Pakistan and Bangladesh Notes

Flood-Prone Pakistan and Bangladesh

Floods are a common and major natural disaster.
In Pakistan, heavy rains cause the Indus River to overflow.
Bangladesh has a very low elevation, increasing flood probability.
Floods cause deaths, destroy homes, reduce harvests, contaminate water, and increase disease likelihood.
Both countries have tried to implement the Hyogo Framework for Action to prevent and recover from disasters, but efforts are hampered by lack of funding.

Physical Geography of Pakistan and Bangladesh

Pakistan is toward the northwestern edge of the Indian subcontinent, and Bangladesh lies toward the northeastern edge.
Bangladesh is almost entirely low and flat, while Pakistan has plains and high mountains.
The Indian subcontinent is pushing into Asia, thrusting up the Himalaya.
The Himalaya cover part of northern Pakistan, as do the Karakoram Mountains.
The Hindu Kush range frames the northwest edge of Pakistan.
The Khyber Pass in northwest Pakistan has allowed armies to enter the Indian subcontinent.
Three lower mountain ranges run north-to-south in western Pakistan: the Salt Range, the Sulaiman Range, and the Kirthar Range.
West of the Kirthar Range is the Baluchistan Plateau.
The mountainous northern and western regions of Pakistan are prone to earthquakes.
To the east is the Indus River valley, which has rich alluvial soil.
Bangladesh is very flat and low, cut deeply by the Ganges and the Brahmaputra (Padma and Jamuna).
After the Padma and Jamuna join, the rivers flow through central Bangladesh to empty into the Bay of Bengal in the largest delta system in the world.
The Chittagong Hills are the largest and highest in Bangladesh.
The Haor Basin has depressions that form wetlands in the rainy months.
The Sundarbans is a massive wetland along the southwest coast of Bangladesh with mangrove trees that live in a mixture of salt water and freshwater.

Water Systems

The Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra supply Pakistan and Bangladesh with water from the Himalaya.
The rivers swell with snowmelt and rains, overflowing their banks and depositing fertile soil on their floodplains.
People rely on these rivers for farming, transportation, and power.
The Indus flows south through Pakistan, fed by the Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, and Sutlej rivers.
The Mangla Dam on the Jhelum and the Tarbela Dam on the Indus generate electricity.
The Ganges is the most important river in South Asia.
The Brahmaputra is a major waterway for the subregion that boats can navigate inland from the Bay of Bengal for some $800$ miles $(1,290 km)$ .
Depressions in Bangladesh form freshwater wetlands.
Pakistan's lakes are threatened by environmental degradation.
Karachi is Pakistan's largest city, located on the Arabian Sea, and serves as the country's most important port.
Both Pakistan and Bangladesh have coastal areas that are vulnerable to flooding when the wet monsoons are strong.
Cyclones are a serious natural hazard in Bangladesh and India.
Tsunamis are huge waves caused by underwater earthquakes.

Climates, Biomes, and Resources

Pakistan and Bangladesh are subject to seasonal monsoons, winds that create three distinct seasons: hot, hot and wet, and cool.
Southeastern Bangladesh has a tropical wet climate.
Most of Bangladesh receives as much as $60$ inches $(152 cm)$ of rain a year.
A band of humid subtropical climate extends across northern Bangladesh.
Monsoon rains are not nearly as heavy in Pakistan as in Bangladesh.
Along the lower Indus in southern Pakistan, a desert climate keeps the land arid and windswept.
South Asian rivers provide drinking water, alluvial soil, transportation, and hydroelectric power.
Pakistan has large amounts of limestone and oil in the north and natural gas in the south.
The most abundant resource in Bangladesh, besides water, is natural gas.

Human Geography of Pakistan and Bangladesh

Pakistan and Bangladesh share a history of Muslim influence, British colonialism, and the pursuit of independence.
The area of Pakistan has been home to civilizations since 7000 B.C.
Muslim invaders and traders brought Islam to southeast Pakistan in the A.D. 700s, and Muslim traders brought Islam to Bangladesh about a century later.
From the 1500s to the 1800s, Pakistan and Bangladesh were part of the Mogul Empire.
In the middle 1800s, the British included both Pakistan and Bangladesh within their colony of India.
In 1947, the British granted independence to two states based upon the dominant religion: India and Pakistan.
Pakistan consisted of East and West Pakistan, separated by about $1,000$ miles $(1,609 km)$ of Indian territory.
Pakistan and India fought wars for control of Kashmir in 1948, 1965, and 1999.
Pakistan is a parliamentary republic, but instability and military rule have prevailed since 1971.
In 2013, Nawaz Sharif took office as Pakistan's prime minister after a sweeping victory of his Pakistan Muslim League party.
The people of East Pakistan were culturally different from the people in West Pakistan, speaking Bangla.
After wins in the 1970-1971 elections, Bengali nationalists pushed for self-rule.
India entered the war on behalf of independent Bangladesh, and Pakistan surrendered.
Bangladesh is also a parliamentary republic, but political and ethnic rivalries have made stable rule difficult.

Population Patterns

Pakistan has a population of $180$ million and ranks sixth in the world.
Bangladesh has a population of $153$ million and ranks eighth.
In Pakistan, more than one-third of the people are under the age of $15$ .
Physical geography shapes settlement in Pakistan, where most of the population lives in the Indus River valley.
In Pakistan the total fertility rate is $3.6$ , resulting in a $2$ percent annual population growth.
Bangladesh is the most densely populated country in South Asia, with $3,256$ people per square mile $(1,257$ people per sq. km).
To encourage Bengali women to have fewer children, private and government programs give women small loans to start their own businesses.

Society and Culture Today

Pakistan and Bangladesh became separate countries because of their diverse ethnic heritages.
Pakistan has six main ethnic groups: Punjabis, Pashtuns, Sindhis, Sariakis, Muhajirs, and Balochis.
Urdu is the official language of Pakistan, but more Pakistanis speak Punjabi.
In Bangladesh the majority of the people are Bengali.
Islam is the main religion in both countries. Most Muslims are Sunnis, but about one-fifth of Pakistan's Muslims are Shias.
Literacy rates and average years of schooling are low in Pakistan and Bangladesh.
Schooling in Bangladesh is free and required for all children to age ten, but only about half of children actually attend.
School is not required in Pakistan, where the educational system is a mix of government-run, Islamic, and private schools.
Lack of health care is a major problem in both countries.
Family is the social basis in both countries.
Many marriages are arranged, though increasing numbers of educated people choose their own partners.

Economic Activities

Pakistan and Bangladesh have traditionally relied on agriculture, but industrial activity is increasing.
About one-fifth of Pakistan's GDP comes from agriculture, and about two-fifths of the workforce is in agriculture.
Industry constitutes about one-fourth of Pakistan's GDP.
Small-scale production, or cottage industries, has played an important role in Pakistan's industrialization.
Railways are the principal mode of transportation.
In Bangladesh most people are sharecroppers with rice as the major crop.
Jute is also a major cash crop.
The garment industry has expanded, and clothing is now Bangladesh's top export.
Much of Bangladesh's textile manufacturing relies on cottage industries.
Bangladesh is one of the world's largest aquaculture-producing countries.

People and Their Environment: Pakistan and Bangladesh

The economies of Pakistan and Bangladesh are heavily agricultural.
Sustainable development rests on three principles: promoting economic development, protecting the environment, and promoting social fairness.
Poorer countries have few financial resources to invest in building a more modern economy.
One-fourth of Pakistan's people and one-third of Bangladesh's population live in poverty.
The most threatened environmental region is the Sundarbans in southwestern Bangladesh and the northeastern coast of India.
Agricultural runoff and industrial pollutants in both countries lead to water pollution.
Most of the population of Pakistan does not have regular access to potable water.
Hydroelectric power in Pakistan is at risk due to soil accumulating behind the Tarbela Dam.
The struggle to survive has created several environmental issues.
Pakistan suffers from severe water pollution, which has several different causes.
Farmers use irrigation to bring water to areas that receive little rainfall, but the water evaporates, leaving minerals and salt in the soil.
These countries also have problems with soil erosion.
The crowded cities of Pakistan have serious air pollution problems.
Deforestation is not only a problem in Bangladesh's Sundarbans but also in Pakistan.
Pakistan and Bangladesh have not been able to promote major efforts of sustainable development.
Pakistan began making efforts to improve the environment in the 1990s with the National Conservation Strategy Report.
To combat air pollution, Pakistan has promoted the use of compressed natural gas (CNG) vehicles.
A low-lying country such as Bangladesh could experience worse damage and a higher loss of life if floods increase or cyclones grow stronger.
Bangladesh has moved to adopt an environmental policy in the 1990s and adopted a climate-change strategy and plan in 2009.
Bangladesh has also taken steps at home, such as composting animal waste to make organic fertilizer.
Bangladesh has also moved to protect the Sundarbans.