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| See also: | Other events of 1988 List of years in Bangladesh | ||||
1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was aleap year starting on Friday of theGregorian calendar, the 1988th year of theCommon Era (CE) andAnno Domini (AD) designations, the 988th year of the2nd millennium, the 88th year of the20th century, and the 9th year of the1980s decade.
The year 1988 was the 17th year after the independence of Bangladesh. It was also the seventh year of the Government ofHussain Muhammad Ershad.
| Population, total | 98,186,350 |
| Population density (per km2) | 754.3 |
| Population growth (annual %) | 2.6% |
| Male to Female Ratio (every 100 Female) | 106.7 |
| Urban population (% of total) | 18.9% |
| Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) | 37.0 |
| Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people) | 11.2 |
| Mortality rate, under 5 (per 1,000 live births) | 156 |
| Life expectancy at birth, total (years) | 57.0 |
| Fertility rate, total (births per woman) | 4.9 |
| Climate data for Bangladesh in 1988 | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 19.5 (67.1) | 21.7 (71.1) | 25.1 (77.2) | 28.2 (82.8) | 28. (82) | 28. (82) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.7 (83.7) | 27.5 (81.5) | 24.4 (75.9) | 21.1 (70.0) | 25.7 (78.3) |
| Averageprecipitation mm (inches) | 1. (0.0) | 30.7 (1.21) | 71.2 (2.80) | 211. (8.3) | 417.6 (16.44) | 535.6 (21.09) | 574.9 (22.63) | 523.7 (20.62) | 300.7 (11.84) | 160.5 (6.32) | 92.4 (3.64) | 16.4 (0.65) | 2,935.9 (115.59) |
| Source: Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia (UEA)[2] | |||||||||||||
Bangladesh experienced heavy rain and flooding in the last two weeks of August. By the first week of September the situation further deteriorated. Nearly 25 million people were rendered homeless and official death toll exceeded 500. About 30,000 km of roads were partially destroyed and rice crop on 3.5 million hectares was destroyed or damaged. The situation started to improve in late September, but people rendered homeless due to the flood continued to struggle. Different countries including Australia, Denmark, United Kingdom, Japan, Ireland, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, India, Iraq, Kuwait, the Netherlands, Turkey, France, Pakistan, Qatar,KSA and United States as well as agencies includingUNDRO,WHO,UNDP,EEC,Caritas,SCF-US,World Vision,LRCS,CCDB,Red Cross andWFP joined the Bangladesh Government in the relief operations.[3]
The 1988 Bangladesh cyclone (designated as Tropical Cyclone 04B by theJoint Typhoon Warning Center) was one of the worsttropical cyclones inBangladeshi history. Striking in November 1988, the tropical system exacerbated the catastrophic damage from what was then considered the worst floods in Bangladesh's history. The tropical cyclone originated from a disturbance that developed within theStrait of Malacca on 21 November. Tracking slowly westward, the initialtropical depression reachedtropical storm status in theAndaman Sea. On 26 November, the storm reached an intensity equivalent to that of a modern-daysevere cyclonic storm and subsequently turned northward. Gradually intensifying as it had previously, the tropical cyclone reached peak intensity with winds of 125 mph (200 km/h) as it was makinglandfall near the Bangladesh-West Bengal border on 29 November. Although the storm retained strong winds well inland, it was last monitored over central Bangladesh as a moderate cyclonic storm-equivalent on 30 November.
The brunt of the tropical cyclone's damage was inflicted upon coastal areas of Bangladesh and West Bengal. A total of 6,240 people were killed as a result of the storm, with 5,708 in Bangladesh and 538 in West Bengal. Many of the deaths were a result of the destruction of homes or electrocution after strong winds toppled power poles across the region. Along the coast of Bangladesh, strongstorm surge caused heavy infrastructure damage and contributed in wiping out an estimated 70% of all harvestable Bangladeshi crops, with an estimated 200,000 tonnes (220,000 tons) of crops being lost. Widespreadpower outages cut telecommunications across Bangladesh; inDhaka, Bangladesh's capital city, debris-laden streets paralyzed traffic while electrical outages caused water shortages.
| National Income | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Current US$ | Current BDT | % of GDP | |
| GDP | $26.6 billion | BDT829.3 billion | |
| GDP growth (annual %) | 2.4% | ||
| GDP per capita | $270.7 | BDT8,446 | |
| Agriculture, value added | $8.3 billion | BDT259.7 billion | 31.3% |
| Industry, value added | $5.3 billion | BDT165.3 billion | 19.9% |
| Services, etc., value added | $12.3 billion | BDT384.7 billion | 46.4% |
| Balance of Payment | |||
| Current US$ | Current BDT | % of GDP | |
| Current account balance | -$272.8 million | -1.0% | |
| Imports of goods and services | $3,347.5 million | BDT101.6 billion | 12.2% |
| Exports of goods and services | $1,568.7 million | BDT45.0 billion | 5.4% |
| Foreign direct investment, net inflows | $1.8 million | 0.0% | |
| Personal remittances, received | $763.6 million | 2.9% | |
| Total reserves (includes gold) at year end | $1,076.5 million | ||
| Total reserves in months of imports | 3.7 | ||
Note: For the year 1988 average official exchange rate forBDT was 31.73 per US$.
| Recipients | Area | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Aminul Islam | fine arts | |
| Md. Nurul Alam | social work | posthumous |
