LAND & PEOPLE

Aamar shonar Bangla, Aami tomay bhalobashi. Chirodin tomar aakash, tomar batash aamar prane bajay banshi.

My golden Bengal, I love you. Your sky, your air, always play a sweet tune in my heart.

[From the national anthem by Rabindranath Tagore]

GEOGRAPHY

Bangladesh is a Southern Asian country, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Myanmar (Burma) and India. It is almost surrounded by India, only a small part in the southeast having a border with Myanmar. Bangladesh lies across the Tropic of Cancer, in the Ganges Delta, where the Ganges (Ganga), Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers converge. Most of the country is situated on the deltas of the large rivers flowing down from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (the main channel of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to empty eventually into the Bay of Bengal.

Most parts of Bangladesh are less than 39.4 feet (12 m) above sea level; the highest point is 4,036 feet (1,230 m) in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the southeast. Cox's Bazar, south of the city of Chittagong, has a beach that is unbroken over 77.62 miles (125 km). A large part of the coastline is a marshy jungle, the Sundarbans. This is the largest area of tidal mangrove forest in the world.

Because it is mostly flat and low-lying, the country is prone to annual flooding. However, the numerous rivers and canals, together with the rich alluvial soil deposited by floodwaters, make it very fertile.

LANDSCAPE

Most — more than nine-tenths — of Bangladesh's territory is flat. The areas of hilly terrain are in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and Sylhet, in the southeast and northeast respectively. The mountains and hills running from Chittagong to Sylhet are part of the Arakan Range. There are also some small hills in the district of Mymensingh. The highest peak is officially Keokradong, at 3,235 feet (986 m), in the remote Bandarban district of Chittagong; however, international bodies have authenticated Saka Haphong in the Mowdok Range on the border with Myanmar as being higher, at approximately 3,488 feet (1,063 m).

There are some man-made lakes, mostly in Chittagong. The biggest is Rangamati/Kaptai Lake, which was created when the Kaptai hydroelectricity plant was built. During the British period, the headquarters of Assam–Bengal Railways were located in Chittagong, and lakes were created to create a water supply for the railway employees and the engines. The largest of these is Foy's Lake, which has been turned into a tourist resort; others are Agrabad Lake and Horse Shoe Lake. There are also some huge natural bodies of water, called haor, in the districts of Sylhet and Mymensingh.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts, portions of the north-central Madhupur Tract, and the Sundarbans in the southwestern corner of the country are the principal areas of vegetation. Forested areas, however, amount to less than one-sixth of the total area of the country.

The Sundarbans, lying along the coastline, are part of the world's largest mangrove forests. These beautiful protected forests are home to the Royal Bengal tiger and many other unique flora and fauna. The forest, which has a total area of 3,861 square miles (10,000 sq. km), is shared between the Indian state of West Bengal and Bangladesh, the larger part, of 2,317 square miles (6,000 sq. km), falling within Bangladesh. It earned the distinction of becoming a UNESCO world heritage site in 1997. The Sundarbans are intersected by a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats, and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests.

Also in the southern part of the country lies Cox's Bazar, the world's longest sandy sea beach. Gently sloping, it is located 93.2 miles (150 km) south of the industrial port of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is a seaside resort, a fishing port, and a district headquarters (see this page).

CLIMATE

Bangladesh has a tropical climate, typical of the Southeast Asian region, with a hot, humid summer, a warm, rainy monsoon season, and a dry, mild winter. January is the coolest month, with temperatures averaging around 78°F (26°C), and April the warmest, with temperatures ranging from 91° to 96°F (33° to 36°C). The climate is one of the wettest in the world. Most places receive more than 60 inches (1,525 mm) of rain a year, and areas near the hills receive 200 inches (5,080 mm). Most rains occur during the monsoon and there is little rain in winter.

Bangladesh has six seasons. It is difficult to match them with the Western calendar, but roughly they are as follows:

• Summer (Grishmo): April–June

• Monsoon (Barsha): July–August

• Fall (Sharat): September–October

• Between Fall and Winter (Hemanta): November

• Winter (Sheet): December–January

• Spring (Basanta): February–March

The winter is mild, although some years in the northern part of the country the winter chill can become quite severe. In the capital city, Dhaka, the average temperature in January is about 66°F (about 19°C), and in May about 84°F (about 29°C). Fall is pleasant and spring is very colorful. Beautiful Krishnachura flowers with bright red and yellow petals bloom along with a variety of other flowers.

Bangladesh is subject to devastating cyclones, originating over the Bay of Bengal, in April–May and September–November. Often accompanied by surging waves, these storms can cause great damage and loss of life. The cyclone of November 1970, in which about 500,000 lives were lost in Bangladesh, was one of the worst natural disasters of the twentieth century. This flat, low-lying country is easily flooded. Whenever there are heavy rains and overflowing rivers in the northeastern region of neighboring India, mainly Assam, vast amounts of surplus water run through and inundate extensive areas of Bangladesh.

REGIONS

Bangladesh is divided into seven major administrative areas, called "divisions". Each of these is named after the largest or major city within its jurisdiction, which serves as the administrative center of that division. The seven divisions are: Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur, and Sylhet.

Each division is further split into districts, or zilas, which are then further subdivided into upazilas. These are the subdistricts, the lowest tier of district administration under local government. There are sixty-four districts/zilas and 500 upazilas. The lowest administrative units in rural areas are the union councils, or "unions," with each union consisting of several villages. There are around 64,000 villages in Bangladesh. In the metropolitan areas, police stations cover areas that are divided into wards, which are further informally divided into...