Radios:
6.15 million (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
15 (1999)
Televisions:
770,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.bd
Internet hosts:
1,440 (2008)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
10 (2000)
Internet users:
500,000 (2007)
Transportation
Bangladesh
Airports:
16 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways:
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)
Pipelines:
gas 2,644 km (2007)
Railways:
total: 2,768 km broad gauge: 946 km 1.676-m gauge narrow gauge: 1,822 km 1.000-m gauge (2006)
Roadways:
total: 239,226 km paved: 22,726 km unpaved: 216,500 km (2003)
Waterways:
8,370 km note: includes up to 3,060 km main cargo routes; network reduced to 5,200 km in dry season (2006)
Merchant marine:
total: 40 by type: bulk carrier 3, cargo 27, container 5, passenger/cargo 1, petroleum tanker 4 foreign-owned: 1 (China 1) registered in other countries: 10 (Comoros 2, Honduras 1, Malta 2, Panama 2, Singapore 2, Togo 1) (2008)
Ports and terminals:
Chittagong, Mongla Port
Transportation - note:
the International Maritime Bureau reports the territorial waters of Bangladesh as high risk for armed robbery against ships; numerous commercial vessels have been attacked both at anchor and while underway; crews have been robbed and stores or cargoes stolen
Military
Bangladesh
Military branches:
Bangladesh Defense Force: Bangladesh Army, Bangladesh Navy,
Bangladesh Air Force (Bangladesh Biman Bahini, BAF) (2008)
Military service age and obligation:
16 years of age for voluntary military service; 17 years of age for officers (both with parental consent); conscription legally possible in emergency, but has never been implemented (2008)
Manpower available for military service:
males age 16–49: 41,199,340 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service:
males age 16–49: 31,968,168 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually:
male: 1,311,850 female: 1,246,012 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures:
1.5% of GDP (2006)
Transnational Issues
Bangladesh
Disputes - international:
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 protests India's fencing and walling off high-traffic sections of the porous boundary; a joint Bangladesh-India boundary commission resurveyed and reconstructed 92 missing pillars in 2007; dispute with India over New Moore/South Talpatty/Purbasha Island in the Bay of Bengal deters maritime boundary delimitation; after 21 years, Bangladesh resumes talks with Burma on delimiting a maritime boundary
Refugees and internally displaced persons:
refugees (country of origin): 26,268 (Burma) IDPs: 65,000 (land conflicts, religious persecution) (2007)
Illicit drugs:
transit country for illegal drugs produced in neighboring countries
This page was last updated on 18 December, 2008
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@Barbados
Introduction
Barbados
Background:
The island was uninhabited when first settled by the British in 1627. Slaves worked the sugar plantations established on the island until 1834 when slavery was abolished. The economy remained heavily dependent on sugar, rum, and molasses production through most of the 20th century. The gradual introduction of social and political reforms in the 1940s and 1950s led to complete independence from the UK in 1966. In the 1990s, tourism and manufacturing surpassed the sugar industry in economic importance.
Geography
Barbados
Location:
Caribbean, island in the North Atlantic Ocean, northeast of Venezuela
Geographic coordinates:
13 10 N, 59 32 W
Map references:
Central America and the Caribbean
Area:
total: 431 sq km land: 431 sq km water: 0 sq km
Area - comparative:
2.5 times the size of Washington, DC
Land boundaries:
0 km
Coastline:
97 km
Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
Climate:
tropical; rainy season (June to October)
Terrain:
relatively flat; rises gently to central highland region
Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m highest point: Mount Hillaby 336 m
Natural resources:
petroleum, fish, natural gas
Land use:
arable land: 37.21% permanent crops: 2.33% other: 60.46% (2005)
Irrigated land:
50 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources:
0.1 cu km (2003)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 0.09 cu km/yr (33%/44%/22%) per capita: 333 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards:
infrequent hurricanes; periodic landslides
Environment - current issues:
pollution of coastal waters from waste disposal