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

Geographic coordinates: 24 00 N, 90 00 E

Map references: Asia

Area: total: 144,000 sq km land: 133,910 sq km water: 10,090 sq km

Area - comparative: slightly smaller than Iowa

Land boundaries: total: 4,246 km border countries: Burma 193 km, India
4,053 km

Coastline: 580 km

Maritime claims: contiguous zone: 18 NM territorial sea: 12 NM
continental shelf: up to the outer limits of the continental margin
exclusive economic zone: 200 NM

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 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: 61% permanent crops: 3% other: 36% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 38,440 sq km (1998 est.)

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; water-borne 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,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, 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: 133,376,684 (July 2002 est.)

Age structure: 33.8% (male 23,069,242; female 21,995,457) 15-64 years:
(male 2,444,314; female 2,069,816) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 1.59% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 25.12 births/1,000 population (2002 est.)

Death ra