladesh.  The Soviet-financed
Ghorasal thermal power station is Bangladesh's largest electric
power station.  Several barter trade agreements have been allowed
to lapse since the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
Bangladesh cautiously began to open diplomatic relations with the
Central Asian states in the spring of 1992.

China.  China traditionally has been more important to Bangladesh
than the former USSR.  Since China recognized Bangladesh in 1975,
relations have centered on trade, cultural activities, military
and civilian aid, and exchanges of high-level visits, beginning
in January 1977 with President Zia's trip to Beijing.  The
largest and most visible symbol of bilateral amity is the
Bangladesh-China "Friendship Bridge" completed in 1989, near
Dhaka.

US-BANGLADESH RELATIONS
Although the US relationship with Bangladesh was initially
constrained due to strong US ties with Pakistan, US-Bangladesh
friendship and support developed quickly.  Currently,
US-Bangladesh relations are excellent, as demonstrated by the
visits to Washington in August 1980 by President Zia, in 1983,
1988, and 1990 by President Ershad, and in May 1992 by Prime
Minister Khaleda Zia.  US policies have focused primarily on
efforts to promote Bangladesh's economic development and the
strength of its democratic institutions.

This US economic aid program totaled about $133 million in 1992
(1972-91 the US provided more than $3.3 billion).  In addition to
symbolizing long-standing American humanitarian concern for the
people of Bangladesh, US economic and food aid programs, which
began as emergency relief following the 1971 war, now concentrate
on long-term development.  Objectives of US assistance include
increasing agricultural production, providing new employment
opportunities, and helping reduce population growth.

Relations between Bangladesh and the United States were further
strengthened by the participation of Bangladeshi troops in the
Gulf war coalition, and the assistance of a US naval task force
is credited with having saved as many as 200,000 lives after a
disastrous cyclone in March 1991.

Principal US Officials
Ambassador--William B. Milam
Deputy Chief of Mission--Lee O. Coldren
Political Counselor--Jeffrey J. Lunstead
Economic/Commercial Counselor--Philip Carter
Administrative Counselor--Allan V. Ellsbury
Consular Officer--Edward J. Wehrli
AID Director--Mary Kilgour
Public Affairs Officer--Michael Korff
Defense Attache--LTC Steven R. Robinson
Agricultural Attache--Daniel Conable (Resident in New Delhi)

The embassy and the USAID mission, are located in the Diplomatic
Enclave, Madani Avenue, Baridhara, GPO Box 323, Dhaka (tel.
011-880-2-884700, telex 642319 AEDKA BJ, telefax
011-880-2-883744; the USAID telefax number is 011-880-2-883648).
The official workweek is Sunday through Thursday.

Travel Notes
Customs and immigration:  US tourists do not need visas for stays
of up to 14 days if they have an onward ticket.  Visas are
required for longer visits and for business travelers.

Climate and clothing:  Wear lightweight clothing for most of the
hot, wet period; medium weight clothing for the short winter
(Dec.-Feb.).

Health:  Health and visa requirements change; check latest
information before traveling.  Basic medical facilities are
available in Dhaka.  Pharmacies can fill simple prescriptions.
Tetanus, typhoid, and polio immunizations are recommended;
malaria suppressants for travel outside of Dhaka are also
recommended.

Telecommunications:  Internal and external telephone, telegraph,
telex, and mail services are available.  Direct-dialing is
possible to Western Europe and the United States.  Bangladesh is
11 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time.

Transportation:  International and  domestic airline service is
adequate, and railroad service is limited.  Road transport is
crowded but adequate to most major cities; river transport is
extensive.

Published by the United States Department of State -- Bureau of
Public Affairs -- Office of Public Communication -- Washington,
DC  December 1992 -- Editor:  Josephine C. Brooks -- Managing
Editor:  Peter Knecht

Department of State Publication 8698 -- Background Notes Series
-- This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted
without permission; citation of this source
is appreciated.

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, US Government
Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402.

Contents of this publication are not copyrighted unless
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