Begum Khaleda Zia-ur Rahman
Prime Minister

(pronounced "BAY-guhm cah-LEED-ah ZEE-ah-ur Rah-MAHN")

"We must live up to the people's expectation about the country's law and order."

Among the world's poorest nations, the People's Republic of Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan) is located in southern Asia. Nearly surrounded by India, except for a short southeastern frontier with Myanmar (Burma) and a southern coastline of 575 km (357 mi) on the Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh has a total area of 144,000 sq km (55,600 sq mi), roughly the size of Wisconsin. Most of this area is a flat alluvial plain, consisting of the delta of three major river systems: the Ganges (or Parma), the Brahmaputra (or Jamuna), and the Meghna. Alluvial deposits from these rivers make the region extremely fertile for growing rice, the country's most important food crop, and jute, the most important cash crop...