Countries of the Bay of Bengal
The countries of the
The Bay of Bengal countries are often categorized into a maritime subregion. The bay hosts vital shipping routes linking its littoral and landlocked hinterland with the Indian Ocean. Its sea bed is being explored and exploited for hydrocarbon reserves.
Littoral countries
- BIMSTEC.
- Vizag are also located on the bay. In addition to mainland India's coastline, the Indian Union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands is located on the bay. The islands are largely reserved as a base for the Indian military.[3]
- Indonesia: The northern tip of the Indonesian island of Sumatra, including the province of Aceh, forms the southeastern boundary of the Bay of Bengal.[4]
- Irrawaddy delta on the bay. Myanmar's Rakhine State forms a large part of the country's coastline. Rakhine State's provincial capital is the port city of Sittwe.
- Dondra Head in southern Sri Lanka forms the southwestern boundary of the Bay of Bengal.[4] The coastline includes Sri Lanka's Eastern, Northern, and Southern provinces. The Sri Lankan ports of Jaffna, Trincomalee , and Hambantota are located on the bay. Western Sri Lanka's Colombo portrelies on the bay's transshipment traffic.
- Thailand: As a peripheral country,[4] Thailand's western coastline is linked with the Bay of Bengal through the Andaman Sea, a marginal sea of the Indian Ocean.
Landlocked countries and regions
- Bhutan: The landlocked Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan is dependent on the Bay of Bengal as its sole maritime access route. Bhutan currently uses Indian and Bangladeshi seaports for maritime trade. Bhutan is dependent on the Indian port of Kolkata
- Yunnan Province. The Tibet Autonomous Regionalso forms part of the Bay of Bengal's landlocked hinterland.
- Kolkata Port in West Bengal, India serves this region. The landlocked states include Assam, Mizoram, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh.
- Nepal: The landlocked republic of Nepal forms part of the wider hinterland of the Bay of Bengal. Nepal has transit agreements with India and Bangladesh for the use of seaports.
Other dependent countries
- Maldives: Although the Maldives is not located in the Bay of Bengal, its fishing industry depends on the bay. Fishing is one of the chief employment sectors in the Maldives.
- Malaysia: Peninsular Malaysia is located near the Bay of Bengal. The Malaysian fishing and international trade sectors depend on the Bay of Bengal.
- Singapore: Singapore's economy relies significantly on container traffic from the littoral Bay of Bengal countries, which use the Port of Singapore for transshipment.
Maritime history
Early history
Islam in Southeast Asia also spread through the Bay of Bengal, by serving as a bridge between the Malay Archipelago and Indo-Islamic states in the subcontinent.[8][9]
In the 14th and 15th centuries, explorers like
In the 16th century, the
In the 19th century, the British government established direct crown rule in the Indian subcontinent; while the Dutch government established supremacy in the Indonesian archipelago. Colonialism disrupted and ended the region's traditional maritime networks.
Modern era
In the early 20th century, shipping between
During the
Bangladesh and Myanmar engaged in a naval standoff over disputed maritime territory in 2008. The two countries settled their maritime boundary dispute in 2012 at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.[14] In 2014, India and Bangladesh resolved their maritime boundary disputes at a UN tribunal.[15]
The Rohingya refugee crisis, caused by persecution in Myanmar's Rakhine State, has been a major humanitarian and security challenge in the region.
Demographics
Population
According to Sunil S. Amrith, one in four people on earth live in the countries that border the Bay of Bengal. Its littoral areas — including coastal regions of eastern India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, and Sumatra — are home to over half a billion people.[16]
Rank | City | Country | Region/County | Population (urban) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dhaka | Bangladesh | Dhaka Division | 18,898,000[17] | ||
2 | Kolkata | India | West Bengal | 14,617,882[18] | ||
3 | Bangkok | Thailand | Bangkok Province |
14,565,547[19] | ||
4 | Jakarta | Indonesia | Special Capital Region | 10,075,310[20] | ||
5 | Chennai | India | Tamil Nadu | 8,917,749[21] | ||
6 | Yangon | Myanmar | Yangon Region | 7,360,703[22] | ||
7 | Chittagong | Bangladesh | Chittagong Division | 4,009,423[23] | ||
8 | Colombo | Sri Lanka | Western Province | 2,323,826[24] | ||
9 | Gazipur City |
Bangladesh | Dhaka Division | 1,820,374[25] | ||
10 | Mandalay | Myanmar | Mandalay Region | 1,726,889[22] | ||
11 | Narayanganj | Bangladesh | Dhaka Division | 1,636,441[25] | ||
12 | Khulna | Bangladesh | Khulna Division | 1,636,441[25] | ||
13 | Guwahati | India | Assam | 962,334[26] | ||
14 | Chiang Mai | Thailand | Chiang Mai Province |
960,906 | ||
Sources: Census reports of Bangladesh, Thailand, India and Myanmar |
Economy
Statistical data (2021)
Country | Nominal GDP |
Purchasing power parity | Per capita | Currency |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bangladesh | $416.26 billion | $1.11 trillion | $2,520 | Bangladeshi taka |
Bhutan | $2.547 billion | $7.701 billion | $3,117 | Bhutanese ngultrum |
China | $19.912 trillion | $30.18 trillion | $14,096 | Renminbi
|
India | $3.535 trillion | $11.745 trillion | $2,543 | Indian rupee |
Indonesia | $1.150 trillion | $3.530 trillion | $4,224 | Indonesian rupiah |
Myanmar | $78 billion | $258 billion | $1,422 | Myanmar kyat |
Nepal | $36.084 billion | $122.62 billion | $1,236 | Nepalese rupee |
Sri Lanka | $84.532 billion | $306.997 billion | $3,830 | Sri Lankan rupee |
Thailand | $536.841 billion | $1,340 billion | $7,674 | Thai baht |
Fishing
Fisheries is an important economic activity in countries with coasts along the Bay of Bengal, particularly in Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Thailand, and Indonesia. The fishing industry in the Bay of Bengal area provides employment and sustenance to large numbers of people. Based on a recent estimate, the total number employed on a full-time basis in fisheries in the area covered by the Bay of Bengal is 1.85 million. In addition, a large number of people are engaged in fishing as a part-time activity. The total population in the households of those engaged in fishing, full-time or part-time, in this area, is estimated at ten million.[27]
In recent years, the fishing industry has developed into an important earner of foreign exchange through the export of marine and aquatic products. In Bangladesh, fish exports account for 15 percent of the total export earnings. Though the percentage contribution of the fisheries sector to the total export earnings of the country is yet marginal in the other countries in absolute terms, the export earnings have been increasing very fast. As export items, fish and fish products are very important, as the net earnings from these products are extremely high, a result of their being almost one hundred percent local resource-based.[27]
The increased production of marine fish has come primarily through the motorization of traditional craft, the introduction of new craft, and the introduction and popularization of new types of synthetic gear, which have replaced traditional gear. It is in Thailand alone that the private/commercial sector has taken the initiative of introducing and extending craft and gear; there has been very little state support or intervention in these activities in this country.[27] The increasing emphasis accorded to the development of coastal aquaculture is another feature common to almost every country in the region. In countries such as Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and India, a primary reason for the increased emphasis on coastal aquaculture is the increase in foreign exchange earnings generated from shrimp farming.[27]
Tourism
Thailand's Andaman Coast is the largest hub of tourism in the region. Sri Lanka's tourism industry has seen growth despite decades of civil war in the country's north. Bangladesh and India have significantly developed their domestic tourism industries, such as in
Transport
The
Thailand and India signed direct coastal shipping agreements with Bangladesh in 2016.[34][35]
Busiest seaports (2015-16)
Rank | Port City | Harbour | Country | Container traffic (TEU) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Colombo | Port of Colombo | Sri Lanka | 5 million [36] | ||
2 | Chittagong | Port of Chittagong | Bangladesh | 2.2 million[37] | ||
3 | Chennai | Port of Chennai |
India | 1.5 million[29] | ||
4 | Kolkata | Port of Kolkata | India | 630,000[38] | ||
5 | Tuticorin |
Tuticorin Port Trust |
India | 560,000 [39] | ||
6 | Visakhapatnam | Visakhapatnam Port | India | 291,000[40] | ||
7 | Yangon | Port of Yangon | Myanmar | 244,888[32] | ||
8 | Mongla | Port of Mongla | Bangladesh | 100,000[41] | ||
Oil and gas
The Bay of Bengal has large untapped oil and
Security and strategic importance
Common security space
The
Non-traditional security challenges
The Bay of Bengal has non-traditional security challenges of piracy, human trafficking, terrorist networks, and drug smuggling, which has led to greater cooperation between the navies of Bangladesh, India, the United States , and Thailand.
Sino-Indian rivalry
The Bay of Bengal is a prime zone of strategic competition between two of Asia's largest countries- China and India. An example is in the case of Myanmar, where the
Japanese initiatives
In 2014, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced an initiative to develop an industrial corridor in Bangladesh to strengthen Japan's economic footprint in the region. The initiative is termed the "Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt" (BIG-B).[51] Japan is keen to establish a maritime surveillance center for the Indian Ocean region in Sri Lanka.[52]
Bangladesh, Thailand, and Myanmar depend on China as a source of military equipment. Some analysts have speculated that an arms race emerging between these countries.[53][54]
Joint exercises
The United States, a major Indo-Pacific naval power, conducts the
Natural disaster management
The Bay of Bengal region has seen some of modern history's worst natural disasters, such as the
See also
- Global Southeast
- Eastern South Asia
- Andaman Sea
- Andaman and Nicobar Islands
- History of Indian influence on Southeast Asia
- Kra Isthmus
- Maritime Silk Road
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