If you were looking
at a map of the world, which area would you
look at to find Bangladesh?
I know, it is
just to the east of India!
Well done Harry!
Did you know the answer? You have to look
closely as it's such a small country in
comparison with its neighbour, India. Click
on the map to find out the names of the
different countries around Bangladesh.
In Bangladesh,
the rivers Brahmaputra and Meghna flow into
the river Ganges and together they form the
largest delta
in the world. Most of Bangladesh is formed
by this vast delta,
which is the size of England and Wales combined.
As the country
is situated where the rivers meet the sea,
the land is very flat - and it's also growing!
Much of the sediment
that the three rivers have picked up on their
journeys from the Himalayan Mountains is deposited
to create new land.
Because
this river sediment is very fertile,
it is good for growing crops like rice. And
with so much water, people use the rivers
as their main roads!
But the people
of Bangladesh have to get used to all this
water, and develop ways to cope with the changing
behaviour of the rivers during the year. This
is particularly true towards the end of the
summer season … do you know why?
Yes, this is
when the rivers flood their banks. Some of
you may remember the floods we had in parts
of the UK in 2000 - but these were nothing
compared to the annual floods in Bangladesh.
The heavy rainfall
each year during the monsoon
season is too much for the rivers and they
burst their banks, pouring out millions of
litres of water onto the surrounding land.
In 1998, the floods were particularly big.
Three quarters of the country was underwater!
Bangladesh can
be flooded by seawater too. Enormous storms
called tropical cyclones can build up in the
Bay of Bengal, pushing towering waves inland,
covering coastal areas with salty water.
Which of these
newspaper headings would you expect to see
the day after flooding, and which a few months
later?
(roll your cursor over the front page to view
the article)
You can see
from the newspaper articles that the floods
bring both good and bad news to the people
of Bangladesh. Can you make a list of these
good and bad effects?
Life can be hard during the flood season,
especially for the poorer people who don't
have the money to protect their homes
and farms. But you can't stop the forces
of nature. Instead, the people of Bangladesh
have come up with clever ways so that
they can live with the floods. Roll over
the icons below to find out more.
Now let's see
what life is like by another river. Go to
the next page to find out how people live
along the banks of the Amazon, the world's
biggest river.
Because
this river sediment is very 
