People's Republic of Bangladesh

Gana-Prajatantri Bangladesh

CAPITAL: Dhaka (formerly Dacca)

FLAG: The national flag is a red circle against a dark-green background.

ANTHEM: Amar Sonar Bangla (My Golden Bengal).

MONETARY UNIT: The taka (T) of 100 poisha is a paper currency set on a par with the Indian rupee. There are coins of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 poisha, and notes of 1, 5, 10, 20, 50, and 100 taka. T1 = $0.0173 (or $1 = T58.00) as of May 2003.

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES: Bangladesh adopted the metric system as of 1 July 1982. Customary numerical units include the lakh (equal to 100,000) and the crore (equal to 10 million).

HOLIDAYS: New Year's Day, 1 January; National Mourning Day (Shaheel Day), 21 February; Independence Day, 26 March; May Day, 1 May; Victory Day, 16 December; Christmas, 25 December; Boxing Day, 26 December. Movable religious holidays include Good Friday, Jamat Wida, Shab-i-Bharat, 'Id al-Fitr, 'Id al-'Adha', and Durga Puja.

TIME: 6 PM = noon GMT.

Location, Size, and Extent

Situated in South Asia, Bangladesh, before it became an...