Q1.
Note: Do remember to look at the map and identify where the delta is.
Answer
On the physical map, find the point where the Ganga and the Brahmaputra come together in the far east and open into the Bay of Bengal. There the single thick blue line breaks into a fan of many thin channels. That fan is the Ganga–Brahmaputra delta.
- State: the southern part of West Bengal, below Kolkata.
- Country: about half of the delta lies in India and the rest in Bangladesh.
- Name of the Indian part: the Sundarbans — a UNESCO World Heritage site, and the largest mangrove forest in the world.
What makes it special: this delta has, as the chapter says, a unique combination of river, sea and land. Salt water and fresh water mix twice a day with the tide, so it grows mangroves — trees that can live with their roots in salty mud. Those forests shelter the Royal Bengal Tiger and hundreds of other species, and they take the first blow of every cyclone that comes up the Bay of Bengal.