Bangladesh is officially known as the Peoples Republic of Bangladesh. Provincial leaders declared its independence on March 26, 1971 under the name Bangladesh, meaning Bengali nation. Bangladesh seceded from Pakistan on December 16, 1971, when Pakistani troops in East Pakistan surrendered to a joint command of Bangladesh and India, which had intervened in the civil war in support of Bangladesh.

2. Location

Bangladesh lies in the northeastern part of the Indian subcontinent which is located in southern Asia; it was created out of the former Pakistani province of East Pakistan. The country consists mainly of the deltaic plains of the Ganges and Brahamaputra rivers and a portion of the hill country bordering Burma and northeastern India, except for a short frontier with Burma in the southeast and a coastline along the Bay of Bengal in the south. Bangladesh has an area of 55, 598 square miles (143, 998 sq. km). It is one of the most densely populated areas in the world. Dacca (or Dhaka) is the national capital and the largest city.