Gangesdelta

The Ganges Delta ( also known as the Ganges - Brahmaputra delta ) is the world's largest river delta and is located in the South Asian region of Bengal.

It consists of some 240 rivers and is created by the confluence of the major rivers Brahmaputra, Ganges and Meghna. The Brahmaputra, called in its lower reaches Jamuna, brings in the largest amount of water of the three major rivers ( the Himalayas ) and initially forms together with the Ganges the estuary Padma, who in turn flows into the Meghna. This flows into the Bay of Bengal. The Ganges delta has the typical for deltas triangular shape. Overall, it covers an area of ​​about 140,000 km ² ( 110,000 km ² permanently ) and is thus about twice as large as the Mississippi Delta. The catchment area extends across India, China, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh.

Landforms and geology

The Ganges Delta is in an eastern ( active ) and a western (less active ) divided part. The Sundarbans, the world's largest mangrove forest, deep green on satellite images, is the southernmost part of the Ganges Delta. To the north is connected directly to islands where farming is done.

The area can be compared (except for the tropical climate) with the German North Sea coast and the Rhine Delta: The area is extremely flat and marked by the absence of any hill to the horizon. In the construction of streets, often red bricks are used. Large areas below sea level, or at least below the flood level. Inhabitants of dikes to protect their rice fields and houses from salt water (in this case there is an average tidal range of 2.6 m to 6 m). Due to the slow flow of very fine sediments deposited in the Delta, who have the rivers from the Himalayas partially carried since the source as glacier milk. Therefore, there are mainly clayey to silty soil in the Delta.

Infrastructure

The delta consists of a labyrinth of waterways, swamps, lakes and Schwemmlandinseln ( Chars ). Especially the many small creeks make the area something impassable. Some islands are only accessible by ferry and partly not yet connected to the national power grid, so that many residents rely on photovoltaics. The construction of asphalt roads and bridges but driven in India.

Population

North of the Sundarbans, the islands are inhabited. The islanders live mostly of agriculture, cultivate rice and keep livestock. Traditional houses from the ubiquitous clay are built with wood reinforcement.

The basic dykes of clay are the storm surges ( cyclones ) usually not grown, so that it often comes to dike breaches. The Indian areas are therefore vacated in appropriate weather forecasts with the help of the army. Despite the risks from floods and cyclones over 143 million people live in the Ganges delta. In the years 1987 and 1998 the monsoon precipitation demanded 2,550 and 3,000 lives. Between the years 1961 and 1991 even 700,000 people died as a result of 15 cyclones.