Bangladesh and Northeast India

On March 5, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite detected fires (marked in red) in eastern India (bottom left), northeast India (top right), and western Myanmar (bottom right). A few scattered fires were detected in Bangladesh (center). In the false-color image of this scene, dark reddish burn scars stand out against bright green vegetation.
In Bangladesh, the Ganges River flows in from the west and meets up with the Brahmaputra River flowing in from the east. The two rivers join and flow out to the Bay of Bengal through the Mouths of the Ganges. At top are the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal.

The country’s geography is dominated by the Ganges delta which empties into the Bay of Bengal the combined waters of several river systems, including those of the Brahmaputra and the Ganges. As a result, the country is criss-crossed by numerous rivers and inland water ways. Highlands with evergreen forests cover the landscape in the northeastern and southeastern regions of the country. The country also features the longest natural sea beach and most of the largest mangrove forest in the world. The country’s biodiversity includes a vast array of plants and wildlife, including the endangered Bengal tiger, the national animal.

Credit: Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC