Bangladesh

C

Climate

The climate of Bangladesh is of the tropical monsoon variety. In all areas about 80 percent of the annual rainfall typically occurs in the monsoon period, which lasts from late May to mid-October. Average annual precipitation ranges from about 1,400 mm (55 in) along the country’s east central border to more than 5,080 mm (200 in) in the far northeast. In addition to the normal monsoonal rainfall, Bangladesh is subject to devastating cyclones, originating over the Bay of Bengal, in the periods of April to May and September to November. Often accompanied by surging waves, these storms can cause great damage and loss of life. The cyclone of November 1970, in which about 500,000 lives were lost in Bangladesh, was one of the worst natural disasters of the 20th century. Tornadoes, which also accompany the monsoon season, can cause devastation as well.

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).

D

Plant and Animal Life

With the exception of the Chittagong Hill Tracts District, portions of the Madhupur Tract, and the Sundarbans, few extensive forests remain in Bangladesh. The forested and wooded area amounts to about one-eighth of the country’s total land area. Broadleaf evergreen species characterize the hilly regions, and deciduous trees, such as acacia and banyan, are common in the drier plains areas. Commercially valuable trees in Bangladesh include sundari (a type of mangrove for which the Sundarbans is probably named), gewa, sal (mainly growing in the Madhupur Tract), and garyan (in the Chittagong Hill Tracts District). Village groves abound in fruit trees (mango and jackfruit, for instance) and date and areca (betel) palms. The country also has many varieties of bamboo.

Bangladesh is rich in fauna, including 109 indigenous species of mammals, 295 types of birds, 119 kinds of reptiles, 19 different amphibians, and 200 varieties of marine and freshwater fish. The rhesus monkey is common, and gibbons and lemurs are also found. The Sundarbans area is one of the principal remaining domains of the endangered Bengal tiger; although the tiger is officially protected, illegal poaching is known to occur. Herds of elephants and many leopards inhabit the Chittagong Hill Tracts District. Other animals living in Bangladesh include mongoose, jackal, Bengal fox, wild boar, parakeet, kingfisher, vulture, and swamp crocodile.

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E

Natural Resources

With the exception of natural gas, the mineral endowment of Bangladesh is meager. Vast reserves of natural gas—both onshore and offshore in the Bay of Bengal—have been discovered in Bangladesh since the mid-1990s. Total proven reserves amount to 142 trillion cu m (5 trillion cu ft), but actual reserves may be much greater. Natural gas is the principal energy resource in Bangladesh and an important ingredient in the manufacture of nitrogenous fertilizers. Other natural resources include a coalfield in the northwest and large peat beds that underlie most of the delta. Limestone and pottery clays are found in the northeast.

F

Environmental Issues

Waterborne diseases such as cholera are a serious threat to public health in Bangladesh. Until the 1970s, many of Bangladesh’s people became sick from drinking polluted water drawn from surface rivers. Aid agencies such as the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) built shallow wells throughout the country to help provide a safe source of drinking water to Bangladesh’s poor. In the 1990s, however, it was discovered that many of these wells were contaminated by arsenic, a poison that occurs naturally in Bangladesh’s alluvial soils. In 1998 the World Bank granted Bangladesh a $32.4 million credit to identify contaminated wells and develop alternative sources of safe drinking water. UNICEF, the World Health Organization (WHO), and other international agencies joined efforts with the government to address the problem. About 30 percent of the wells tested have been contaminated to some degree by arsenic. The health problems associated with arsenic poisoning are compounded by the lack of access to health care in many rural communities.

III

Population

The estimated population of Bangladesh (2009) is 156,050,883, making Bangladesh one of the ten most populous countries in the world. The population growth rate is 1.3 percent. The overall density, 1,165 persons per sq km (3,018 persons per sq mi) in 2009, is much higher than that of other countries except for microstates such as Singapore. The distribution of the population is relatively even, except in the sparsely populated Chittagong Hill Tracts District and the almost totally uninhabited Sundarbans. Bangladesh supports a large rural population, with only 25 percent of the Bangladeshi people classified as urban in 2005. Most of the people are relatively young, nearly 60 percent being under the age of 25 and only 4 percent being 65 or older. Life expectancy at birth is 60 years.

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