Bangladesh Bangladesh (; , , ; pronunciation: , ), officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is bordered by India to the west, north, and east, with a short coastline on the Bay of Bengal to the south. The Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and Assam surround it, and it lies partly in the region known as the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It is connected to the Indian political and economic subcontinent via a border with the country of India. Bangladesh became independent of British rule in 1971, and adopted a democratic constitution in 1972. A devastating famine took place in the early 1970s, with a one-year high mortality of 9 million people in 1973. Bangladesh achieved a middle income economy by 2021 according to the IMF, currently is one of the lowest developed country. The country's currency is the Bangladeshi taka, which is the eighth most traded currency in the world and one of the least valued, second only to the Solomon Islands dollar. The country's capital city is Dhaka. As of 2015, the country is administered by a directly elected government. Its official language is Bengali and the native people of the country are called Bangalee. A multicultural and multi-ethnic society, Bangladesh hosts more than 123 different ethnic groups, with the nation's predominant religion being Islam. The name Bangladesh is derived from Banga, a medieval name for the region around Dhaka and Chittagong during the time of the Mughal Empire. The contemporary state was carved out of the Bengal region in British India in 1947 and the same year, it became the Dominion of Pakistan. This changed to become an independent country in 1971 when it declared its sovereignty over all of its territories. Bangladesh is home to a diversity of plants and animals. The country is in a low risk zone of malaria, with only one reported death in the first decade of the 21st century. Additionally, only three per cent of the country remains forested. Bangladesh has a humid subtropical climate. The main crops include rice, wheat, jute, cotton, and oil seed, in addition to a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. Bangladesh is often cited as a successful economic and democratic reformer in South Asia. Economically, the Bangladesh economy has long boomed; it's the world's eighth largest and second fastest growing in the world. It also has made significant progress towards poverty reduction and a thriving middle class has emerged. Bangladesh ranks high on the Human Development Index (HDI) and its economy is the thirty fourth largest in the world. It is also a member of the Group of 24 (G24). Since independence Bangladesh has had over 25 years of uninterrupted democratic governance. Bangladesh has consistently ranked among the world's best performing countries in the areas of peace and security, education and economic freedom. History Names The history of the region of modern Bangladesh goes back thousands of years. The present state of Bangladesh emerged in 1947, when the British India was divided into the Dominion of Pakistan and the Dominion of India. The Dominion of Pakistan contained the Bengali-speaking region of East Bengal and the predominantly Bengali-speaking Sylhet region, which was transferred to India. The name Bangla was used since the early Middle Ages for the region where the capital Dhaka now is. The region and its people were often known to foreign traders and travellers as "Bangala". It was under British rule in India that the region became known as "Bengal". In 1950, it was decided to give the country its official name of "Bangladesh", derived from Banga, a medieval name for the region around Dhaka and Chittagong during the time of the Mughal Empire. Bangladesh, before 1971, used the Bengali calendar. Since 1991, the country has been using the Islamic calendar, with Dhaka continuing to be the same. The English calendar is also widely used. A popular alternative name for Bangladesh is Bangla Desh, which means "Land of Bengalis". Pre-Islamic period The earliest known inhabitants of the Bengal region were a Neolithic people known as the Hemudu Civilisation, who were living there from 7000 to 5000 BCE. This was followed by the Mohenjodaro and Harappan Civilisations who flourished from around 2600 BCE to 1700 BCE, mainly along the banks of the Indus and its major tributaries. The Mahabharata (3:34, 1:16-19), describes the land of Vanga located between Anga, Kalinga, Gandhara, and Kambhoja. Vanga was ruled by the raja Bhagadatta of the Haihaya Dynasty of the legendary Haihaya Rajput dynasty. The rulers of the Shishunaga Dynasty (13th century BC to 7th century BC), according to epigraphic evidence, were ruled by a powerful warrior prince Shishunaga, followed by his son Laxmana, from whom the names of places with Lakshmana as the second part were derived. The Vangas fought many wars with the Pundra Kingdom. As a result of their efforts in expanding their territory, the Vangas were later known as the Pauravas and the region came to be known as Paurava Kingdom. A branch of Vangas moved southward and merged with some hill tribes to form the Mahajanapadas. The Magadha Kingdom, with its centre around Rajagriha (modern Rajgir), included all of the present-day Bihar and Bengal. The Buddha visited the region during his lifetime, and made a notable impression on its king Ajatashatru, for whom he built a stupa at Bodh Gaya and preached the Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta (sutra). Buddhism flourished in the region as evidenced by the Gandhāran Buddhist texts in Buddhist tradition such as the Gandharan Buddhist Texts from Afghanistan. Some scholars have theorized that Ajatashatru embraced Buddhism to enhance the relationship with the Mauryan emperor Ashoka. Shunga Empire (72 BCE to 17 AD) After Emperor Asoka's death in 232 BCE, his son Mahindra became the regent. The Magadha Kingdom was threatened by the Shungas, who were the Mauryan Empire's rivals. It was under the rule of King Kharavela that the region came under a centralized authority. The Shungas later collapsed and were followed by the Mauryans, the greatest empire of ancient India. The region came under Emperor Ashoka, and his rule was followed by the Nanda Dynasty (with Ashoka's grandson Chandragupta as the Emperor). Chandragupta ruled the region from 260 to 335 CE. His descendant Bindusara built the Mahastupa at Paharpur near present-day Bogra in Bangladesh. The Mahastupa is believed to have been built around 30 BCE to 40 CE and is the earliest known structure built in the region. The Mahajanapadas emerged in the northern regions and their independence weakened as they came under attacks by the Sakas and Kambojas. The Gautama Buddha's disciples Sariputra and Mahamoggallana went to Pundra Kingdom, a vassal of Shashanka in the 5th century BC, where Mahamoggallana was invited by Janapada chief Chandala. Pundra kingdom (8th century BC) Janapada (later known as Pundra) was an independent kingdom in the region of Pundravardhana at the time of the Buddha. Its capital was Rajagriha (modern Rajgir), which the Greeks called "Virca" in Latin and "Helenopolis" in Greek. The city of Rajagriha was settled in the 6th or 5th century BC, probably by a Dravidian people who brought with them the Brahmi script, according to G W Foote's hypothesis. After the decline of Magadha, Pundra also fell to the Maurya Empire, which allowed an influx of Greek culture. Pundra was founded by Janapada ruler Udara, and later expanded by Chandravarman II of Eastern Kalinga. In the year 8 BCE, the kingdom became a vassal of the Maurya Empire, and later came under the rule of Shashanka of the Shunga Empire, followed by his successor Kaniska. According to John Spence Bate, Pundra Kingdom was under the rule of Maharaja Harishena between 4 and 7 AD, when it became a part of the Gupta Empire. Gupta Empire (4th to 8th century) In 320, Chandragupta II declared independence from the Gupta Empire. Later, he was able to recapture and reunite the empire under the Gupta Empire. The region of the Ganges River became one of the Gupta Empire's most important regions, as well as one of the world's largest and most important empires. With its capital in Pusapati (now Patna) Gupta control expanded as far as Karnataka and Andhra. At the height of its