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The People´s Republic of Bangladesh covers an area of approximately 144 000 km² between latitudes 21° and 27° N and longitudes 88° and 93° E at the confluence of two major rivers, the Ganga and the Brahamaputra. It is surrounded by India on the western, northern and eastern sides, by Myanmar on the south-east and the Bay of Bengal on the south. It can be divided into three main geographic zones:

• The hills cover about ten percent of the total area in the east, at the border with Assam, and the south-east. The Chittagong Hill Tracts consist of a series of parallel ridges in a NNW-SSE direction. The ridges rise to an elevation of over 1 000 m. The land between the ridges exhibits sharp-edged, irregular lower hills (250 m elevation). The major river, the Karnafuli, cuts across the main ridges but all its principal tributaries follow the inter-ridge valleys;
• The delta formed by the confluence of the Ganga and Brahamaputra rivers at the Bay of Bengal occupies the southern and south-western parts of the country. The zone extends about 80 km inland from the Bay of Bengal at the mouth of the River Ganga, west to the Hooghly River and across the Indian frontier. The maximum ground elevation is 1.5 m and the land is flooded during the monsoon tides (mid-June to mid-September). The land on either side of the main rivers is laced with a network of channels which vary in width from a few meters to over a kilometer;
• The plains occupy most of the country, consisting of generally level alluvium. This is the most fertile and heavily populated area.

The climate of the whole country is tropical. Average annual rainfall varies from 1 500 mm to 5 000 mm of which a large part falls during the monsoon season. In the hills it varies from 2 150 to 5 000 mm whereas in the delta it is from 1 650 to 1 800 mm. Bangladesh is warm throughout the year. Humidity is high during the monsoon months while the period from November to February is usually dry and relatively cool. In Dhaka the temperature averages about 19° C in January and about 29° C in May. In addition to the normal monsoonal rainfall, Bangladesh is subject to devastating cyclones, resulting in disastrous flooding.

The soil of the Chittagong Hill Tracts is generally coarse, acidic and non-saline, varying in depth and texture. In the delta the soil is a clayey loam lying over alternate layers of clay and sand. In the plain it consists of sandy loam over a thousand meters deep.

The designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.