Question

Give five characteristics of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta.

Answer 1

Hint: The Ganga-Brahmaputra delta is also known as the Sunderban Delta, Ganges Delta or the Bengal Delta with a surface area of about 100,000 sq km, of which two-third is in Bangladesh.

Complete Step by Step Answer:
The three great rivers that formed the Ganges delta are the Brahmaputra, the Ganga and the Meghna rivers, which is approximately 350 km wide along the coast.

Five characteristics of the Ganga-Brahmaputra delta are:
1. Two-third of the delta is in Bangladesh and the rest in West Bengal, where both the rivers Ganga and Brahmaputra discharge into the Bay of Bengal.
2. In the plains, rivers flow very slowly and form large loops. These loops are called meanders.
3. It has a surface of about 100,000 sq km, making it the world’s largest delta.
4. It further belongs to the most densely populated areas of the world with more than 130 million inhabitants, i,e., 1300 inhabitants per sq km.
5. The Ganga plain of Uttar Pradesh merges with the deltaic plain in West Bengal through a transitional zone lying in Bihar and is characterised by the fan-like cones of the numerous rivers north and south of the Ganga, regarded as the most fertile regions of the world. Cones are triangular-shaped deposits of alluvial soil with their base towards plains.

Notes: On the north of the delta lies the para delta of the Ganga-Brahmaputra Doab and the Terai belt of the Duars while to the east it merges into the plains of the Surma and the Meghna rivers. The delta receives a maximum rainfall of 2269 mm per year and minimum rainfall of 341 mm per year.