Bangladesh

I

Introduction

Bangladesh, in full, People’s Republic of Bangladesh, republic of southern Asia, in the north-eastern portion of the Indian subcontinent, bordered on the west, north, and east by India, on the south-east by Myanmar (Burma), and on the south by the Bay of Bengal. The area of the country is 143,998 sq km (55,598 sq mi). The capital and largest city of Bangladesh is Dhaka.

Geographically, historically, and culturally, Bangladesh forms the larger and more populous part of Bengal, the remainder of which constitutes the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal. From the partition of India in 1947 until 1971 the region of Bangladesh was a province of Pakistan. As such, its official designation was changed from East Bengal to East Pakistan in 1955. On March 26, 1971, leaders of East Pakistan declared the region independent as Bangladesh (Bengali, “Bengal nation”), and its independence was assured on December 16, 1971, when Pakistani troops in the region surrendered to a joint force of Bangladeshi and Indian troops.

II

Land and Resources

Bangladesh, a low-lying country traversed by numerous rivers, has a coastline of about 580 km (360 mi) along the Bay of Bengal.

A

Physiographic Regions

Most of Bangladesh lies within the broad delta formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and is exceedingly flat, low-lying, and subject to annual flooding. Much fertile, alluvial soil is deposited by the floodwaters. The only significant area of hilly terrain, constituting less than one tenth of the nation’s territory, is the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the narrow strip of land that forms south-eastern Bangladesh. There, on the border with Myanmar, is Mowdok (1,003 m/3,292 ft), the country’s highest peak. Small, scattered hills lie along or near the eastern and northern borders with India. The eroded remnants of two old alluvial terraces—the Madhupur Tract, in the north-central part of the country, and the Barind, straddling the north-western boundary with India—attain elevations of about 30 m (100 ft). The soil here is much less fertile than the annually replenished alluvium of the surrounding floodplain.

B

Rivers and Lakes

Rivers are a prominent and important feature of the landscape in Bangladesh. Some rivers are known by different names in various portions of their course. The Ganges (Ganga), for example, is known as the Padma below the point where it is joined by the Jamuna River, the name given to the lowest part of the main channel of the Brahmaputra. The combined stream is then called the Meghna below its confluence with a much smaller tributary of the same name. In the dry season the numerous branches of the delta that lace the terrain may be several kilometres wide as they near the Bay of Bengal, whereas at the height of the summer monsoon season they coalesce into an extremely broad expanse of silt-laden water. In much of the delta, therefore, homes must be constructed on earthen platforms or embankments high enough to remain above the level of all but the highest floods. In non-monsoon months the exposed ground is pocked with water-filled tanks, or borrow pits, from which the mud for the embankments has been excavated. These tanks are a chief source of water for drinking, bathing, and small-scale irrigation.