Wetlands of Bangladesh

BANGLADESH INTRODUCTION by Abdul Wahab Akonda Area: 144,054 sq.km. Population: 104,000,000 (1987). Bangladesh lies between latitudes 20°34 'N and 26°38 'N and longitudes 88°0l 'E and 92°41 'E. It is bounded by India in the west and north, by India and Burma in the east, and by the Bay of Bengal in the south. Zoogeographically, Bangladesh is an interesting country lying at the junction of the Indian and Malayan sub-regions of the Indomalayan Realm. The country has a very long history of human settlement and agriculture. It is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, and the population continues to increase at about 2.6-2.9% per year. Bangladesh may be divided into four physical regions: the Ganges- Brahmaputra Delta, the Barind Tract, the Central Region and the Chittagong Region. The Ganges, Brahmaputra, Meghna and several smaller rivers unite in Bangladesh to form the largest deltaic system in the world. The flood plains and coastal mangrove swamps of this delta cover almost one-third of the country. The older parts of the delta, in the north, are comparatively high with sandy soils; the lower central parts are subject to extensive flooding every rainy season, and the accreting coastal zone (Sundarbans) is subject to regular tidal inundation. The Barind Tract consists of a group of high clay terraces of Pleistocene age in the northwestern part of the delta, except in Pabna and Bogra Districts. The soils are yellow or reddish in colour, in contrast to the grey or brown alluvial deposits of the plains. The land is undulating, and in the north, slopes rapidly up to the Himalayan foothills. The Central Region includes the Madhupur Tract, the Haor Basin of Mymensingh arid Sylhet Districts, and the Tippera Surface. The Madhupur Tract is a region of raised undulating land with reddish soils, in Jamalpur, Tangail, parts of Mymensingh and parts of Dhaka. In the north, the land slopes gently up to the foot of the Garo Hills, the southernmost of which lie

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