Geography of Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a low-lying, riverine country located in South Asia with a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710 kilometers (440 mi.) on the northern littoral of the Bay of Bengal. Formed by a deltaic plain at the confluence of the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna), and Meghna Rivers and their tributaries, Bangladesh's alluvial soil is highly fertile, but vulnerable to flood and drought. Hills rise above the plain only in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. Straddling the Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh has a subtropical monsoonal climate characterized by heavy seasonal rainfall, moderately warm temperatures, and high humidity. Natural calamities, such as floods, tropical cyclones, tornadoes, and tidal bores affect the country almost every year. Bangladesh also is affected by major cyclones--on average 16 times a decade. One cyclone struck the southeastern coast in May 1991, killing 136,000 people. Location:\nSouthern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India\n

Geographic coordinates:\n24 00 N, 90 00 E\n

Map references:\nAsia\n

Area:\n
total:\n144,000 km²\n
land:\n133,910 km²\n
water:\n10,090 km² Area comparative\n*Australia comparative: 1.5 times larger than Tasmania\n*Canada comparative: twice the size of New Brunswick\n*United Kingdom comparative: larger than England\n*United States comparative: slightly smaller than Iowa

Land boundaries:\n
total:\n4,246 km\n
border countries:\nBurma 193 km, India 4,053 km\n

Coastline:\n580 km\n

Maritime claims:\n
contiguous zone:\n18 nautical miles\n
continental shelf:\nup to the outer limits of the continental margin\n
exclusive economic zone:\n200 nautical miles\n
territorial sea:\n12 nautical miles\n

Climate:\ntropical; cool, dry winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); cool, rainy monsoon (June to October)\n

Terrain:\nmostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast\n

Elevation extremes:\n
lowest point:\nIndian Ocean 0 m\n
highest point:\nKeokradong 1,230 m\n

Natural resources:\nnatural gas, arable land, timber\n

Land use:\n
arable land:\n73%\n
permanent crops:\n2%\n
permanent pastures:\n5%\n
forests and woodland:\n15%\n
other:\n5% (1993 est.)\n

Irrigated land:\n31,000 km² (1993 est.)\n

Natural hazards:\ndroughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely flooded during the summer monsoon season\n

Environment - current issues:\nmany people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; limited access to potable water; water-borne diseases prevalent; water pollution especially of fishing areas results from the use of commercial pesticides; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation; deforestation; severe overpopulation\n

Environment - international agreements:\n
party to:\nBiodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands\n
signed, but not ratified:\nLaw of the Sea

Reference

\nMuch of the material in this article comes from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and the 2003 U.S. Department of State website.

See also : Bangladesh

Bangladesh