Write@Home
Winter 2015

Homeland

map of bangladesh with flag overlay

Bangladesh is a small country situated in south-east Asia, also known as the Asian sub-continent. Formerly known as East Pakistan, It became an independent country on the 16th of December 1971, after a long and bloody liberation war with Pakistan, then known as West Pakistan, from 26th March to 16th December of 1971. Since its independence, the country has made some slow but positive strides toward developing and being recognized in the world economy. It is also worth mentioning that Bangladesh is the only country that had to get the right to speak in its own language, Bengali (known as Bangla), after a bloody and deadly confrontation with the Pakistani military. Hence the country is named after the language.

Bangladesh is about one sixty-seventh the size in comparison to Canada; however, it has about 4.5 times more people than Canada, which paints a picture of how densely populated it is for such a small country. As per the 2015 statistics reported by UNESCO, the literacy rate is 61.5%, which has gradually increased throughout the years. As a Muslim majority country, Bangladesh has one of the highest female literacy rates in the world.

For the last 15 years approximately, Bangladesh has been one of the top five Ready Made Garments (RMG) exporters of the world. To highlight one of the major buyers of the RMG products, one can find that the majority of the merchandise at H&M is manufactured in Bangladesh. Alongside RMG, foreign remittance sent to Bangladesh by foreign workers working in many developed countries, mostly in the middle-east (Asia), is one of the two major contributors to the economy of the country.

As for the weather, Bangladesh is a country of tropical weather with a very heavy monsoon season every year. During the monsoon, many parts of the country get flooded, causing extreme suffering for the people in the rural areas. However, it is very pleasant to travel to the beautiful countryside of the country during the rest of the year, explore the natural beauty and meet the ever so humble and welcoming people. One of the most popular tourist destinations is the sea beach located in the southern part of the country, which is the longest natural beach of the world. The mangrove jungle called Sunderban is another popular tourist destination, home of the Bengal tiger, the national animal of Bangladesh.

Dhaka is the capital of the country with the highest concentration of people, as most people come in to the city for jobs. Traffic is a nightmare in the city with all these people trying to move around on a daily basis. The government is trying to find innovative solutions, like putting up brand new overpass infrastructures throughout the city to make the citizens’ life better.

Despites its many issues, Bangladesh is growing as a nation every year and it is a beautiful country with huge possibilities. I am proud to be from Bangladesh and anytime I can represent my country I take pride in doing so.