Land area

147,570 sq km

Population

162.2m (2009 mid-year IMF estimate)

Main towns

Population in '000 (2006 government estimate)

Dhaka (capital): 11,814

Chittagong: 3,588

Khulna: 1,323

Rajshahi: 737

Climate

Tropical monsoon

Weather in Dhaka (altitude 3 metres)

Hottest month, July, 23-35°C (average daily minimum and maximum); coldest month, January, 11-28°C; driest months, December and January, 5 mm average monthly rainfall; wettest month, July, 567 mm average monthly rainfall

Languages

Bengali; Urdu and Hindi are minority languages, and English is also used

Religion

Muslim (89.7% in 2001 census); Hindu (9.2%); Buddhist (0.7%); Christian (0.3%); others (0.1%)

Measures

Imperial system. Local measures include: 1 tola = 11.66 g; 1 seer = 80 tolas = 932 g; 1 maund = 40 seers = 37.29 kg

Numbers are commonly expressed in crores and lakhs; 1 crore = 10m, written 1,00,00,000; 1 lakh = 100,000, written 1,00,000

Currency

Taka (Tk); Tk1 = 100 paisa. Average exchange rate in 2010: Tk69.7:US$1

Fiscal year

July 1st-June 30th

Time

6 hours ahead of GMT

Public holidays

January 1st (New Year's Day); February 21st (International Mother Language Day); February 26th (Birth of the Prophet); March 26th (Independence Day); April 14th (Bengali New Year); May 1st (Labour Day); May 17th (Buddha Purnima); July 17th (Shab-e Barat); August 15th (National Mourning Day); August 28th (Shab e-Qadr); August 31st-September 1st (Eid al-Fitr); October 6th (Durga Puja); November 6th-7th (Eid al-Adha); November 7th (National Revolution Day); December 6th (Islamic New Year); December 16th (Victory Day); December 25th (Christmas Day); December 31st (Bank Holiday); plus religious holidays that depend on lunar sightings and optional holidays for various religious groups