Dhal Char is the southernmost island of

Bhola district Bhola District () is an administrative district of Barisal Division in south-central Bangladesh, which includes Bhola Island, the largest island of Bangladesh. It has an area of 3,403.48 km2. It is bounded by Lakshmipur and Barisal Distri ...

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

. The island has attracted the attention of researchers, environmentalists and tourists alike for its unique position as one of the country's remotest permanently inhabited islands, far out in the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

. It also one of the most threatened pieces of land in the world as a result of

rising sea levels The sea level has been rising from the end of the last ice age, which was around 20,000 years ago. Between 1901 and 2018, the average sea level rose by , with an increase of per year since the 1970s. This was faster than the sea level had e ...

, due to

climate change Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in Global surface temperature, global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate variability and change, Climate change in ...

Geography

Dhal Char is one of the numerous islands in the delta of the

Meghna The Meghna () is one of the major rivers in Bangladesh, one of the three that form the Ganges Delta, the largest delta on earth, which fans out to the Bay of Bengal. A part of the Surma-Meghna River System, the Meghna is formed inside Bangladesh ...

River in the wider

Ganges Delta The Ganges Delta (also known the Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta, the Sundarbans Delta or the Bengal Delta) is a river delta predominantly covering the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, consisting of Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Be ...

region. The nearest other bodies of land are Char Kukri Mukri to the northeast and

Char Nizam Char Nizam, also known as Char Nizam Kalkini, is a remote island in the Meghna river delta in the Bhola district of Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countrie ...

to the west, both similar, albeit larger, islands. The eastern part of the island is witnessing rapid river bank erosion due to strong tidal flow of the Meghna as well as inclement weather in the

. The island is marked as one of the most vulnerable areas for natural disasters and is regularly pummeled by

cyclone In meteorology, a cyclone () is a large air mass that rotates around a strong center of low atmospheric pressure, counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere as viewed from above (opposite to an ant ...

s in the northern

ocean. Similar to most islands in the area, the land is low-lying, and at high tides large portions of the island go under water. Much of the shore is mud flats on the eastern side, while the southern and western sides have extensive

mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows mainly in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. Mangroves grow in an equatorial climate, typically along coastlines and tidal rivers. They have particular adaptations to take in extra oxygen a ...

swamps, which check land erosion. Dhal Char is a

union parishad Union council (), also known as union parishad, rural council, rural union and simply union, is the smallest rural administrative and local government unit in Bangladesh, with zila parishads (district councils) being the largest rural authori ...

under the

Char Fasson Upazila Char Fasson () is an upazila of Bhola District in the Division of Barisal Division, Barisal, Bangladesh. Geography Char Fasson Upazila has area of 1440.04km2, located in between 21°54' and 22°16' north latitudes and in between 90°34' and 90°50 ...

of the district.

Transportation

Transportation from the mainland is possible only through boats. The nearest ferry terminal is Kacchapiya Ghat, about away in southern Char Fasson.

Demographics

Despite the resident population occupying only a fraction of the land area towards the northern tip of the island, Dhal Char is home to approximately 13,000 people. * Floating people: 5000 * Households: 1500 Islam is the predominant religion. There are two mosques.

References

Islands of Bangladesh Unions of Char Fasson Upazila Uninhabited islands of Bangladesh Islands of the Bay of Bengal {{island-stub

Geography

Transportation

Demographics

See also

References