Languages of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is home to many languages, many of which are of Aryan languages. Bengali is the official language of Bangladesh. English is the second most well-known language in Bangladesh, often referred to as the unofficial co-language of Bangladesh, showing ‘prevalence’ in government, media, business, and education. Bangladesh also is home to several regional languages, including Sylheti, Chakma, Rangpuri and Unofficial Chittagonian. In addition to this, there are also fifteen minority languages spoken in Bangladesh, as well as three languages used mostly by immigrants, Bihari, Burmese and Rohingya. Several languages spoken in Bangladesh, such as Sylheti and Chittagonian, are sometimes considered dialects of Bengali, but also occasionally considered to be their own languages. Of the many languages of Bangladesh, two are considered to be endangered. These languages are Koda and War-Jaintia, with 1,300 speakers and 4,200 speakers respectively (worldatlas.com). Another language of Bangladesh, Kurkh, is considered to be ‘vulnerable’, with two million native speakers, 50,000 of which reside in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh and international organizations
When it comes to international organizations, Bangladesh is fairly involved, being part of the UN, IMF, and WTO. Bangladesh has been a member of the United Nations since September 17th, 1974 (UN). Bangladesh has contributed to eighteen peacekeeping missions, the first troops serving in the United Nations Iran-Iraq Military Observer Group (UNIMOG) in 1988. Bangladesh has deployed over eight thousand troops in the 35 years since joining the UN. Bangladesh has been a member of the IMF since August 17th, 1972 (IMF). Bangladesh has a quota of 1066.06 million in Special Drawing Rights (SDR), or around 1.5 million USD. Currently, Bangladesh has 594.25 million (SDR), or 824.70 million USD in outstanding purchases and loans with the IMF. Bangladesh has been a member of the World Trade Organization since January 1995 (WTO). Bangladesh’s GINI index was most recently recorded in 2016 at 32.4. This has been a close estimate for Bangladesh since 1995, when the index increased from 28 to 32 from 1991 to 1995 (tradingeconomics.com).
Asia Global Studies 