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People
Cultural Legacy and Contemporary Scenario
The ancient territory of Bengal, the eastern part of which is now Bangladesh, has a rich historical and cultural past, combining Dravidian, Indo-Aryan, Mongol/Mughul, Persian, Turkic and West European cultures. At present, however, extreme poverty, high birth and mortality rates, disease and natural disasters, and a generally poor quality of life characterize Bangladesh.
Cultural Demography
In total, the population of Bangladesh totals approximately 147 million. Residents of Bangladesh, about 98 percent of whom are ethnic Bengali and speak Bangla, are called Bangladeshis. Urdu-speaking, non-Bengali Muslims of Indian origin and various tribal groups, mostly in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, comprise the remainder. English is spoken in urban areas and among the educated.
Religion
Most Bangladeshis (about 88 percent) are Muslims, but Hindus constitute a sizable (11 percent) minority. There are also a small number of Buddhists, Christians and animists. Buddhism and Hinduism predate Islam as the major religions practiced in the region of Bengal. Nevertheless, Islam is, perhaps, the most significant socio-cultural factor in Bangladeshi society, influencing almost every aspect of life.
Literacy Rate
In terms of literacy, there is an average literacy rate of 48 percent, according to recent estimates. Specifically, close to 41.4 percent of the female population and 54 percent of the male population, age 15 and over, can read and write.
Life Expectancy
The population of Bangladesh has a life expectancy of approximately 69.4 years of age for both males and females, according to recent estimates. As well, Bangladesh has an infant mortality rate of 52.54 deaths/1,000 live births.
Health and Welfare
In terms of health and welfare, 2.4 percent of GDP in this country is spent on education expenditures; 3.4 percent of GDP is spent on health expenditures. Generally, access to water in this country is good in urban areas and more problematic in certain rural areas. Access to sanitation is poor in certain areas.
Effects of the Environmental Factors on Standard of Living
It seems that even nature has conspired against Bangladesh. Not only has the country suffered due to colonial exploitation and currently faces huge problems relating to unemployment, health, education and poverty, but it is also on the receiving end of the nature with regular cyclones and floods that affect millions of Bangladeshis each year, causing damage worth billions of dollars. The low lying areas of Bangladesh are also severely threatened by the Bay of Bengal, whose waters have been rising threateningly over the last few years due, some speculate, to global warming.
Health Challenges
As if all this were not enough, Bangladeshis are also having to fight another, perhaps much more serious problem-slow poisoning. The groundwater in large parts of Bangladesh has a very high dosage of naturally occurring arsenic. A recent study by the World Health Organization pointed out that up to 77 million of the 125 million Bangladeshis are at severe risk of being poisoned by drinking water. A WHO study has predicted a big increase over the coming years in the number of cases of disease caused by arsenic. These ranged from skin lesions to cancers of the bladder, kidney, lung and skin to cardiovascular problems. The WHO has urged the government to curtail the use of groundwater, which is mostly drawn from deep wells, and develop new sources of water like collecting fresh rainwater in each monsoon.
Human Development
One notable indicator used to measure a country's quality of life is the Human Development Index (HDI), which is compiled annually since 1990 by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The HDI is a composite of several indicators, which measure a country's achievements in three main arenas of human development: longevity, knowledge and education, as well as economic standard of living. In a ranking of 169 countries, the HDI placed Bangladesh in the low human development category, at 129th place.
Note: Although the concept of human development is complicated and cannot be properly captured by values and indices, the HDI, which is calculated and updated annually, offers a wide-ranging assessment of human development in certain countries, not based solely upon traditional economic and financial indicators.
Written by Dr. Denise Youngblood Coleman, Editor in Chief, www.countrywatch.com . See Bibliography for list of research sources.
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