Cocos (Keeling) Islands (2006) | Bangladesh (2008) | |
Administrative divisions | none (territory of Australia) | 6 divisions; Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Sylhet |
Age structure | 0-14 years: NA
15-64 years: NA 65 years and over: NA (2006 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 | vegetables, bananas, pawpaws, coconuts | rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry |
Airports | 1 (2006) | 16 (2007) |
Airports - with paved runways | total: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 (2006) |
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: 14 sq km
land: 14 sq km water: 0 sq km note: includes the two main islands of West Island and Home Island |
total: 144,000 sq km
land: 133,910 sq km water: 10,090 sq km |
Area - comparative | about 24 times the size of The Mall in Washington, DC | slightly smaller than Iowa |
Background | There are 27 coral islands in the group. Captain William KEELING discovered the islands in 1609, but they remained uninhabited until the 19th century. Annexed by the UK in 1857, they were transferred to the Australian Government in 1955. The population on the two inhabited islands generally is split between the ethnic Europeans on West Island and the ethnic Malays on Home Island. | 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 | NA | 29.36 births/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Budget | revenues: $NA
expenditures: $NA |
revenues: $7.078 billion
expenditures: $9.642 billion (2007 est.) |
Capital | name: West Island
geographic coordinates: 12 10 S, 96 55 E time difference: UTC+6.5 (11.5 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time) |
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 with high humidity, moderated by the southeast trade winds for about nine months of the year | tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October) |
Coastline | 26 km | 580 km |
Constitution | Cocos (Keeling) Islands Act of 1955 (23 November 1955) as amended by the Territories Law Reform Act of 1992 | 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: Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands
conventional short form: Cocos (Keeling) Islands |
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 | NA deaths/1,000 population | 8.13 deaths/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Debt - external | - | $20.25 billion (31 December 2007 est.) |
Dependency status | non-self governing territory of Australia; administered from Canberra by the Australian Department of Transport and Regional Services | - |
Diplomatic representation from the US | none (territory of Australia) | 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 (territory of Australia) | 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 | $NA | $1.321 billion (2005) |
Economy - overview | Grown throughout the islands, coconuts are the sole cash crop. Small local gardens and fishing contribute to the food supply, but additional food and most other necessities must be imported from Australia. There is a small tourist industry. | 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 | - | 19.49 billion kWh (2005) |
Electricity - exports | - | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - imports | - | 0 kWh (2005) |
Electricity - production | - | 21.35 billion kWh (2005) |
Elevation extremes | lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: unnamed location 5 m |
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m |
Environment - current issues | fresh water resources are limited to rainwater accumulations in natural underground reservoirs | 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 | Europeans, Cocos Malays | Bengali 98%, other 2% (includes tribal groups, non-Bengali Muslims) (1998) |
Exchange rates | Australian dollars per US dollar - 1.3095 (2005), 1.3598 (2004), 1.5419 (2003), 1.8406 (2002), 1.9334 (2001) | 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 ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented by the Australian governor general
head of government: Administrator (nonresident) Neil LUCAS (since 30 January 2006) cabinet: NA elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; administrator appointed by the governor general of Australia and represents the monarch and Australia |
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 | copra | garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001) |
Exports - partners | Australia (2004) | US 24.9%, Germany 12.8%, UK 9.8%, France 5% (2006) |
Fiscal year | 1 July - 30 June | 1 July - 30 June |
Flag description | the flag of Australia is used | 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: 19%
industry: 28.7% services: 52.3% (2007 est.) |
GDP - real growth rate | - | 6% (2007 est.) |
Geographic coordinates | 12 30 S, 96 50 E | 24 00 N, 90 00 E |
Geography - note | islands are thickly covered with coconut palms and other vegetation | 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 |
Household income or consumption by percentage share | - | lowest 10%: 3.7%
highest 10%: 27.9% (2000 est.) |
Illicit drugs | - | transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries |
Imports | $NA | 81,010 bbl/day (2004) |
Imports - commodities | foodstuffs | machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement |
Imports - partners | Australia (2004) | China 17.7%, India 12.5%, Kuwait 7.9%, Singapore 5.5%, Hong Kong 4.1% (2006) |
Independence | none (territory of Australia) | 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 | - | 9.5% (2007 est.) |
Industries | copra products and tourism | cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar |
Infant mortality rate | total: NA
male: NA female: NA |
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) | - | 8.8% (2007 est.) |
International organization participation | none | 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 | NA | 47,250 sq km (2003) |
Judicial branch | Supreme Court; Magistrate's Court | Supreme Court (the chief justices and other judges are appointed by the president) |
Labor force | NA | 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 | note: the Cocos Islands Cooperative Society Ltd. employs construction workers, stevedores, and lighterage workers; tourism employs others | 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: 0%
permanent crops: 0% other: 100% (2005) |
arable land: 55.39%
permanent crops: 3.08% other: 41.53% (2005) |
Languages | Malay (Cocos dialect), English | Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English |
Legal system | based upon the laws of Australia and local laws | based on English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Legislative branch | unicameral Cocos (Keeling) Islands Shire Council (7 seats)
elections: held every two years with half the members standing for election; last held in May 2005 (next to be held in May 2007) |
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: NA
male: NA female: NA |
total population: 62.84 years
male: 62.81 years female: 62.86 years (2007 est.) |
Literacy | NA | definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 43.1% male: 53.9% female: 31.8% (2003 est.) |
Location | Southeastern Asia, group of islands in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Indonesia, about halfway from Australia to Sri Lanka | Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India |
Map references | Southeast Asia | Asia |
Maritime claims | territorial sea: 12 nm
exclusive fishing zone: 200 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 Australia; the territory has a five-person police force | - |
Military branches | - | 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 | Australia Day, 26 January (1788) | 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: Cocos Islander(s)
adjective: Cocos Islander |
noun: Bangladeshi(s)
adjective: Bangladeshi |
Natural hazards | cyclone season is October to April | droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season |
Natural resources | fish | natural gas, arable land, timber, coal |
Net migration rate | NA | -0.66 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2007 est.) |
Pipelines | - | gas 2,644 km (2007) |
Political parties and leaders | none | 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 | none | NA |
Population | 574 (July 2006 est.) | 150,448,339 (July 2007 est.) |
Population below poverty line | - | 45% (2004 est.) |
Population growth rate | 0% (2006 est.) | 2.056% (2007 est.) |
Radio broadcast stations | AM 1, FM 2, 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 | Sunni Muslim 80%, other 20% (2002 est.) | Muslim 83%, Hindu 16%, other 1% (1998) |
Sex ratio | - | 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 | NA | 18 years of age; universal |
Telephone system | general assessment: connected within Australia's telecommunication system
domestic: NA international: country code - 61; telephone, telex, and facsimile communications with Australia and elsewhere via satellite; 1 INTELSAT satellite earth station |
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 | 287 (1992) | 1.134 million (2006) |
Telephones - mobile cellular | note - analog cellular service available | 19.131 million (2006) |
Television broadcast stations | NA | 15 (1999) |
Terrain | flat, low-lying coral atolls | mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast |
Total fertility rate | NA | 3.09 children born/woman (2007 est.) |
Unemployment rate | 60% (2000 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) |