孟加拉(Bangladesh)
正式名称孟加拉人民共和国（People's Republic of Bangladesh）
亚洲中南部国家。面积143,998平方公里。人口约131,270,000（2001）。首都︰达卡。人民大多数是孟加拉人。语言︰孟加拉语（官方语）。宗教︰伊斯兰教（国教，主要是逊尼派）、印度教（10%以上）。货币︰塔卡（TK）。地形一般十分平坦，最高处也不过200公尺。特色是由无数条汇聚的河流冲积为广大的平原。南部是由恒河-布拉马普得拉河三角洲的东部组成。主要河流就是恒河和布拉马普得拉河（当地称贾木纳河），两河汇流为博多河。经济虽以农业为主，但不能自给自足。5～10月的季风季节常使河流泛滥成灾，造成农作物严重损失和人民伤亡。1991年一次热带气旋席卷了孟加拉，造成十三万人死亡，1997年还发生多次，损失极为惨重。政府形式为共和国，一院制。国家元首是总统，政府首脑为总理。孟加拉国原称孟加拉（Bengal）。1947年英国撤出这片次大陆以後，东孟加拉成为巴基斯坦的一部分，称东巴基斯坦。巴基斯坦独立以後，孟加拉民族主义情绪高涨。1971年发生暴力事件；约有一百万孟加拉人被杀，另有上百万人逃到印度，印度後来支持孟加拉作战，结果西巴基斯坦战败。东巴基斯坦成为独立的孟加拉国。战争造成的毁坏几乎没被修复，政治动荡一直持续着，包括有两名总统遭暗杀。
English version：
Bangladesh
Country, southern central Asia. Area: 55,126 sq mi (142,776 sq km). Population (1997 est.): 125,340,000. Capital: Dhaka. The vast majority of the population are Bengalis. Language: Bengali (official). Religions: Islam (official; mainly Sunni), Hinduism (over 10%). Currency: taka. Bangladesh is generally flat, its highest point being only 660 ft (200 m). It is characterized by alluvial plains dissected by numerous connecting rivers. The southern part consists of the eastern sector of the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta. The chief rivers are the Ganges and the Brahmaputra (here known as the Jamuna), which unite to form the Padma. Though primarily agricultural, the country has been unable to feed itself. The monsoons that occur from May to October produce extreme flooding over much of Bangladesh, often causing severe crop damage and great loss of life; a cyclone in 1991 left 130,000 Bengalis dead, and several in 1997 were extremely disastrous. It is a republic with one legislative house; its chief of state is the president and its head of government, the prime minister. In its early years Bangladesh was known as Bengal. When the British left the subcontinent in 1947, the area that was East Bengal became the part of Pakistan called East Pakistan. Bengali nationalist sentiment increased after the creation of an independent Pakistan. In 1971 violence erupted; some 1 million Bengalis were killed, and millions more fled to India, which finally entered the war on the side of the Bengalis, ensuring West Pakistan's defeat. East Pakistan became the independent nation of Bangladesh. Little of the devastation caused by the war has been repaired, and political instability, including the assassination of two presidents, has continued.
