9781422273388

C H A P T E R

BANGLADESH’S GEOGRAPHY & LANDSCAPE

1

Geography B angladesh is known as the nation of rivers and has one of the world’s largest river deltas . It is formed by the convergence of three very large rivers: the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna. While the land is very fertile, it is also very flat and prone to flooding. Not only does the country have summer monsoon rains, spring snow melting from the Himalaya mountains also creates major flooding. The river delta is impressive and occupies about one-third of the country’s entire land area. But because it’s so flat, when Bangladesh floods, it floods badly. The country has over 165 million inhabitants and the World Bank has identified Bangladesh as one of the world’s worst impacted countries threatened by extreme river flooding. Each time a flood occurs, the massive number of displaced people is overwhelming for the government to deal with, despite the many rescue workers from other countries that come in to help during natural disasters. Floods typically create humanitarian crises, and the country’s government often calls for international assistance. Outbreaks of malaria, dengue fever, and encephalitis are quite common during these inundations.

BANGLADESH’S GEOGRAPHY & LANDSCAPE 11