About Public Libraries in Bangladesh

About Public Libraries in Bangladesh

Mostafa Kamal

Researcher of DCPL & BDTP / Ph.D (Study)

Bangladesh is an old country with a new name. In 1947, at the time of partition of India the eastern part of Bengal province with Sylhet district of Assam province became East Pakistan. Twenty-four years later, on 16 December 1971 she took the name Bangladesh as an independent and sovereign state, after a nine-month war of separation with Pakistan from 26 March to 15 December 1971 .2 Bangladesh, with an area of only 55 598 square miles, is located between 24.34”North latitude and between 88.81” and 92.41” East longitude. She is bounded by the Indian states (north, west and east), Burma (south-east) and the Bay of Bengal (south). The total population of the country according to a current estimate is 85.6 million. The density of the population is about 1540 per square mile. The population is increasing at an alarming rate of 2.5% per annul and the total is likely to reach 126.5 million in the year 2000.3 Bangladesh enjoys a typical monsoon climate. Much of the land of this country is low-lying plains. They are watered by a five-river system and are subject to catastrophic floods. Ethnically Bangladesh is said to be a melting pot of many races. Bengalis are not homogeneous in their origins. They are a mixture of Aryan, Dravidian, Mongolian, Arabian and Turkish bloods. More than 80% of the population are Muslim. The remaining are Hindus, Buddhists and Christians. The national and official language of Bangladesh is Bengali. Almost 100% of the people of this country speak Bengali.