BANGLADESH: Virtual Tour

With a population of over 140 million people packed into a land mass no bigger then a small US State, Bangladesh has the distinction of being one of the most densely populated countries of the world.

Formerly a province of India, this country has realized two stages of independence, becoming East Pakistan in 1947, and then Bangladesh in December of 1971.

Ninety percent of the population live in the rural sector where the people endeavor to survive through subsistence farming and fishing.

With over 2000 people per sq. kilometer, land and marine resources are over exploited and daily nutritional rates are extremely low.

This, combined with lack of industry, low literacy rates, poor health care and almost yearly flooding, make Bangladesh one of the most impoverished and under nourished nations of the world.

Cultural and religious traditions of the country make the plight of women most difficult. Childbearing begins at puberty and extends through menopause, producing not only more hands to work but more mouths to feed.

It is estimated that at the current birth rate, the population of Bangladesh will double in the next 30 years, bringing the population to a staggering 240 million by the year 2026.

While efforts are being made to introduce family planning, models of other developing nations show that it takes at least two generations for a culture to move from the traditional large family to the two-child family needed for negative population growth.

90% of the land area of Bangladesh is situated on a vast alluvial delta where the flat countryside rarely rises ten meters above sea level. With the yearly monsoon rains comes vast flooding as the river system overflows their banks.

This is both a blessing and a curse. While the floods destroy crops and endanger the lives of people and animals, the annual deluge also brings fertility to the soil, allowing for rich crops through the rest of the year without the use of expensive fertilizer.

Still, the agricultural output is woefully inadequate to meet the needs of the rapidly growing population.

Ironically many fields are not currently in use due to the lack of rainfall during the dry seasons. Without the benefit of irrigation, many peasant farmers are afraid to invest meager resources into planting a field that may never reach maturity.

To increase food security in Bangladesh there is a real need for the implementation of programs of irrigation, double cropping, and high yielding plant varieties.

One of the biggest causes for sickness and death in developing nations is unsafe water used for drinking and cooking. These inexpensive wells provided by ADRA Canada save lives and improve the quality of life for whole villages.

To help provide income for their families, young children often spend their days making "dung sticks" used for cooking fuel.

If Bangladesh is to meet the challenges of the future, it must be through education, small-scale industrialization, and job creation where the general population will be empowered to supplement their food supply with imports.

With assistance from the developed world in the form of education, technology, small loan programs and medical assistance, Bangladesh looks toward a brighter future.

Thank you for visiting Bangladesh!