GEOGRAPHY
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.
Urbanization is proceeding rapidly,
and it is estimated that only 30% of the population entering the
labor force in the future will be absorbed into agriculture, although
many will likely find other kinds of work in rural areas. The
areas around Dhaka and Comilla are the most densely settled. The
Sundarbans, an area of coastal tropical jungle in the southwest
and last wild home of the Bengal Tiger, and the Chittagong Hill
Tracts on the southeastern border with Burma and India, are the
least densely populated.
Official
Name:People's Republic of Bangladesh
Area: 147, 570 sq. km. (55,813 sq. mi.); about the size
of Wisconsin.
Cities: Capital--Dhaka (pop. 10 million). Other cities--Chittagong
(2.8 million), Khulna (1.8 million), Rajshahi (1 million).
Terrain: Mainly flat alluvial plain, with hills in the
northeast and southeast.
Climate: Semitropical, monsoonal.
