Official name

People's Republic of Bangladesh

Form of government

Bangladesh has been a parliamentary democracy since a constitutional amendment in 1991

The executive

The prime minister is chief executive and head of the Council of Ministers (the cabinet), which she selects; the presidency is a largely ceremonial role, although the president appoints members of the cabinet and the judiciary and has the power to dissolve parliament

National legislature

A unicameral parliament, consisting mainly of 300 members directly elected from geographical constituencies for five-year terms, plus 45 seats reserved for women elected by sitting lawmakers

National elections

The most recent general election was held in December 2008. A caretaker government is due to be appointed by January 2014 to supervise the next election, which must then be held within 90 days

National government

An alliance headed by the Awami League (AL) won more than two-thirds of the seats in parliament at the December 2008 election, which was overseen by a non-partisan caretaker government. The AL dominates the alliance, with a two-thirds majority in parliament in its own right. Four other parties in the alliance also won seats: the Jatiya Party is the AL's largest coalition partner, while the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD), the Workers Party of Bangladesh and the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) complete the government

Main political organisations

AL; Jatiya Party; JSD; Workers Party of Bangladesh; LDP; Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP); Jamaat-e-Islami; Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP)

President: Zillur Rahman

Prime minister: Sheikh Hasina Wajed

Key ministers

Agriculture: Motia Chowdhury

Civil aviation & tourism: G M Quader

Commerce: Faruq Khan

Communication: Syed Abdul Hossain

Education: Nurul Islam Nahid

Finance: Abdul Maal Abdul Muhith

Fisheries & livestock: Abdul Latif Biswash

Food & disaster management: Abdur Razzak

Foreign affairs: Dipu Moni

Home affairs: Sahara Khatun

Industries: Dilip Barua

Labour & employment: Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain

Law, justice & parliamentary affairs: Shafique Ahmed

Local government & rural development: Syed Ashraful Islam

Planning: A K Khandaker

Shipping & inland water transport: Afsarul Amin

Textile & jute industry: Abdul Latif Siddiqui

Water resources: Ramesh Chandra Sen

Central bank governor

Atiur Rahman