The Sundarbans – UNESCO World Heritage Site

The Sundarbans  – is an UNESCO World Heritage Site, which is located in the Ganges Delta. It is the largest estuarine mangrove forest in the world. The Sundarbans as a whole encompasses 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi) of land and water, about 5,980 km2 (2,310 sq mi) in India and the balance is in Bangladesh. It is integral to the world’s largest delta of 80,000 km2 formed from sediments deposited by the three great rivers, the Ganges, the Brahmaputra and the Meghna, which confluence in the Bengal Basin. The entire basin is traversed by a complex network of interconnecting waterways.

Tidal waves as high 75 m are a regular feature here. Though, the history of protection in the area of Indian part of the Sundarbans dates back to 1878, it was declared as the core area of Sundarbans Tiger Reserve in 1973 and a wildlife sanctuary in 1977 of 133,000-hectare core area within the 258,500 hectares (639,000 acres) Sundarbans Tiger Reserve. On May 4, 1984 it was declared a National Park. It was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1987.

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