Page last updated on December 17, 2013

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: 143,998 sq km
[see also: Area - total country ranks ]
country comparison to the world: 95
land: 130,168 sq km
water: 13,830 sq km

Area - comparative:
slightly smaller than Iowa

Land boundaries:
total: 4,246 km
border countries: Burma 193 km, India 4,053 km
[see also: Land boundaries country ranks ]

Coastline:
580 km
[see also: Coastline country ranks ]

Maritime claims:
territorial sea: 12 nm
contiguous zone: 18 nm
exclusive economic zone: 200 nm
continental shelf: up 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)
More Climate Details

Terrain:
mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast

Elevation extremes:
lowest point: Indian Ocean 0 m
[see also: Elevation extremes - lowest point country ranks ]
highest point: Keokradong 1,230 m

Natural resources:
natural gas, arable land, timber, coal

Land use:
arable land: 52.97%
[see also: Land use - arable land country ranks ]
permanent crops: 6.25%
other: 40.78% (2011)

Irrigated land:
50,500 sq km (2008)
[see also: Irrigated land country ranks ]

Total renewable water resources:
1,227 cu km (2011)
[see also: Total renewable water resources country ranks ]

Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural):
total: 35.87 cu km/yr (10%/2%/88%)
[see also: Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural) - total country ranks ]
per capita: 238.3 cu m/yr (2008)

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