Bangladesh

Bangladesh in the International Phonetic Alphabet [baŋlad̪eʃ] pronunciation of the title in its original version Listen, Bengali বাংলাদেশ, literally "the land of Bengal" in the long form Republic of Bangladesh, Bengali গণপ্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলাদেশ, Gônoprojatontri Bangladesh is a country in the Indian subcontinent. Located north of the Bay of Bengal, almost landlocked in India, it has a small border with Burma.

The boundaries of the area that is now Bangladesh were established in 1947 during the Partition of India, when the country became the eastern part of the Dominion of Pakistan, which became in 1956 the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The link between the two parts of Pakistan, based on their joint majority religion, Islam, has proved brittle since a huge distance from India measuring 1,600 km long between them. Subject to political and linguistic discrimination - Urdu being declared the official language of Pakistan - as well as economic neglect by the power in the hands of West Pakistan, the Bengalis of East Pakistan declared independence in 1971, Bangladesh born after a war of independence with the support of India and the USSR. Despite his release, Bangladesh sees his marked by political unrest development, with fourteen heads of government and at least four coups.

With more than 1,000 inhabitants / km ², Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated countries in the world. Geographically, most of Bangladesh is occupied by the delta of the Ganges and Brahmaputra. It is a fertile plain but prone to cyclones and monsoon floods.

The government is a parliamentary democracy. He is a member of the Commonwealth since 19723, SAARC, BIMSTEC, the OIC, and the D-8.

Bangladesh is located in the flat bottom formed by the confluence of the Ganges-Brahmaputra delta. The latter is called Jamuna when it enters into Bangladesh territory, and the first becomes the Padma he meets the Jamuna shortly before Dhaka. Meghna, meanwhile, joins the Padma downstream from the country's capital. Alluvium deposited by these rivers create plains counted among the most fertile in the world. Bangladesh has 58 rivers on either side of its international borders, causing political problems associated with particularly intractable water; he also shares with riparian India4.

Much of Bangladesh is less than 12 meters above the level of the mer5 and about 10% of the territory lies below the level of the sea.6. 80% falls during the five months of the monsoon season (June-October), while only 20% of land is protected from flooding and equipped with drainage and irrigation. Only four areas are located outside the delta: the hills of Sylhet, the mountainous region of Madhupur Upazila (en), the hilly Chittagong Hill Tracts and the area Barind6.

It is estimated that about 50% of the land area would be flooded if the sea level rose by one mètre5. 1052 meters - - The country's highest point is in the mountain range Mowdok in the Chittagong Hill Tracts of southeastern countries7. Much of the coastline consists of marshy jungle, the Sundarbans, the largest mangrove forest in the world, home to many different species of wildlife, including the Bengal tiger. In 1997 this region was declared danger.8. Cox's Bazar, south of the city of Chittagong in the south-east, has a continuous range of 120 km long, the longest monde9,10.

Located on either side of the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh has a tropical climate with a mild winter from October to March, a hot, humid summer from March to June and monsoon from June to October. Natural disasters, such as floods, cyclones tropicaux11, tornadoes, and tidal waves hit the country almost every year. The phenomenon of flooding is exacerbated by deforestation on the slopes of the Himalayas, the funnel shape of the Bay of Bengal, for the relief of the plain country, hydrography of the country (more than 90% of the country is occupied by delta) and global warming. Added to this are the effects of deforestation, soil degradation and érosion12,13.

In 1970, Cyclone Bhola is 500,000 morts14.

In May 1985, dealing only with muddy island of Char Urir four thousand and five thousand people were killed by a massive tidal wave.

In 1991, a cyclone killed more than 135,000 persons14.

In 1998 Bangladesh experienced severe inondations15. Thousand people have died and 30 million were left homeless, 130,000 livestock have died, 50 km2 of land were destroyed and 11 000 km of roads severely damaged or completely destroyed. 66% of the country was underwater. The flood was particularly devastating this year because of the particularly intense monsoons and a particularly abundant thaw in the Himalayas.

On 15 November 2007, Cyclone Sidr killed 3,300 people and $ 1.5 billion of dégâts14.

There are remnants of a civilization dating there are four thousand years in the region of Bengale16,17 then populated Dravidians, Tibeto-Burman and Austro-Asiatic. The exact origin of the word "Bangla" or "Bengal" is unknown, though the derivatives think "Bang," the name of a tribe speaking Dravidian and settled in the area around -100,018.

The Kingdom of Gangaridaï is formed later than the twelfth century BC. BC, after the arrival of Indo-Aryans; this kingdom will unite with Bihar under the Magadha empires and Maurya. Bengal later became part of the Gupta empire of the third to sixth centuries. After the dissolution of a Bengali named Shashanka founded an empire rich but short life; it is considered the first independent king in the history of Bangladesh. After a period of anarchy Buddhist Pala dynasty rule over the region for four centuries, followed by a shorter reign of the Hindu Sena dynasty. Islam was introduced to Bengal in the twelfth century by Sufi missionaries; ample Muslim conquests contribute to the spread in the region19. Turkish general, Bakhtiyar Khalji, beats Lakshman Sen of the Sen dynasty and conquered large areas of Bengal. The area is dominated by dynasties of sultans and feudal lords for centuries. In the sixteenth century the Mughal Empire controlled Bengal, and Dhaka became an important provincial center of Mughal administration.

European traders arrived late in the fifteenth century, their influence increasing gradually until the British East India Company arrived to control Bengal following the Battle of Plassey in 175720. Shortly after starting the terrible Famine Bengal in 1770 in the area or fight the British company which triggers a severe financial crisis, causing a series of bankruptcies in Europe.

The bloody rebellion of 1857, known as the Sepoy Mutiny, resulted in a transfer of power to the Crown, with a viceroy at the head of the administration21. During the colonial period the famine is recurrent throughout the Indian subcontinent; Great Bengal famine of 1943 will be up to 3 million morts22.

Between 1905 and 1911 there was an abortive attempt to divide the province of Bengal into two zones, with Dhaka capital of orientale23 area. When India was divided in 1947, Bengal is also divided on religious grounds; the western part is given to India and the eastern part became a province of Pakistan called East Bengal (later renamed East Pakistan), with its capital in Dhaka24.