This article is about the demographic features of the population of Bangladesh, including population density, ethnicity, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.
| Demographics of Bangladesh | |
|---|---|
| Population: | 158,570,535 (July 2011 est.)[1] |
| Growth rate: | 1.292% (2009 est.) |
| Birth rate: | 24.68 births/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Death rate: | 8 deaths/1,000 population (2009 est.) |
| Life expectancy: | 60.25 years |
| –male: | 57.57 years |
| –female: | 63.03 years (2009 est.) |
| Fertility rate: | 2.6 children born/woman (2011 est.) |
| Infant mortality rate: | 59.02 deaths/1,000 live births |
| Age structure: | |
| 0-14 years: | 34.6% (male 24,957,997/female 23,533,894) |
| 15-64 years: | 61.4% (male 47,862,774/female 45,917,674) |
| 65-over: | 4% (male 2,731,578/female 2,361,435) (2006 est.) |
| Sex ratio: | |
| At birth: | 1.04 male(s)/female (2009 est.) |
| Under 15: | 1.01 male(s)/female |
| 15-64 years: | 0.9 male(s)/female |
| 65-over: | 0.94 male(s)/female |
| Nationality: | |
| Nationality: | noun: Bengali(s) adjective: Bangladeshi |
| Major ethnic: | Bengali |
| Minor ethnic: | Santhal, Chakma, Garo, Bihari, Oraon, Munda, Rohingya |
| Language: | |
| Official: | Bengali |
| Spoken: | Bengali, Sylheti, Chittagonian, Urdu, Tribal languages and English |
Bangladesh is largely ethnically homogeneous. Indeed, its name derives from the Bengali ethno-linguistic group, which comprises 98% of the population. Bengalis, who also predominate in the West Bengal province of India, are one of the most populous ethnic groups in the world. Variations in Bengali culture and language do exist of course. There are many dialects of Bengali spoken throughout the region. The dialect spoken by those in Chittagong and Sylhet are particularly distinctive. In 2009 the population was estimated at 156 million. Religiously, about 90% of Bangladeshis are Muslims and the remainder are mostly Hindus.
Bangladesh has the highest population density in the world, excluding a handful of city-states and small countries with populations under 10m, such as Malta and Hong Kong.
Most of the demographic statistics below are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.
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The mid-2009 estimate for total population was 156,050,883 which ranks Bangladesh 7th in the world (CIA).
Naturally there is some uncertainty about the population, especially in a developing country such as Bangladesh with high illiteracy and a large rural population. For instance, in 2005 there was not a consensus whether Bangladesh or Russia had a larger population. The UN's ESA ranked Russia 7th in the world and Bangladesh 8th. However, the CIA World Factbook ranked Bangladesh 7th and Russia 8th in the same year. The point is now moot as the population of Russia is in decline while that of Bangladesh is growing.
The baseline for population studies on Bangladesh is the official census which is conducted every 10 years, the last being in 2011.
| Census date | census population (thousands) |
adjusted population (thousands) |
|---|---|---|
| 1901 | 28 928 | |
| 1911 | 31 555 | |
| 1921 | 33 255 | |
| 1931 | 35 602 | |
| 1941 | 41 997 | |
| 1951 | 41 932 | |
| 1961 | 50 840 | |
| 1974 | 71 479 | 76 398 |
| 1981 | 87 120 | 89 912 |
| 1991 | 106 313 | 111 455 |
| 2001 | 124 355 | 130 523 |
| 15 Mar 2011 (p) | 142 319 |
p=provisional figure
| Total population | Population aged 0-14 (%) | Population aged 15-64 (%) | Population aged 65+ (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 37 895 | 41.2 | 54.8 | 3.9 |
| 1955 | 43 444 | 42.4 | 54.1 | 3.5 |
| 1960 | 50 102 | 43.6 | 53.1 | 3.3 |
| 1965 | 57 792 | 44.7 | 52.0 | 3.3 |
| 1970 | 66 881 | 44.7 | 51.8 | 3.4 |
| 1975 | 70 582 | 45.8 | 50.7 | 3.5 |
| 1980 | 80 624 | 45.0 | 51.4 | 3.6 |
| 1985 | 92 284 | 43.9 | 52.5 | 3.6 |
| 1990 | 105 256 | 42.5 | 53.8 | 3.7 |
| 1995 | 117 487 | 40.3 | 55.9 | 3.8 |
| 2000 | 129 592 | 37.3 | 58.7 | 4.0 |
| 2005 | 140 588 | 34.3 | 61.4 | 4.3 |
| 2010 | 148 692 | 31.3 | 64.1 | 4.6 |
The following table lists various recent estimates of the population.
| Source | Year | Population (millions) |
| US State Dept[4] | 2005 | 144 |
| Population Reference Bureau[5] | 2005 | 144 |
| World Bank[6] | 2008 | 160 |
| CIA World FactBook[7] | 2010 | 156 |
| World Population Reference[8] | 2010 | 164 |
According to the OECD/World Bank population in Bangladesh increased from 1990 to 2008 with 44 million and 38 % growth in population compared to 34 % growth in India and 54 % growth in Pakistan. The annual population growth 2007-2008 was 1.4 % compared to India 1.35 %, Pakistan 2.2 %, Dem. Rep. of Congo 2.9 %, Tanzania 2.9 %, Syria 3.5 % or Yemen 4.0 %. According to the OECD/World Bank population statistics between 1990-2008 the world population growth was 27 % and 1,423 million persons.[9]
Bangladesh had high rates of population growth in the 1960s and 1970s. Since then however it has seen a marked reduction in its total fertility rate. Over a period of three decades it dropped from almost 7 to 2.4 in 2005-2010[3].
The sprawling mega-city of Dhaka has a huge population, but the majority of the people nonetheless still live in villages in rural areas.
| Period | Live births per year | Deaths per year | Natural change per year | CBR1 | CDR1 | NC1 | TFR1 | IMR1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950-1955 | 1 963 000 | 852 000 | 1 111 000 | 48.3 | 20.9 | 27.4 | 6.36 | 165.0 |
| 1955-1960 | 2 252 000 | 921 000 | 1 332 000 | 48.2 | 19.7 | 28.5 | 6.62 | 156.5 |
| 1960-1965 | 2 560 000 | 994 000 | 1 566 000 | 47.5 | 18.4 | 29.1 | 6.80 | 151.2 |
| 1965-1970 | 2 950 000 | 1 090 000 | 1 860 000 | 47.3 | 17.5 | 29.8 | 6.91 | 144.4 |
| 1970-1975 | 3 193 000 | 1 847 000 | 1 346 000 | 46.5 | 26.9 | 19.6 | 6.91 | 175.6 |
| 1975-1980 | 3 381 000 | 1 153 000 | 2 229 000 | 44.7 | 15.2 | 29.5 | 6.65 | 138.3 |
| 1980-1985 | 3 670 000 | 1 151 000 | 2 519 000 | 42.4 | 13.3 | 29.1 | 5.99 | 122.5 |
| 1985-1990 | 3 767 000 | 1 115 000 | 2 652 000 | 38.1 | 11.3 | 26.8 | 5.02 | 104.4 |
| 1990-1995 | 3 709 000 | 1 057 000 | 2 653 000 | 33.3 | 9.5 | 23.8 | 4.10 | 90.6 |
| 1995-2000 | 3 598 000 | 986 000 | 2 612 000 | 29.1 | 8.0 | 21.1 | 3.41 | 73.8 |
| 2000-2005 | 3 432 000 | 934 000 | 2 498 000 | 25.4 | 6.9 | 18.5 | 2.87 | 59.3 |
| 2005-2010 | 3 107 000 | 905 000 | 2 202 000 | 21.5 | 6.3 | 15.2 | 2.38 | 49.0 |
| 1 CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births | ||||||||
The vast majority (about 98.5%) of Bangladeshis, as the nation's name would imply, hail from the Bengali ethno-linguistic group. This group also spans the neighboring Indian province of West Bengal. Minority ethnic groups include Meitei, Khasi, Santhals, Chakma, Garo (tribe), Biharis, Oraons, Mundas and Rohingyas.
Biharis are Urdu-speaking, non-Bengalis who emigrated from the state of Bihar and other parts of northern India during the 1947 partition. They are concentrated in the Dhaka and Rangpur areas and number some 300,000.[10][11] In the 1971 independence war many of them sided with Pakistan, as they stood to lose their positions in the upper levels of society.[12] Hundreds of thousands went to Pakistan and those that remained were interned in refugee camps. Their population declined from about 1 million in 1971 to 600,000 in the late 1980s.[12] Refugees International has called them a "neglected and stateless" people as they are denied citizenship by the governments of Bangladesh and Pakistan.[13] As nearly 40 years has passed, two generations of Biharis have been born in the these camps. Biharis were granted Bangladeshi citizenhip and voting rights in 2008.[14]
Bangladesh's tribal population was enumerated at 897,828 in the 1981 census.[12] These tribes are concentrated in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and around Mymensingh, Sylhet, and Rajshahi. They are of Sino-Tibetan descent and differ markedly in their social customs, religion, language and level of development. The speak Tibeto-Burman languages and most are Buddhist or Hindu.[12] The four largest tribes are Chakmas, Marmas, Tipperas and Mros. Smaller groups include the Santals in Rajshahi and Dinajpur, and Khasis, Garos, and Khajons in Mymensingh and Sylhet regions.[12]
There are small communities of Meitei people in the Sylhet district, which is close to the Meitei homeland across the border in Manipur, India.
There is a small population of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar near the border in the southeast. There are 28,000 living in two UN refugee camps in Cox's Bazaar as well as some 200,000 "unregistered people of concern" living outside of the camps.[15] The refugee crisis originated in the early 1990s when the first wave numbering some 250,000 of the predominantly Muslim ethnic group fled persecution from their home in Rakhaine—Myanmar's western-most state. Bangladesh seeks to repatriate the refugees back to Myanmar.[16]
According to the 2001 census, the religious profile of the population is: Islam 89.7%, Hinduism 9.2%, Buddhism 0.7%, Christianity 0.3% and others (such as Animists and non-religious) 0.1%.[17] The majority of the Muslims are Sunni consisting of 95% of the Muslim population, and the remaining are Shi'a and other sects.
Hindus constituted 18.5% of the population in 1961, but their population declined significantly during the Bangladesh Liberation War due to the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities carried out by the Pakistan Army. As a result, millions of Hindus fled to India and their population in Bangladesh fell to 13.5% by 1974. Since then, the Hindu population has not grown as much as the Muslim population.
Bangladesh has the world's highest frequency of the M form of mitochondrial DNA. This genetic variant spans many continents, and is the single most common mtDNA haplogroup in Asia.[18] In Bangladesh it represents about 83% of maternal lineages.[19]
Literacy
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