Names: conventional long form: People's Republic of Bangladesh conventional short form: Bangladesh local long form: Gana Prajatantri Banladesh local short form: Banladesh former: East Bengal, East Pakistan

Capital City: Dhaka

Population: 147,365,352 (July 2006 est.)

GDP Per Capita: $2,200 (2006 est.)

Currency: taka (BDT)

Languages: Bangla (official, also known as Bengali), English

Total Area: total: 144,000 sq km land: 133,910 sq km water: 10,090 sq km slightly smaller than Iowa

Region: Asia

Industries: cotton textiles, jute, garments, tea processing, paper newsprint, cement, chemical fertilizer, light engineering, sugar

Agriculture: rice, jute, tea, wheat, sugarcane, potatoes, tobacco, pulses, oilseeds, spices, fruit; beef, milk, poultry

Resources: natural gas, arable land, timber, coal

Labor Force: 68 million note: extensive export of labor to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Oman, Qatar, and Malaysia; workers' remittances estimated at $1.71 billion in 1998-99 (2006 est.)
agriculture: 63% industry: 11% services: 26% (FY95/96)

Exports: $11.17 billion (2006 est.)
garments, jute and jute goods, leather, frozen fish and seafood (2001)

Imports: $13.77 billion (2006 est.)
machinery and equipment, chemicals, iron and steel, textiles, foodstuffs, petroleum products, cement (2000)

Overview: Despite sustained domestic and international efforts to improve economic and demographic prospects, Bangladesh remains a poor, overpopulated, and inefficiently-governed nation. Although more than half of GDP is generated through the service sector, nearly two-thirds of Bangladeshis are employed in the agriculture sector, with rice as the single-most-important product. Major impediments to growth include frequent cyclones and floods, inefficient state-owned enterprises, inadequate port facilities, a rapidly growing labor force that cannot be absorbed by agriculture, delays in exploiting energy resources (natural gas), insufficient power supplies, and slow implementation of economic reforms. Reform is stalled in many instances by political infighting and corruption at all levels of government. Progress also has been blocked by opposition from the bureaucracy, public sector unions, and other vested interest groups. The BNP government, led by Prime Minister Khaleda ZIA, has the parliamentary strength to push through needed reforms, but the party's political will to do so has been lacking in key areas. On an encouraging note, growth has been a steady 5-6% for the past several years.

_{CIA World Book}

In 2007 Missouri exported $7,472,536 in goods to Bangladesh. This ranks Bangladesh 76^th among the 223 international buyers of Missouri goods. Missouri exports to Bangladesh increased from the previous year by $5,631,315 a change of 305.85%. State exports to Bangladesh have increased over the last 5 years by $291.597 a change of 4.06%. Missouri exports account for .06%. of all 2007 US exports to Bangladesh.