<item><hi format=bold>International disputes:</hi> a portion of the boundary with India is in dispute; water-sharing problems with upstream riparian India over the Ganges
<item><hi format=bold>Climate:</hi> tropical; cool, dry winter (October to March); hot, humid summer (March to June); cool, rainy monsoon (June to October)
<item><hi format=bold>Terrain:</hi> mostly flat alluvial plain; hilly in southeast
<item>• <hi format=ital>meadows and pastures:</hi> 4%
<item>• <hi format=ital>forest and woodland:</hi> 16%
<item>• <hi format=ital>other:</hi> 11%
</list>
<item><hi format=bold>Irrigated land:</hi> 27,380 sq km (1989)
<item><hi format=bold>Environment:</hi>
<list style=hang>
<item>• <hi format=ital>current issues:</hi> many people are landless and forced to live on and cultivate flood-prone land; limited access to potable water; water-borne diseases prevalent; water pollution especially of fishing areas results from the use of commercial pesticides; intermittent water shortages because of falling water tables in the northern and central parts of the country; soil degradation; deforestation; severe overpopulation
<item>• <hi format=ital>natural hazards:</hi> vulnerable to droughts, cyclones; much of the country routinely flooded during the summer monsoon season
<item>• <hi format=ital>international agreements:</hi> party to—Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection; signed, but not ratified—Biodiversity, Climate Change, Law of the Sea