Geographical Information of Bangladesh

Geographical Information of Bangladesh
Bangladesh is bordered on the west, north and east by India, on the southeast by Myanmar and on the south by the Bay of Bengal. The area of the country is 148,393 sq km (57,295 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Dhaka.Most of Bangladesh lies within the broad delta formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers. The country is flat, low-lying, and subject to annual flooding. Much fertile soil is deposited by the floodwaters. The only significant area of hilly terrain, constituting less than one-tenth of the nation's territory, is the Chittagong Hill Tracts District in the narrow southeastern panhandle of the country. There, on the border with Myanmar, is Mowdok Mual (1003 m/3292 ft), the country's highest peak.Rivers are a prominent and important feature of the landscape in Bangladesh. Some rivers are known by different names in various portions of their course. The Ganges (Ganga), for example, 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. In the dry season, the numerous deltaic distributaries that lace the terrain can form several land masses kilometers wide as they near the Bay of Bengal, whereas at the height of the summer monsoon season they join into an extremely broad expanse of silt-laden water. Bangladesh has a tropical monsoon climate, but with a variety of seasons. The highest temperature, which can rise up to 39º C, occurs in May and early June just before the onset of the monsoon proper. Immediately after the break of the monsoon in mid June, there is little variation between night and day with temperatures, which remain around 30º C with humidity of 90 per cent. Bangladesh has warm temperatures throughout the year, with relatively little variation from month to month. January tends to be the coolest month and May the warmest. In Dhaka the average January temperature is about 19° C (about 66° F), and the average May temperature is about 29° C (about 84° F). The temperature occasionally goes down to less than 5º C in the northern areas. Annual rainfall varies from 120 cm in the northwest to 250 cm in the south east and 500 cm in the north east. Most of the rainfall occurs between the months of May and September, when the summer monsoon brings torrential rains. Humidity is high for most of the year except during the cool winter months. Cyclones, storms, tidal bores and floods are common every year.