Bangladesh Geography - 2024

Location

Southern Asia, bordering the Bay of Bengal, between Burma and India

Geographic coordinates

24 00 N, 90 00 E

Map references

Asia

Area

total: 148,460 sq km

land: 130,170 sq km

water: 18,290 sq km

Area - comparative

slightly larger than Pennsylvania and New Jersey combined; slightly smaller than Iowa

Area comparison map:

Land boundaries

total: 4,413 km

border countries (2): Burma 271 km; India 4,142 km

Coastline

580 km

Maritime claims

territorial sea: 12 nm

contiguous zone: 18 nm

exclusive economic zone: 200 nm

continental shelf: to the outer limits of the continental margin

Climate

tropical; mild winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); humid, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)

Terrain

mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast

Elevation

highest point: Mowdok Taung 1,060 m

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m

mean elevation: 85 m

Natural resources

natural gas, arable land, timber, coal

Land use

agricultural land: 70.1% (2018 est.)

arable land: 59% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 6.5% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 4.6% (2018 est.)

forest: 11.1% (2018 est.)

other: 18.8% (2018 est.)

Irrigated land

81,270 sq km (2020)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Brahmaputra river mouth (shared with China [s] and India) - 3,969 km; Ganges river mouth (shared with India [s]) - 2,704 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Indian Ocean drainage: Brahmaputra (651,335 sq km), Ganges (1,016,124 sq km)

Major aquifers

Indus-Ganges-Brahmaputra Basin

Natural hazards

droughts; cyclones; much of the country routinely inundated during the summer monsoon season

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