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, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements
Geography - note:
most of the country is situated on deltas of large rivers flowing
from the Himalayas: the Ganges unites with the Jamuna (main channel
of the Brahmaputra) and later joins the Meghna to eventually empty
into the Bay of Bengal
People Bangladesh
Population:
147,365,352 (July 2006 est.)