Bangladesh is a unitary parliamentary republic. The political system is structured around the Constitution of Bangladesh, which was adopted in 1972. The President serves as the head of state, a largely ceremonial role, while the Prime Minister acts as the head of government and holds the chief executive power.
The legislature, known as the Jatiya Sangsad (National Parliament), is a unicameral body consisting of 350 seats. Of these, 300 members are directly elected from territorial constituencies via first-past-the-post voting, while 50 seats are reserved for women, distributed on a proportional basis to elected parties.
Administratively, the country is highly centralized but divided into eight divisions: Barisal, Chattogram (Chittagong), Dhaka, Khulna, Mymensingh, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet. These are further subdivided into 64 districts (zilas) and smaller sub-districts (upazilas). Local government structures exist at the rural (Union Parishad) and urban (City Corporation and Pourashava) levels to manage community services.