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Bangladesh
is situated in north eastern part of South Asia between 20°
34' and 26° 38' north latitude and between 88° 01' and 92°
41' east longitude. It lies in the active delta of three major rivers
viz Padma, Meghna and Jamuna and their numerous tributaries. The
country covers an area of 1,47,570 sq.km and bounded by India from
the west, north and most of east. Myanmar lies on the southeastern
edge and Bay of Bengal on the south.
A small tracts of higher land occur in Sylhet, Mymensingh, Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) regions. The southwestern region consists of a large number of dead and cut-off rivers. The coastal part of Bangladesh includes the famous Sundarbans Mangrove Forest. A number of depressed basins are found in the district of greater Mymensingh and Sylhet which are inundated by fresh water during the monsoon that gradually dry out during the dry winter season. These depressed basins are known as ‘Haor’. Climate of Bangladesh is sub-tropical and monsoon rainfall varies from 1200-3500mm. Rice is the major cereal crop while jute, sugarcane, and tea are the main cash crops. Other important crops are wheat, tobacco, pulses, vegetable and tree fruits. Garments, raw and manufactured jute goods, tea, fish, and, hides and skins are the chief exports. Bangladesh is noted for its estuarine environment, yet less than 10% of its total water flow originates from its own catchments and rest comes from India, Nepal and Bhutan. Normally, 20% of the country gets flooded during the monsoon period. |