Europeans began to establish trading posts in the area of Bangladesh in the 16th century and finally the British came to dominate the region and this became part of British India. In 1947, Pakistan and West Bengal in the east (both primarily Muslim) separated from India (largely Hindu) and jointly became the new country of Pakistan. East Bengal became East Pakistan in 1955, but the awkward arrangement of a two-part country with its territorial units separated by 1,600 km left the Bengalis marginalized and dissatisfied. East Pakistan seceded from its union with West Pakistan in 1971 and was renamed Bangladesh. A caretaker regime with military support, emergency suspended parliamentary elections planned for January 2007 in an effort to reform the political system and boot corruption. In contrast to the strikes and violent street meetings that have marked Bangladeshi politics in past years, parliamentary elections last held in late December 2008 were mostly peaceful and Sheikh Hasina Wajed was decided by the prime minister. Approximately one third of this extremely poor country floods annually during the monsoon rainy season, hampering economic development.
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