BANGLADESH  Bangladesh is one of the world's most densely populated countries, with its people crammed into a delta of rivers  Poverty is deep and widespread; almost half of the population live on less than one dollar a day.  The major employer is agriculture, but it is unable to meet the demand for jobs. Thus many Bangladeshis - in common with citizens from other countries in the region - seek work abroad, sometimes illegally. The country is trying to diversify its economy, with industrial development a priority. Overseas investors have pumped money into manufacturing and the energy sector.  Onshore and offshore gas reserves hold out some chance of future prosperity. There has been a debate about whether the reserves should be kept for domestic use or exported.

SECESSION  West Pakistan and East Pakistan were united by religion (Islam), but their peoples were separated by culture, physical features, and 1,000 miles of Indian territory.  East Pakistan's Awami League, a political party, sought independence from West Pakistan.  Although 56% of the population resided in East Pakistan, the West held the lion's share of political and economic power.  In 1970, East Pakistanis secured a majority of the seats in the national assembly.  President Yahya Khan postponed the opening of the national assembly in an attempt to circumvent East Pakistan's demand for greater autonomy.  As a consequence, East Pakistan seceded and the independent state of Bangladesh, or Bengali nation, was proclaimed on March 26,  Civil war broke out and, East Pakistan defeated West Pakistan on Dec. 16,  An estimated one million Bengalis were killed in the fighting  In Feb. 1974, Pakistan agreed to recognize the independent state of Bangladesh.

ASSASSINATIONS  Founding president Sheikh Mujibur was assassinated in 1975, as was the next president, Zia ur-Rahman in Both died at the hands of the military

COUP  1982, Gen. Hossain Mohammad Ershad, army chief of staff, took control in a bloodless coup but was forced to resign on Dec. 6, 1990, amid violent protests and numerous allegations of corruption.

FEUDING PRIME MINISTERS  A succession of prime ministers governed in the 1990s, including Khaleda Zia (Bangladesh National Party), wife of the assassinated president Zia ur- Rahman, and Sheikh Hasina Wazed, the daughter of Sheik Mujibur. (Awami League founder)  The hostility between the women stems in part from differences over who’s father played a greater role in the country's independence struggle  Mujib was named father of the nation in the country's 1972 constitution.  Khaleda's government amended the constitution in 2004 to delete the reference that Mujib was the father of the nation.  Hasina accuses Khaleda's BNP and its Islamic allies with links to outlawed Islamist groups blamed for a series of bomb attacks in 2007

HASINA’S REIGN  Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina completed her five-year term as prime minister in July 2000.

KHALEDA ZIA REIGNS  In Oct elections, Khaleda Zia again won the prime ministership.  Khaleda had also been PM between 1991 and 1996  Hasina escaped an assassination attempt in August 2004 when grenades exploded at a rally she was addressing. Twenty-three people were killed in the attack

CARETAKER ADMINISTRATION  Violence erupted in Oct. 2006, when Zia's term ended under allegations of corruption  A military-backed, emergency caretaker regime suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and root out corruption.  President Ahmed took over as the head of a caretaker administration.

INTERIM GOVERNMENT  Fakhruddin Ahmed became the interim head of the government. He swiftly opened a broad corruption investigation that resulted in the imprisonment of dozens of prominent officials, the seizure of luxury vehicles, and the freezing of bank accounts.

CORRUPTION AND ARRESTS  In March 2007, Tarique Rahman, the son of former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, was arrested in the investigation and charged with extortion. Khaleda Zia herself was arrested and charged with corruption in September. In addition, Sheikh Hasina was arrested and charged with corruption and organizing the murder of four supporters of a rival party.

NATURAL DISASTERS  Mudslides set off by heavy monsoon rains killed at least 100 people in June 2007 in Chittagong, a port in the southern part of the country. In November, Cyclone Sidr, with winds over 100 miles per hour, killed nearly 3,500 people in southern Bangladesh. The United Nations reported that a million people were left homeless

2008 ELECTIONS  Bangladesh went ahead with its general election in December It was the first general election since the army-backed caretaker government took power in January The Awami League, headed by Sheikh Hasina, won in a landslide, taking 262 of 299 seats in Parliament. The vote was considered fair and largely free of scandal. Sheikh Hasina was sworn in as prime minister in January  Both women were let out of prison to contest the election

MUTINY  Only a few months after her election, the new prime minister faced a serious crisis when hundreds hundreds of border guards mutinied in Dhaka. The mutineers killed 74 people, mainly army officers, before the government succeeded in suppressing the rebellion.

PROTEST  Daily protests broke out in Dhaka in February 2013 after the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist party in Bangladesh, was sentenced to life in prison by a war crimes tribunal for his role in the murder of an estimated one million Bengalis during the 1971 war with Pakistan. The demonstrators, mostly students and youth, were outraged at what they consider a lenient sentence.

PRESIDENT’S DEATH  President Zillur Rahman died in office in March of 2013 of a lung infection.  Abdul Hamid, speaker of the National Parliament, was appointed acting president on March 14, Of President Rahman's death, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that it was "an irreparable loss to the country and its people."

FACTORY COLLAPSE  On April 24, 2013, a large factory building in Dhaka collapsed and killed at least 900 workers  The factories within the building made clothing for European and American retailers such as JC Penny, Cato Fashions, Benetton and others.  Bangladesh was second only to China as the world's leading garment exporter.  National outrage spread due to reports of the factory’s poor condition prior to its collapse. Officers arrested the building's owner, Sohel Rana, who was found hiding near the border of India.  The building's collapse was considered the deadliest accident in the garment industry's history.  It came just five months after a major fire at a similar factory building. That fire, in November 2012, killed 112 employees and, at the time, several retailers promised to maintain the safety of the factories which manufactured their goods.

PROTEST  In September ,000 garment workers took to the streets, demanding an increase in monthly wages from $38 to $100. Factory owners offered to increase wages to $46. Some of the protests turned violent, with police firing rubber bullets and tear gas at demonstrators, who set several factories on fire.

2014 ELECTIONS  The ruling party easily won the national election in January However, the election had a low turnout, partly due to riots, protests and an opposition boycott. At least 18 people were killed in election- related violence.  The week after the election, opposition members were forced into hiding while police went on raids, searching for them. Four opposition leaders were arrested and jailed, including former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Political violence has increased in Bangladesh in the last year. Since February 2013, almost 300 people have been killed due to political violence.

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