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Location : Southern Asia, bordering the
Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India.
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| Geographic
coordinates: 24 00 N, 90 00 E |
Area:
total: 144,000 sq km
land: 133,910 sq km
water: 10,090 sq km |
| Area—comparative:
slightly smaller than Wisconsin |
Land
boundaries:
total: 4,246 km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km |
| Coastline:
580 km |
Maritime
claims:
contiguous zone: 18 nm
continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental
margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
territorial sea: 12 nm |
| Climate:
tropical; cool, dry Winter (October to March); Hot, Humid Summer (March to June);
Cool, 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 |
Land
use:
arable land: 60.7%
permanent crops: 2.61%
other: 36.69% (1998 est.) |
| Irrigated
land: 38,440 sq km (1998 est.) |
| Natural
Hazards: droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely
flooded during the summer monsoon season |
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Rivers
and Lakes: Bangladesh is a land of rivers that
crisscrossed throughout the mostly flat territories of the
country. They include hundreds of brooks and a good number of
big ones. The Ganges (Ganga) is known as the Padma below the
point where it is joined by the Jamuna River, the name given
to the lowermost portion 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 deltaic distributaries
that lace the terrain may be several kilometers 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.
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Principal Rivers: Padma, Meghna, Jamuna, Bramaputra,
Madhumatai, Surma, Karnaphuli.
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