A. Geography

Bangladesh lies in the North-Eastern part of South Asia. The country is bounded by India on the west, the north and the north-east, by Myanmar on the south-east and the Bay of Bengal on the South. The close proximity to India has given rise to a lot of trade between the two countries. The Bay of Bengal acts as a sea outlet for most exports and imports of Bangladesh.

The location of Bangladesh gives it a big strategic advantage which can be a key factor in shaping the country?s future. Located at a regional crossroads, Bangladesh can be a converging point for international trade for all its neighbors. All that it has to do is provide shipping facilities for all these countries ? landlocked Nepal and Bhutan, virtually landlocked eastern India, western China, and northern Myanmar. These areas have a total population of over 300 million and fast-growing economies with per-capita annual incomes rising steadily beyond the $1,000 mark.

The area of the country is about 57,000 square miles or about 148,000 square kilometers. Thus Bangladesh is a small country in terms of land area. The country consists mostly of low, flat and fertile land and is crossed by seven major rivers. These features make Bangladesh particularly suited for agricultural production, particularly production of rice.