The Geography and Environment of Bangladesh

Basic Information

• Location: Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India
• Map references: Asia
• Area:
  • total area: 144,000 sq km
  • land area: 133,910 sq km
  • comparative area: slightly smaller than Wisconsin
• Land boundaries: total 4,246 km, Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
• Coastline: 580 km
• Maritime claims:
  • contiguous zone: 18 nm
  • continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin
  • exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
  • territorial sea: 12 nm
• International disputes: a portion of the boundary with India is in dispute; water-sharing problems with upstream riparian India over the Ganges

Climate -- Tropical

• cool, dry winter (October to March)
• hot, humid summer (March to June)
• cool, rainy monsoon (June to October)

Terrain

• mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
• Land use:
  • arable land: 67%
  • permanent crops: 2%
  • meadows and pastures: 4%
  • forest and woodland: 16%
  • other: 11%
• Irrigated land: 27,380 sq km (1989)

Natural resources:

Environment

• current issues: many 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
• natural hazards: droughts, cyclones
• much of the country routinely flooded during the summer monsoon season

international agreements

party to -- Biodiversity, Climate Change, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Wetlands; signed, but not ratified - Desertification, Law of the Sea