The Muslim males wear a lungi, a cloth wrapped below the waist, and Hindu men wear a dhoti, a white cloth almost as long as a sari, wrapped around the waist with one end tucked in the back and the other draped in front. Shirts are worn with both the lungi and the dhoti, and blouses are worn with the sari. In urban areas Western dress is more popular with men than it is with women. The backbone of the Bangladesh economy, agriculture contributes about 45 percent of the gross domestic product. Approximately two thirds of the land area is cultivated.
Tea is grown in the northeastern areas.
The growing season lasts throughout the year, which permits Bangladesh to devote about half of the cultivated land to multiple-cropping. Traditionally three rice crops are grown each year. The summer-rainy season rice crop is called kharif, the rainy season crop haimantik, and the winter crop rabi. The three principal categories of rice aman, aus, and boro are associated with kharif, haimantik, and rabi crops, respectively. About half of the rice acreage is in aman, though boro provides higher yields.