d, warm rainy monsoon (June to October)

Terrain:

mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m

Natural resources:

natural gas, arable land, timber, coal

Land use:

arable land: 55.39%
permanent crops: 3.08%
other: 41.53% (2005)

Irrigated land:

47,250 sq km (2003)

Total renewable water resources:

1,210.6 cu km (1999)

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):

total: 79.4 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%)
per capita: 560 cu m/yr (2000)

Natural hazards:

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

Environment - current issues:

many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate
flood-prone land; waterborne diseases prevalent in surface water;
water pollution, especially of fishing areas, results from the use
of commercial pesticides; ground water contaminated by naturally
occurring arsenic; intermittent water shortages because of falling
water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil
degradation and erosion; deforestation; severe overpopulation

Environment - international agreements:

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto
Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental
Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer
Protection, Ship Pollution, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

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

People
Bangladesh

Population:

153,546,896 (July 2008 est.)

Age structure:

0-14 years: 33.4% (male 26,364,370/female 24,859,792)
15-64 years: 63.1% (male 49,412,903/female 47,468,013)
65 years and over: 3.5% (male 2,912,321/female 2,529,502) (2008 est.)

Median age:

total: 22.8 years
male: 22.8 years
female: 22.9 years (2008 est.)

Population growth rate:

2.022% (2008 est.)

Birth rate:

28.86 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Death rate:

8 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Net migration rate:

-0.65 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Sex ratio:

at birth: 1.06 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.