Aruba (2005) | Bangladesh (2008) | |
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Administrative divisions | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) | 6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet |
Age structure | 0-14 years: 19.9% (male 7,308/female 6,960)
15-64 years: 68.2% (male 23,736/female 25,068) 65 years and over: 11.9% (male 3,486/female 5,008) (2005 est.) |
0-14 years: 33.1% (male 25,639,640/female 24,174,937)
15-64 years: 63.4% (male 48,659,087/female 46,712,687) 65 years and over: 3.5% (male 2,818,638/female 2,443,350) (2007 est.) |
Agriculture - products | aloes; livestock; fish | rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry |
Airports | 1 (2004 est.) | 16 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
2,438 to 3,047 m: 1 (2004 est.) |
total: 15
over 3,047 m: 1 2,438 to 3,047 m: 4 1,524 to 2,437 m: 4 914 to 1,523 m: 1 under 914 m: 5 (2007) |
Airports - with unpaved runways | - | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2007) |
Area | total: 193 sq km
land: 193 sq km water: 0 sq km |
total: 144,000 sq km
land: 133,910 sq km water: 10,090 sq km |
Area - comparative | slightly larger than Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Iowa |
Background | Discovered and claimed for Spain in 1499, Aruba was acquired by the Dutch in 1636. The island's economy has been dominated by three main industries. A 19th century gold rush was followed by prosperity brought on by the opening in 1924 of an oil refinery. The last decades of the 20th century saw a boom in the tourism industry. Aruba seceded from the Netherlands Antilles in 1986 and became a separate, autonomous member of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Movement toward full independence was halted at Aruba's request in 1990. | Europeans began to set up trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century; eventually the British came to dominate the region and it became part of British India. In 1947, West Pakistan and East Bengal (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. A military-backed caretaker regime suspended planned parliamentary elections in January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption; the regime has pledged new democratic elections by the end of 2008. About a third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development. |
Birth rate | 11.26 births/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 29.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $135.8 million
expenditures: $147 million, including capital expenditures of NA (2000) |
revenues: $7.078 billion
expenditures: $9.642 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | Oranjestad | name: Dhaka
geographic coordinates: 23 43 N, 90 24 E time difference: UTC+6 (11 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
Climate | tropical marine; little seasonal temperature variation | tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October) |
Coastline | 68.5 km | 580 km |
Constitution | 1 January 1986 | 4 November 1972, effective 16 December 1972; suspended following coup of 24 March 1982, restored 10 November 1986; amended many times |
Country name | conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Aruba |
conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh
conventional short form: Bangladesh local long form: Gana Prajatantri Banladesh local short form: Banladesh former: East Bengal, East Pakistan |
Death rate | 6.57 deaths/1,000 population (2005 est.) | 8.13 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | $285 million (1996) | $20.25 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Dependency status | part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands; full autonomy in internal affairs obtained in 1986 upon separation from the Netherlands Antilles; Dutch Government responsible for defense and foreign affairs | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | the US does not have an embassy in Aruba; the Consul General to Netherlands Antilles is accredited to Aruba | chief of mission: Ambassador (vacant); Charge d'Affaires Geeta PASI
embassy: Madani Avenue, Baridhara, Dhaka 1212 mailing address: G. P. O. Box 323, Dhaka 1000 telephone: [880] (2) 885-5500 FAX: [880] (2) 882-3744 |
Diplomatic representation in the US | none (represented by the Kingdom of the Netherlands); note - Mr. Henry Baarh, Minister Plenipotentiary for Aruba at the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands | chief of mission: Ambassador M. Humayun KABIR
chancery: 3510 International Drive NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 244-0183 FAX: [1] (202) 244-7830/2771 consulate(s) general: Los Angeles, New York |
Disputes - international | none | discussions with India remain stalled to delimit a small section of river boundary, exchange territory for 51 small Bangladeshi exclaves in India and 111 small Indian exclaves in Bangladesh, allocate divided villages, and stop illegal cross-border trade, migration, violence, and transit of terrorists through the porous border; Bangladesh resists India's attempts to fence or wall off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary inspection in 2005 revealed 92 pillars are missing; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; 21,000 Burmese Rohingya Muslim refugees reside in two camps in Bangladesh |
Economic aid - recipient | $26 million (1995); note - the Netherlands provided a $127 million aid package to Aruba and Suriname in 1996 | $1.321 billion (2005) |
Economy - overview | Tourism is the mainstay of the small, open Aruban economy, with offshore banking and oil refining and storage also important. The rapid growth of the tourism sector over the last decade has resulted in a substantial expansion of other activities. Construction has boomed, with hotel capacity five times the 1985 level. In addition, the reopening of the country's oil refinery in 1993, a major source of employment and foreign exchange earnings, has further spurred growth. Aruba's small labor force and exceptionally low unemployment rate have led to a large number of unfilled job vacancies, despite sharp rises in wage rates in recent years. Tourist arrivals have declined in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the US. The government now must deal with a budget deficit and a negative trade balance. | The economy has grown 5-6% over the past few years despite inefficient state-owned enterprises, delays in exploiting natural gas resources, insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas, mainly in the Middle East and East Asia, fuel economic growth. |
Electricity - consumption | 751.2 million kWh (2002) | 19.49 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | 0 kWh (2002) | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | 807.7 million kWh (2002) | 21.35 billion kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Caribbean Sea 0 m
highest point: Mount Jamanota 188 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m |
Environment - current issues | NA | many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; water-borne diseases prevalent in surface water; water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation |
Environment - international agreements | - | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements |
Ethnic groups | mixed white/Caribbean Amerindian 80% | Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998) |
Exchange rates | Aruban guilders/florins per US dollar - 1.79 (2004), 1.79 (2003), 1.79 (2002), 1.79 (2001), 1.79 (2000) | taka per US dollar - 69.893 (2007), 69.031 (2006), 64.328 (2005), 59.513 (2004), 58.15 (2003) |
Executive branch | chief of state: Queen BEATRIX of the Netherlands (since 30 April 1980), represented by Governor General Fredis REFUNJOL (since 11 May 2004)
head of government: Prime Minister Nelson O. ODUBER (since 30 October 2001) cabinet: Council of Ministers (elected by the Staten) elections: the monarch is hereditary; governor general appointed for a six-year term by the monarch; prime minister and deputy prime minister elected by the Staten for four-year terms; election last held 28 September 2001 (next to be held by December 2005) election results: Nelson O. ODUBER elected prime minister; percent of legislative vote - NA |
chief of state: President Iajuddin AHMED (since 6 September 2002)
note: the country has a caretaker government until a general election is held; Iajuddin AHMED remains as President and Minister of Defense, and all other Cabinet portfolios are held by Caretaker Advisers (CAs); the Chief CA, Fakhruddin AHMED, is roughly equivalent to a prime minister elections: president elected by National Parliament for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election scheduled for 16 September 2002 was not held since Iajuddin AHMED was the only presidential candidate; he was sworn in on 6 September 2002 (next election NA); following legislative elections, the leader of the party that wins the most seats is usually appointed prime minister by the president election results: Iajuddin AHMED declared president-elect by the Election Commission; he ran unopposed as president; percent of National Parliament vote - NA |
Exports | NA | 1,100 bbl/day (2004) |
Exports - commodities | live animals and animal products, art and collectibles, machinery and electrical equipment, transport equipment | garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001) |
Exports - partners | Netherlands 28.5%, Panama 17.5%, Venezuela 14.7%, Netherlands Antilles 11.2%, Colombia 10.7%, US 10.4% (2004) | US 24.9%, Germany 12.8%, UK 9.8%, France 5% (2006) |
Fiscal year | calendar year | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | blue, with two narrow, horizontal, yellow stripes across the lower portion and a red, four-pointed star outlined in white in the upper hoist-side corner | green field with a large red disk shifted slightly to the hoist side of center; the red disk represents the rising sun and the sacrifice to achieve independence; the green field symbolizes the lush vegetation of Bangladesh |
GDP - composition by sector | agriculture: NA%
industry: NA% services: NA% |
agriculture: 19%
industry: 28.7% services: 52.3% (2007 est.) |
GDP - per capita | purchasing power parity - $28,000 (2002 est.) | - |
GDP - real growth rate | -1.5% (2002 est.) | 6% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 N, 69 58 W | 24 00 N, 90 00 E |
Geography - note | a flat, riverless island renowned for its white sand beaches; its tropical climate is moderated by constant trade winds from the Atlantic Ocean; the temperature is almost constant at about 27 degrees Celsius (81 degrees Fahrenheit) | most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal |
Highways | total: 800 km
paved: 513 km unpaved: 287 km note: most coastal roads are paved, while unpaved roads serve large tracts of the interior (1995) |
- |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA |
lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 27.9% (2000 est.) |
Illicit drugs | transit point for US- and Europe-bound narcotics with some accompanying money-laundering activity | transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries |
Imports | NA | 81,010 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | machinery and electrical equipment, crude oil for refining and reexport, chemicals; foodstuffs | machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement |
Imports - partners | US 55.5%, Netherlands 14.1%, Venezuela 3.3% (2004) | China 17.7%, India 12.5%, Kuwait 7.9%, Singapore 5.5%, Hong Kong 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | none (part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands) | 16 December 1971 (from West Pakistan); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is known as Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh |
Industrial production growth rate | NA% | 9.5% (2007 est.) |
Industries | tourism, transshipment facilities, oil refining | cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar |
Infant mortality rate | total: 5.89 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 6.71 deaths/1,000 live births female: 5.03 deaths/1,000 live births (2005 est.) |
total: 59.12 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 60.13 deaths/1,000 live births female: 58.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2007 est.) |
Inflation rate (consumer prices) | 3.2% (2002 est.) | 8.8% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | ILO, IMF, Interpol, IOC, UNESCO (associate), UPU, WCL, WToO (associate) | ADB, ARF, BIMSTEC, C, CP, FAO, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICCt (signatory), ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO, ILO, IMF, IMO, IMSO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO, ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINURSO, MONUC, NAM, OIC, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNMIT, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO |
Irrigated land | 0.01 sq km (1998 est.) | 47,250 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Common Court of Justice of Aruba (judges are appointed by the monarch) | Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | 41,500 (1997 est.) | 69.4 million
note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $4.8 billion in 2005-06. (2007 est.) |
Labor force - by occupation | most employment is in wholesale and retail trade and repair, followed by hotels and restaurants; oil refining | agriculture: 63%
industry: 11% services: 26% (FY95/96) |
Land boundaries | 0 km | total: 4,246 km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km |
Land use | arable land: 10.53% (including aloe 0.01%)
permanent crops: 0% other: 89.47% (2001) |
arable land: 55.39%
permanent crops: 3.08% other: 41.53% (2005) |
Languages | Dutch (official), Papiamento (a Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English dialect), English (widely spoken), Spanish | Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English |
Legal system | based on Dutch civil law system, with some English common law influence | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Legislature or Staten (21 seats; members elected by direct, popular vote to serve four-year terms)
elections: last held 23 September 2005 (next to be held by NA 2009) election results: percent of vote by party - MEP 43%, AVP 32%, MPA 7%, RED 7%, PDR 6%, OLA 4%, PPA 2%; seats by party - MEP 11, AVP 8, MPA 1, RED 1 |
unicameral National Parliament or Jatiya Sangsad; 300 seats elected by popular vote from single territorial constituencies; members serve five-year terms; note - parliament not in session during the extended caretaker regime
elections: last held 1 October 2001 (the scheduled January 2007 election has been postponed till late 2008) election results: percent of vote by party - BNP and alliance partners 41%, AL 40%, other 19%; seats by party - BNP 193, AL 58, JI 17, JP (Ershad faction) 14, IOJ 2, JP (Manzur) 4, other 12; note - the election of October 2001 brought to power a majority BNP government aligned with three other smaller parties - JI, IOJ, and Jatiya Party (Manzur) |
Life expectancy at birth | total population: 79.14 years
male: 75.8 years female: 82.65 years (2005 est.) |
total population: 62.84 years
male: 62.81 years female: 62.86 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | definition:
total population: 97% male: NA% female: NA% |
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 43.1% male: 53.9% female: 31.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Caribbean, island in the Caribbean Sea, north of Venezuela | Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India |
Map references | Central America and the Caribbean | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm | territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 18 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin |
Merchant marine | - | total: 41 ships (1000 GRT or over) 328,530 GRT/468,509 DWT
by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 27, container 6, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4 foreign-owned: 1 (China 1) registered in other countries: 9 (Comoros 1, Honduras 1, Malta 3, Panama 1, Singapore 2, St Vincent and The Grenadines 1) (2007) |
Military - note | defense is the responsibility of the Kingdom of the Netherlands | - |
Military branches | no regular indigenous military forces; Royal Dutch Navy and Marines, Coast Guard | Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy, Bangladesh Air Force (Bangladesh Biman Bahini, BAF) (2008) |
Military expenditures - percent of GDP | - | 1.5% (2006) |
National holiday | Flag Day, 18 March | Independence Day, 26 March (1971); note - 26 March 1971 is the date of independence from West Pakistan, 16 December 1971 is Victory Day and commemorates the official creation of the state of Bangladesh |
Nationality | noun: Aruban(s)
adjective: Aruban; Dutch |
noun: Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladeshi |
Natural hazards | lies outside the Caribbean hurricane belt | droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season |
Natural resources | NEGL; white sandy beaches | natural gas, arable land, timber, coal |
Net migration rate | 0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2005 est.) | -0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 2,644 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | Aliansa/Aruban Social Movement or MSA [Robert WEVER]; Aruban Liberal Organization or OLA [Glenbert CROES]; Aruban Patriotic Movement or MPA [Monica ARENDS-KOCK]; Aruban Patriotic Party or PPA [Benny NISBET]; Aruban People's Party or AVP [Mike EMAN]; People's Electoral Movement Party or MEP [Nelson O. ODUBER]; Real Democracy or PDR [Andin BIKKER]; RED [Rudy LAMPE]; Workers Political Platform or PTT [Gregorio WOLFF] | Awami League or AL [Sheikh HASINA]; Bangladesh Communist Party or BCP [Saifuddin Ahmed MANIK]; Bangladesh Nationalist Party or BNP [Khaleda ZIA]; Islami Oikya Jote or IOJ [Mufti Fazlul Haq AMINI]; Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh or JIB [Matiur Rahman NIZAMI]; Jatiya Party or JP (Ershad faction) [Hussain Mohammad ERSHAD]; Jatiya Party (Manzur faction) [Naziur Rahman MANZUR]; Liberal Democratic Party or LDP [Badrudozza CHOWDHURY and Oli AHMED] |
Political pressure groups and leaders | NA | NA |
Population | 71,566 (July 2005 est.) | 150,448,339 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | NA | 45% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0.47% (2005 est.) | 2.056% (2007 est.) |
Ports and harbors | Barcadera, Oranjestad, Sint Nicolaas | - |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 2, FM 16, shortwave 0 (2004) | AM 15, FM 13, shortwave 2 (2006) |
Railways | - | total: 2,768 km
broad gauge: 946 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge: 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2006) |
Religions | Roman Catholic 82%, Protestant 8%, Hindu, Muslim, Confucian, Jewish | Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998) |
Sex ratio | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.05 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 0.95 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.7 male(s)/female total population: 0.93 male(s)/female (2005 est.) |
at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.061 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.042 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 1.154 male(s)/female total population: 1.052 male(s)/female (2007 est.) |
Suffrage | 18 years of age; universal | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: modern fully automatic telecommunications system
domestic: increased competition through privatization; 3 wireless service providers are now licensed international: country code - 297; 1 submarine cable to Sint Maarten (Netherlands Antilles); extensive interisland microwave radio relay links |
general assessment: totally inadequate for a modern country; fixed-line telephone density of less than 1 per 100 persons; mobile-cellular telephone density of 13 per 100 persons
domestic: modernizing; introducing digital systems; trunk systems include VHF and UHF microwave radio relay links, and some fiber-optic cable in cities international: country code - 880; landing point for the SEA-ME-WE-4 fiber-optic submarine cable system that provides links to Europe, the Middle East and Asia; satellite earth stations - 6; international radiotelephone communications and landline service to neighboring countries (2007) |
Telephones - main lines in use | 37,100 (2002) | 1.134 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | 53,000 (2001) | 19.131 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | 1 (1997) | 15 (1999) |
Terrain | flat with a few hills; scant vegetation | mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast |
Total fertility rate | 1.79 children born/woman (2005 est.) | 3.09 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 0.6% (2003 est.) | 2.5% (includes underemployment) (2007 est.) |
Waterways | - | 8,370 km
note: includes up to 3,060 km main cargo routes; network reduced to 5,200 km in dry season (2006) |