Bangladesh - Geography

The People’s Republic of Bangladesh is a fertile and densely populated delta country in southern Asia bordered by the Bay of Bengal, India and Myanmar (formerly Burma).

Area: 143,998 sq km

Main towns: Dhaka (capital, pop. 6.72m in 2006), Chittagong (3.80m), Khulna (1.37m), Rajshahi (713,500), Comilla (404,200), Tungi (352,900), Mymensingh (333,500), Sylhet (332,800), Rangpur (290,800), Narsingdi (286,900), Barisal (286,000), Bogra (275,700), Jessore (247,200), Brahman Baria (241,000), Narayanganj (220,700), Dinajpur (211,100), Pabna (137,500).

Topography: Apart from hills to the south-east, most of Bangladesh is a flat alluvial plain crossed by navigable waterways – the Ganges (Padma), Brahmaputra (Jamuna) and Meghna river systems – flowing into the Bay of Bengal. About 14% of the country is normally under water. Flooding is frequent and can be disastrous.

Climate: Tropical monsoon-type. Hot and humid April to October, with the monsoon running June to September. Cool and dry, November to March. The country is vulnerable to cyclones, which can be devastating. The cyclone of April 1991 killed 138,000 people. In November 2007, Cyclone Sidr hit the southern coastal strip of Bangladesh, also killing and making homeless thousands of people.

Environment: The most significant issues are severe overpopulation, high risk of flooding in large area of country, soil degradation and erosion, ground water contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic, and poisoning of fish by use of commercial pesticides.

Vegetation: Intensely cultivated; paddy fields dominate the delta; palms, bamboo, mango, the plains. Water hyacinth is a serious menace to waterways. Forest on the south-eastern hills; forest covers 7% of the land area, having declined at 0.1% p.a. 1990–2005. Soil is mostly very rich, supporting intensive cropping, with up to three crops p.a. in many places; arable land comprises 61% of the total land area.

Wildlife: The country has a varied wildlife population, although 18 species became extinct during the 20th century and around 70 are endangered or threatened. Mammal species include 26 types of bat, the famous Bengal tiger (now virtually confined to the Sundarbans and numbering a few hundred) and the Gangetic dolphin, and reptile species include turtles, river tortoise, crocodile, gavial, python, krait and cobra. There are several ‘protected’ areas for wildlife.

Transport: There are 239,230km of roads, 9.5% paved; these roads are vulnerable to damage by storms or floods, and have many bridges. The 4.8km Jamuna multipurpose bridge was inaugurated in 1998, linking the east and the west of the country by road and railway.

A rail network of some 2,745km links the main towns. The Dhaka–Chittagong line has frequent daily services. Rail is broad gauge in the west, narrow gauge in the east, with ferry links across rivers.

Bangladesh has 5–8,000km of navigable waterway, depending on extent of flooding, and a well-developed water transport network, carrying more than 30% of domestic freight. The main ports are Chittagong and Mongla, Chittagong dealing with the bulk of foreign trade. Zia International Airport is 19km north of Dhaka.