Basic Geographic and physical feature:
Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) the only extensive hill area in Bangladesh lies in southeastern part of the country (21°25´N to 23°45´N latitude and 91°54´E to 92°50´E longitude) bordering Myanmar on the southeast, the Indian state of tripura on the north, Mizoram on the east and chittagong district on the west. The area of the Chittagong Hill Tracts is about 13,184 sq km, which is approximately one-tenth of the total area of Bangladesh.
Climate:
The weather of this region is characterized by tropical monsoon climate with mean annual rainfall nearly 2540 mm in the north and east and 2540 mm to 3810 mm in the south and west. The dry and cool season is from November to March; pre-monsoon season is April-May which is very hot and sunny and the monsoon season is from June to October, which is warm, cloudy and wet.
Physiography:
According to the physiography of Bangladesh the CHT falls under the Northern and Eastern Hill unit and the High Hill or Mountain Ranges sub-unit. This sub-unit covers most of CHT, some small parts of southern Habiganj and the south and eastern borders of Maulvi Bazar. At present, all the mountain ranges of the Chittagong Hill Tracts are almost hogback ridges. They rise steeply, thus looking far more impressive than their height would imply. Most of the ranges have scarps in the west, with cliffs and waterfalls.
The region is characterised by a huge network of trellis and dendritic drainage consisting of some major rivers draining into the Bay of Bengal. The major rivers are karnafuli, sangu, matamuhuri and feni. Within the hill tracts, the Karnafuli has several important tributaries, of which Chengi, kasalong and Rainkhiang are the main ones.
Generally the hill ranges and the river valleys are longitudinally aligned. Four ranges, with an average elevation of over three hundred metres, strike in a north-south direction in the northern part of the hill tract districts. These are Phoromain range (Phoromain, 463m), Dolajeri range (Langtrai, 429m), Bhuachhari (Changpai, 611m) and Barkal range (Thangnang, 735m). South of the Karnafuli River within the Chittagong Hill Tracts, there are seven main mountain ranges within Bangladesh. These are: Muranja range (Basitaung, 664m), Wayla range (most of this range is in Myanmar), Chimbook range (Tindu, 898m), Batimain range (Batitaung, 526m), Politai range (Keokradang, 884m; Ramiu Taung 921m, Saichal-Mowdok range (Bilaisari, 669m) and Saichal range. Saichal range contains the highest peaks of Bangladesh. These are Waibung (808m), Rang Tlang (958m), Mowdok Tlang (905m), and Mowdok Mual (1,003m) which is on the border with Myanmar.
Some of these hill ranges also contain important geological structures to form excellent structural traps for natural gas accumulation. The structures are: Semutang anticline (average elevation is 80m except in some areas where it reaches over 160m), Sitapahar anticline (245 to 330m in the south to middle of the structure and 330 to 410m in the northern part), Matamuhuri anticline (average elevation ranges from 245 to 330m in the northern part, but in the southern part it increases from 410 to 570m and the maximum elevation is 710m in the south) and Bandarban anticline (maximum elevation varies between 650 and 800m, with three peaks of around 935m, 960m and 965m located from north to south). There are two natural lakes (Rainkhiangkine lake and bagakine lake) and one artificial lake (kaptai lake). The Kaptai lake covers an area of about 767 sq km in dry season and about 1,036 sq km in the monsoon.
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