Bangladesh Geography 2007

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: 144,000 sq km
land: 133,910 sq km
water: 10,090 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)

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; water-borne 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