|
| leader_title1 = [[President of Bangladesh|President]]
| leader_name1 = [[Mohammed Shahabuddin]]
| leader_title2 = [[primeChief ministerAdviser of Bangladesh|primeChief ministerAdviser]]
| leader_name2 = [[sheikhMuhammad hasinaYunus]]
| leader_title3 = [[Chief Justice of Bangladesh|Chief Justice]]
| leader_name3 = [[Syed Refaat Ahmed]]
Bangladesh is in South Asia on the [[Bay of Bengal]]. It is surrounded almost entirely by neighbouring India, and shares a small border with [[Myanmar]] to its southeast, though it lies very close to [[Nepal]], [[Bhutan]], and China. The country is divided into three regions. Most of the country is dominated by the fertile [[Ganges Delta]], the largest river delta in the world.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Aditi Rajagopal|title=How the World's Largest Delta Might Slowly Go Under Water |url=https://www.discovery.com/nature/largest-delta-underwater|website=Discovery|date=8 February 2020|access-date=9 March 2020|archive-date=8 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200208052815/http://www.discovery.com/nature/largest-delta-underwater|url-status=live}}</ref> The northwest and central parts of the country are formed by the [[Madhupur tract|Madhupur]] and the [[Barind Tract|Barind]] plateaus. The northeast and southeast are home to [[evergreen]] hill ranges.
The Ganges delta is formed by the confluence of the Ganges (local name [[Padma River|Padma]] or ''Pôdda''), [[Brahmaputra River|Brahmaputra]] ([[Jamuna River (Bangladesh)|Jamuna]] or ''Jomuna''), and [[Meghna River|Meghna]] rivers and their tributaries. The Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later join the Meghna, finally flowing into the Bay of Bengal. Bangladesh is called the "Land of Rivers";<ref>{{cite web |title=No Place Like Home – BANGLADESH: LAND OF RIVERS |url=https://ejfoundation.org/films/bangladesh-land-of-rivers |work=Environmental Justice Foundation |access-date=10 March 2020 |archive-date=30 September 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200930051647/https://ejfoundation.org/films/bangladesh-land-of-rivers |url-status=live }}</ref> as it is home to over 57 [[trans-boundary river]]s, the most of any nation-state. Water issues are hence politically complicated since the country is a lower [[Riparian zone|riparian]] state to India.<ref>{{cite book |last=Suvedī |first=Sūryaprasāda |title=International watercourses law for the 21st century |publisher=[[Ashgate Publishing]] |year=2005 |pages=154–166 |isbn=978-0-7546-4527-6}}</ref>
Bangladesh is predominantly rich fertile flat land. Most of it is less than {{convert|12|m|ft|abbr=on}} above sea level, and it is estimated that about 10% of its land would be flooded if the sea level were to rise by {{convert|1|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name="ali">{{cite journal |last=Ali |first=A. |title=Vulnerability of Bangladesh to climate change and sea level rise through tropical cyclones and storm surges |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00175563 |journal=Water, Air, & Soil Pollution |volume=92 |issue=1–2 |pages=171–179 |year=1996 |bibcode=1996WASP...92..171A |s2cid=93611792 |doi=10.1007/BF00175563 |access-date=1 February 2020 |archive-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201143058/https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00175563 |url-status=live }}</ref> 17% of the country is covered by forests and 12% is covered by hill systems. The country's [[haor]] wetlands are of significance to global environmental science. The [[List of mountains of Bangladesh|highest point in Bangladesh]] is the [[Saka Haphong]], located near the border with Myanmar, with an elevation of {{convert|1064|m|ft|abbr=on}}.<ref name=CIA/> Previously, either [[Keokradong]] or [[Tazing Dong]] were considered the highest.
}}-->
Bangladesh was constitutionally proclaimed as a [[secular state]] in 1972. ItSecularism grantsis [[freedomone of religion]],its ensuresfour [[separationfounding ofconstitutional churchprinciples. andThe state]],constitution andalso claimsgrants to[[freedom beof "secular in practise"religion]], while establishing Islam as the [[state religion]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-367/section-24556.html |title=The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh (part II) |website=Laws of Bangladesh}}</ref><ref name="Secularism">{{cite web |url=http://bdlaws.minlaw.gov.bd/act-details-367.html |title=The Constitution of the People's Republic of Bangladesh |website=Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs |access-date=17 May 2019 |quote=Article 2A. – The state religion and Article 12. – Secularism and freedom of religion}}</ref><ref name="constituteproject">{{cite web |url=https://constituteproject.org/constitution/Bangladesh_2014.pdf?lang=en|title=Bangladesh's Constitution of 1972, Reinstated in 1986, with Amendments through 2014|website=constituteproject.org|access-date=29 October 2017}}</ref><ref name="aljazeera:1">{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/03/bangladesh-court-upholds-islam-religion-state-160328112919301.html|title=Bangladesh court upholds Islam as the religion of the state |last=Bergman |first=David|date=28 March 2016|publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network|Al Jazeera]]}}</ref> The constitution bans religion-based politics and discrimination, and proclaims equal recognition of people adhering to all faiths.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2013/sca/222325.htm|title=Report on International Religious Freedom|website=U.S. Department of State|access-date=24 June 2017}}</ref> [[Islam in Bangladesh|Islam]] is the largest religion across the country, being followed by about 91.1% of the population.<ref name="dhakatribune1" /><ref name="globalreligiousfutures1">{{cite web|title=Religions in Bangladesh | PEW-GRF|url=http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/bangladesh#/?affiliations_religion_id=14&affiliations_year=2020®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2020|access-date=26 June 2022|archive-date=27 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191127112329/http://www.globalreligiousfutures.org/countries/bangladesh#/?affiliations_religion_id=14&affiliations_year=2020®ion_name=All%20Countries&restrictions_year=2020|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="kbrs">{{cite web |title=Know Bangladesh |url=https://bangladesh.gov.bd/site/page/812d94a8-0376-4579-a8f1-a1f66fa5df5d/Know--Bangladesh |website=Government of Bangladesh |access-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181009183830/http://www.bangladesh.gov.bd/site/page/812d94a8-0376-4579-a8f1-a1f66fa5df5d/Know--Bangladesh |archive-date=9 October 2018 |url-status=live}}</ref> The vast majority of Bangladeshi citizens are [[Bengali Muslims]], adhering to [[Sunni Islam]]. The country is the third-most populous Muslim-majority state in the world and has the fourth-largest overall Muslim population.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population/?sort=Pop2010 |title=Muslim Population by Country |publisher=Pew Research |date=27 January 2011 |access-date=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130726201620/http://features.pewforum.org/muslim-population/?sort=Pop2010 |archive-date=26 July 2013 |url-status=live}}</ref>
Before the partition of India in 1941, Hindus formed 28% of the population. AfterMass the formationexodus of Banglahindu-refugees Desh,from the Hindusthen wereEast 13.50%Pakistan into 1974.India Aftertook theplace independenceduring therethe was1971 a[[Bangladesh drastic decreaseWar of theIndependence]], Hindusdue andto arePakistan mainArmy's minoritiesgenocidal inonslaught. After the formation of Bangladesh, the Hindus constituted 13.50% in 1974. In 2022, [[Hinduism in Bangladesh|Hinduism]] is followed by 7.9% of the population,<ref name="dhakatribune1"/><ref name="globalreligiousfutures1"/><ref name=kbrs/> mainly by the [[Bengali Hindus]], who form the country's second-largest religious group and the third-largest Hindu community globally, after those in India and Nepal. [[Buddhism in Bangladesh|Buddhism]] is the third-largest religion, at 0.6% of the population. Bangladeshi Buddhists are concentrated among the tribal ethnic groups in the Chittagong Hill Tracts. At the same time, coastal Chittagong is home to many [[Bengali Buddhist]]s. Christianity is the fourth-largest religion at 0.3%, followed mainly by a small [[Bengali Christians|Bengali Christian]] minority. 0.1% of the population practices other religions like [[Animism]] or is [[Irreligion|irreligious]].<ref name="dhakatribune1"/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://archive.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-09-22/news/291536|script-title=bn:১০ বছরে ৯ লাখ হিন্দু কমেছে |work=Prothom Alo |language=bn |access-date=3 December 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141224032117/http://archive.prothom-alo.com/detail/date/2012-09-22/news/291536|archive-date=24 December 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
=== Education ===
| 