Bangladesh is the tenth most pop­ulous country in the world. Its cur­rent estimated population of 119 million is almost one-half the popu­lation size of the United States. But its area of 51,703 square miles is only 1.5 percent as large as the area of the United States. Bangla­desh has the highest population density (2,310 persons per square mile) among all countries  in  the world that are not small island nations or city states.

Fertility in Bangladesh has declined substantially in the past 15 years. The total fertility rate was slightly under 7 children per woman during the 70's. Now it is estimated at about 4.6 children per woman. As a result of fertility decline, the population growth rate that peaked around 3 percent per year during the mid-1970's also has declined. The current estimate of population growth rate is 2.4 percent per year.