Bangladesh lies in the northeastern portion of the Indian subcontinent, bordered on the west, north, and east by India, on the southeast by Myanmar (formerly known as Burma), and on the south by the Bay of Bengal..Most of Bangladesh lies within the broad delta formed by the Ganges (Ganga), Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers and is subject to annual flooding. Much fertile, alluvial soil is deposited by the floodwaters. Most of the land is exceedingly flat and low-lying. The only significant area of hilly terrain, constituting less than one-tenth of the country’s territory, is the Chittagong Hill Tracts District in the narrow southeastern panhandle of the country. There, on the border with Myanmar, is Mowdok Mual (1,003 m/3,291 ft), the country’s highest point. Small, scattered hills lie along or near the eastern and northern borders with India. These areas, which receive among the heaviest rainfall in the world, provide the headwaters of the Meghna and its tributaries. The eroded remnants of two old alluvial terraces—the Madhupur Tract, in the north central part of the country, and the Barind, straddling the northwestern boundary with India—attain elevations of about 30 m (100 ft). The soil here is much less fertile than the annually replenished alluvium of the surrounding floodplain.
Population
146.7 million (UN, 2003)
Area
147,570 sq km
Ethnicity/ Race
Bengali:98.0% Other:2.0%
Major Languages
Bengali
Religion
Islam:88% Hinduism:10%, Buddhist, Christian and Other:2%
Capital City
Dhaka
Major Cities
Chittagong, Khulna
Currency
1 Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) = 100 paisa , 1 US Dollar (USD) = 57.04300 (BDT)
Bahrain's Gulf Air has announced the re-launch of its service to Nairobi, Kenya, the carrier's eighth destination this year, Gulf News has reported. Flights to the airline's fourth destination in the African continent were suspended in 2006 for "reasons of restructuring the company," Marcus Bernhardt, Gulf Air chief operations officer, said. "We would like to expand now into those countries where we feel there is a huge benefit," Bernhardt said.
