South Asian CountriesBangladeshBhutanMaldivesNepalPakistanSri Lanka

NationCapitalPopulation Landforms BangladeshDhaka158,570,535 Brahmaputra River Bhutan Thimphu708,427 Himiayas MaldivesMale394,999 Atolls, Channels, Island, Straits Nepal Kathmandy29,391,883 Himalayan, Mt. Everest Pakistan Islamabad187,342,721plains, barren deserts, valleys, plateaus Sri Lanka Colombo21,283913 Island, mountains, rivers

Known Landscapes and Landforms Bangladeshis a low-lying,riverinecountry located inSouth Asiawith a largely marshy jungle coastline of 710km (441mi) on the northernlittoralof theBay of Bengal. Formed by a delta plain at the confluence of theGanges (Padma),Brahmaputra (Jamuna), andMeghna Riversand their tributaries, Bangladesh'salluvial soilis highly fertile, but vulnerable tofloodand drought. Hills rise above the plain only in theChittagong Hill Tractsin the far southeast and the Sylhet division in the northeast. Straddling the

Bangladesh

Tropic of Cancer, Bangladesh has a tropicalmonsoonclimate characterized by heavy seasonal rainfall, high temperatures, and high humidity. Natural disasters, such as floods,tornadoes, andtidal boresaffect the country yearly.

BhutanThe northern region of the country consists of an arc ofEastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadowsreaching up to glaciated mountain peaks with an extremely cold climate at the highest elevations. Most peaks in the north are over 7,000m (23,000ft) above sea level; the highest point in Bhutan isGangkhar Puensumat 7,570 metres (24,840ft), which has the distinction of being thehighest unclimbed mountains in the world.The lowest point, at 98m

(322ft), is in the valley ofDrangme Chhu, where the river crosses the border with India.Watered by snow-fed rivers, alpine valleys in this region providepasturefor livestock, tended by a sparse population of migratory shepherds.

Maldives

Maldives consists of 1,192coralislands grouped in a double chain of 26atolls, along the north-south direction, spread over roughly 90,000 square kilometres (35,000sqmi), making this one of the world's most dispersed countries. It lies between latitudes1Sand8N, and longitudes72and74E. The atolls are composed of livecoral reefsandsand bars, situated atop a submarine ridge 960 kilometres (600mi) long that rises abruptly from the depths of the Indian Ocean and runs north to south. Only near the southern end of this natural coral barricade do two open passages permit safe ship navigation from one side of the Indian Ocean to the other through the territorial waters of Maldives. Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with maximum and average natural ground levels of only 2.4 metres (7ft 10in) and 1.5 metres (4ft 11in) above sea level, respectively. In areas where construction exists, however, this has been increased to several metres. More than 80 per cent of the country's land is composed of coral islands which rise less than one metre above sea level

TheHill Region (Pahad)abuts the mountains and varies from 800 to 4,000 metres (2,625 to 13,123ft) in altitude with progression from subtropical climates below 1,200 metres (3,937ft) to alpine climates above 3,600 metres (11,811ft). TheMahabharat Rangereaching 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,921 to 9,843ft) is the southern limit of this region, with subtropical river valleys and "hills" alternating to the north of this range. Population density is high in valleys but notably less above 2,000 metres (6,562ft) and very low above 2,500 metres (8,202ft) where snow occasionally falls in winter.

Nepal

TheMountain Region(Parbat), situated in the Great Himalayan Range, makes up the northern part of

Nepal. It contains the highest elevations in the world including 8,848 metres (29,029ft) heightMount Everest(Sagarmathain Nepali) on the border with China. Seven other of the world'seight thousand metre peaksare in Nepal or on its border with China:Lhotse,Makalu,Cho Oyu,Kanchenjunga,Dhaulagiri,AnnapurnaandManaslu.

Geologically, Pakistan overlaps theIndian tectonic platein its Sindh and Punjab provinces; Balochistan and most of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are within theEurasian plate, mainly on theIranian plateau. GilgitBaltistan and Azad Kashmir lie along the edge of the Indian plate and hence areprone to violent earthquakes. Ranging from the coastal areas of the south to the glaciated mountains of the north, Pakistan's landscapes vary from plains to deserts, forests, hills and plateaus.

Pakistan

Pakistan is divided into three major geographic areas: the northern highlands, theIndus Riverplain and the Balochistan Plateau

The island consists mostly of flat to rolling coastal plains, with mountains rising only in the south-central part. The highest point is Pidurutalagala, reaching 2,524 metres (8,281ft) above sea level. The climate ist ropicaland warm, due to the moderating effects of ocean winds. Mean temperature ranges from 17C (62.6F) in thecentral highlands, where frost may occur for several days in the winter, to a maximum of 33C (91.4F) in other low-altitude areas. Average yearly temperature ranges from 28C (82.4F) to nearly 31C (87.8F). Day and night temperatures may vary by 14C (25.2F) to 18C (32.4F).

Sri Lanka

Known Water forms

Bangladesh

Bhutan Bhutan has a swiftly flowingriverorstream, fed either by the perennial snows, the summer monsoon or both. For a smallriverin the extreme north of the country which flows north, all rivers flow south to India. The river basins are oriented north-south and are, from west to east, the Jadalkha, Torsa, Raidak, Sankosh, Mao Khola/Aie, Manas and eastern river basins, this last basin being composed of the Bada and Dhansiri rivers. Most rivers are deeply incised into the landscape, a fact which greatly limits the possibilities for run-of-the-river irrigation.

MaldivesThe islands do not have anyrivers, but small brackish ponds are found on some islands. Rainwater is collected through water harvesting on a small scale and used for drinking purposes. Groundwateris found infreshwaterlenses underlying theatollsand floating on top of the saline water. Heavy abstraction of this as the main source of drinking water has depleted the freshwater lenses, especially in the capital city of Male, causingsalt waterintrusion. Groundwater is recharged by rainfall but becomes contaminated while percolating through thesoil, which is generally polluted with organic and human wastes.Maldives finds it extremely difficult to obtain suitable drinkable water.

NepalNepal is among the richest in terms of water resource availability and it is one of the most important natural resource of the country. Water resources are abundant throughout the country in the form of snow covers, rivers, springs, lakes, and groundwater. The total renewable water resource of the country is estimated to be 237 km3/year (225 km3/year for surface sources and 12 km3/year for groundwater sources) and per capita water availability for 2001 was 9600 m3/capita/year.

PakistanRiverflows are almost fully utilized, except during the flood period in Kharif. The utility of flood water is very marginal unless additional storage is provided in the system to broaden the supply period. According to a World Bank report, Pakistan does not have enough reservoir capacity in its irrigation system to store seasonal waters. Additional storage would also be necessary for providing the flexibility needed by the shift from a supply-based operation system towards a demand-based one. Several sites have already been identified, plans being ready for one of them (the Kalabagh darn).

Sri LankaSri Lanka's radial network ofriversbegins in the central highlands. There are about 103 distinct river basins covering 90 percent of the island.Groundwaterresources have been extensively used since ancient times for domestic purposes using shallow open wells in almost all parts of the country. Sri Lanka's largestaquiferextends over 200 km in the northwestern and northerncoastal areas.

General Climate

TheClimate of Asiais wet across southeast sections, and dry across much of the interior. Some of the largest daily temperature ranges on Earth occur in western sections ofAsia. Themonsooncirculation dominates across southern and eastern sections, due to the presence of theHimalayasforcing the formation of athermal lowwhich draws in moisture during the summer. Southwestern sections of the continent are hot. Siberia is one of the coldest places in the Northern Hemisphere, and can act as a source of arcticair massesfor North America. The most active place on Earth fortropical cycloneactivity lies northeast of the Philippinesand south of Japan, and the phase of theEl Nio-Southern Oscillationmodulates where in Asia landfall is more likely to occur. Monsoon Asia, Dry and cold.

Wild Life

Asia covers a vast area that reaches almost halfway round the Earth from east to west. As you'd expect with such a huge land area, it contains a diverse array of habitats. Biogeographically, Asia is part of the Eurasian landmass and some species - such as bears and golden eagles - are found on both continents. Asia began to take its present form about 50-55 million years ago when the Indian tectonic plate collided with the main body of Asia, birthing the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau and cutting the warm south off from the cold heart of the continent with the vast range of different kinds of animals in the wild: tigers elephant cheetahs rhinoceros and exotic kind of animals.

Mineral Resources

In Bangladesh, natural gas is most important indigenous source of energy that accounts for 75% of the commercial energy of the country. Bangladesh imports annually about 1.3 million metric Tons of crude oil. Besides natural gas, Bangladesh has significant coal reserve. Coal reserves of about 3.3 billion tons comprising 5 deposits at depths of 118-1158 meters have been discovered so far in the north-western part of Bangladesh.Besides indigenous energy resources, Bangladesh has other mineral resources. Various organizations under Energy and Mineral Resources Division are engaged to explore for mineral resources. In case of commercial discovery, foreign company can apply for production license.All the mineral resources that occur in the country are owned by the state. Department of Mines and Geology (DMG) under the Ministry of Industry is the responsible government organization which is conducting systematic geological mapping and mineral exploration activities in different parts of the country since last five decades. In course of time DMG has been successful to identify a number of metallic, nonmetallic and fuel mineral deposits/ prospects/ occurrences and prove some economic and sub-economic mineral deposits and also promote few mineral based industries like cement, agrilime, marble, talc, dead burnt magnesite, zinc-lead, coal, gemstones etc. Few small to medium scale mines of limestone, magnesite, marble, talc, coal, peat, clay, salt, talc, mica, quartz crystals, semiprecious and precious stones, dimension/ paving stones, roofing slates are in operation by the private entrepreneurs after obtaining the licenses from DMG. There are over 29 limestone quarries from which limestone are supplied to cement industries. Six gem mines are in operation and few gem industries, which do cutting and polishing of semiprecious and precious stones fromNepaland abroad are established.Pakistan is home to many varieties of minerals, some of which make it prominent in the mineral world Pakistan is full of significant mineral resources and emerging as a very promising area for exploration of mineral deposits. Exploration by government agencies as well as by multinational mining companies and various regional geological surveys, conducted in the recent past have confirmed the great potential of Pakistan in minerals like copper, gold, silver, platinum, chromites, iron, lead zinc and crude oil. As regards industrial minerals there is a vast potential of multi- colored granite, marble and other dimensional stones of high quality for export purposes.