Bangladesh Geography Profile 2009

Location

Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India

Geographic coordinates

24 00 N, 90 00 E

Map references

Asia

Area

total: 143,998 sq km
land: 130,168 sq km
water: 13,830 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly smaller than Iowa

Land boundaries

total: 4,246 km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km

Coastline

580 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 18 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin

Climate

tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)

Terrain

mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast

Elevation extremes

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m

Natural resources

natural gas, arable land, timber, coal

Land use

arable land: 55.39%
permanent crops: 3.08%
other: 41.53% (2005)

Irrigated land

47,250 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources

1,210.6 cu km (1999)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural)

total: 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%)
per capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards

droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season

Environment - current issues

many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; waterborne diseases prevalent in surface water; water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Geography - note

most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty into the Bay of Bengal