# 1997 in Bangladesh

"none" is preferred when the title alone is adequate; see [[WP:SDNONE]]
1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1997th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 997th year of the 2nd millennium, the 97th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1990s decade.
The year 1997 was the 26th year after the independence of Bangladesh. It was also the second year of the first term of the Government of Sheikh Hasina.

## Incumbents

* President: Shahabuddin Ahmed
* Prime Minister: Sheikh Hasina
* Chief Justice: A.T.M Afzal

## Demography

Demographic Indicators for Bangladesh in 1997 :
| Population, total | 120,160,571 |
| Population density (per km$^2$) | 923.1 |
| Population growth (annual %) | 2.1% |
| Male to Female Ratio (every 100 Female) | 106.0 |
| Urban population (% of total) | 22.4% |
| Birth rate, crude (per 1,000 people) | 29.5 |
| Death rate, crude (per 1,000 people) | 7.6 |
| Mortality rate, under 5 (per 1,000 live births) | 103 |
| Life expectancy at birth, total (years) | 63.6 |
| Fertility rate, total (births per woman) | 3.5 |

## Climate

Climate data for Bangladesh in 1997 :
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 18.1 (64.6) | 19.8 (67.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 26.0 (78.8) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.3 (82.9) | 28.1 (82.6) | 28.1 (82.6) | 27.6 (81.7) | 26.0 (78.8) | 23.9 (75.0) | 18.6 (65.5) | 24.9 (76.8) |
| Average precipitation mm (inches) | 9.6 (0.38) | 20.3 (0.80) | 64.6 (2.54) | 142.4 (5.61) | 221.1 (8.70) | 491.5 (19.35) | 474.5 (18.68) | 407.0 (16.02) | 388.4 (15.29) | 52.5 (2.07) | 14.3 (0.56) | 29.7 (1.17) | 2,315.9 (91.17) |
| Source: Climatic Research Unit (CRU) of University of East Anglia (UEA) ||||||||||||||

### Cyclone

A powerful cyclone caused widespread damage and loss of life throughout Bangladesh in May. Originating from a near-equatorial trough on 15 May 1997, the cyclone tracked in a general northward direction throughout its existence. The system gradually intensified over the following days, reaching the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson scale by 17 May. The following day, the storm attained its peak intensity with winds of 215 km/h (135 mph) according to the JTWC and 165 km/h (105 mph) according to the IMD along with a barometric pressure of 964 mbar (hPa; 28.47 inHg). On 19 May, the cyclone made landfall near Chittagong, Bangladesh before rapidly dissipating the next day.

## Economy

Key Economic Indicators for Bangladesh in 1997 :
| National Income ||||
| | Current US$ | Current BDT | % of GDP |
| GDP | $48.2 billion | BDT2,060.0 billion | |
| GDP growth (annual %) | 4.5% | 4.5% | 4.5% |
| GDP per capita | $401.5 | BDT17,144 | |
| Agriculture, value added | $11.2 billion | BDT478.9 billion | 23.2% |
| Industry, value added | $10.5 billion | BDT450.4 billion | 21.9% |
| Services, etc., value added | $24.1 billion | BDT1,028.7 billion | 49.9% |
| Balance of Payment ||||
| | Current US$ | Current BDT | % of GDP |
| Current account balance | -$286.3 million | | -.6% |
| Imports of goods and services | $7,834.4 million | BDT325.6 billion | 15.8% |
| Exports of goods and services | $5,527.2 million | BDT216.7 billion | 10.5% |
| Foreign direct investment, net inflows | $139.4 million | | 0.3% |
| Personal remittances, received | $1,526.5 million | | 3.2% |
| Total reserves (includes gold) at year end | $1,610.8 million | | |
| Total reserves in months of imports | 2.4 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
Note: For the year 1997 average official exchange rate for BDT was 43.89 per US$.

## Events

* 13 April – Bangladesh national cricket team wins 1997 ICC Trophy and qualifies for cricket world cup 1999.
* 21 November– 23 people were killed in Chittagong when a five-story building collapsed in Bangladesh during an earthquake.
* 2 December – The 'Chittagong Hill tracts Peace Accord' is signed between Bangladesh government and Parbatya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samiti.
* 7 December – Over a hundred people are injured during a demonstrations against the signing of peace accord with rebels in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

### Awards and Recognitions
#### Independence Day Award

| Recipients | Area | Note |
| Munshi Siddique Ahmed | science and technology | |
| Nurul Islam | medical science | |
| Kabir Chowdhury | education | |
| Abdul Matin | education | |
| Sufia Kamal | literature | |
| Shawkat Osman | literature | |
| Abdul Alim | music | posthumous |
| Jahanara Imam | social work | |
| Syed Mohammad Hossein | social work | |
| Dhirendranath Datta | language and independence movements | posthumous |

#### Ekushey Padak

* Abu Ishaque (literature)
* Novera Ahmed (sculpture)
* Nitun Kundu (sculpture)
* Debu Bhattacharya (music)
* Runu Biswas (dance)
* Razia Khan (education)
* Serajul Huq (education)
* Shabnam Mustari (music)
* Santosh Gupta (journalism)
* Monajatuddin (journalism)
* Momtazuddin Ahmed (drama)

### Sports

* International football:
** Bangladesh participated in 1997 South Asian Football Federation Gold Cup held in Nepal, where they exited in the group stage.
* Domestic football:
** Muktijoddha Sangsad KC won Dhaka League title while Mohammedan SC became runner-up.
** Abahani Ltd. won the title of Bangladesh Federation Cup while Arambagh KS became runner-up.
* Cricket:
** The third and final SAARC Quadrangular was held in Dhaka in February 1997. The Pakistan 'A' team, led by Asif Mujtaba, won the trophy after beating India 'A' in a rain affected final. Bangladesh could not win any matches in this tournament.
** The 1997 ICC Trophy played in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 24 March and 13 April 1997 was the qualification tournament for the 1999 Cricket World Cup. Bangladesh, captained by Akram Khan (pictured), were the winners of the tournament, defeating Kenya in the final, while Scotland won the third place play-off. These three teams took the three available spots in the World Cup, Bangladesh and Scotland both qualifying for this tournament for the first time.
** The Bangladesh national cricket team toured New Zealand in November and December 1997 and played four first-class and four List A matches against teams representing the northern, central and southern regions of New Zealand. Bangladesh had been playing List A matches since 1986, but the four first-class matches on this tour were the first first-class matches played by any Bangladeshi team. However, Bangladesh team was not competitive in the longer version of the game against the stronger NZ regional teams.

## Births

* 25 October – Mehedy Hasan Miraz, cricketer

## Deaths

* 4 January – Akhteruzzaman Elias, author (b. 1943)
* 4 January – A R Mallick, academic (b. 1918)
* 8 July – Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem, first Chief Justice of Bangladesh, subsequently President of Bangladesh (b. 1916)
* 26 September – Mafizuddin Ahmed, scientist (b. 1921)
* 4 November – Ranesh Das Gupta, writer, journalist, and politician (b. 1912)
* 1 December – Khan Ataur Rahman, singer, actor, and film director (b. 1928)