Editing Bay of Bengal (section)

== Key features ==
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=== Beaches ===
[[File:Sundarbans 09.jpg|thumb|The [[Sunderbans]] bordering the Bay of Bengal is the largest single block of tidal [[halophyte|halophytic]] [[mangrove]] forest in the world.<ref name="Bpedia">{{cite book |last=Siddiqui |first=Neaz Ahmad |year=2012 |chapter=Sundarbans, The |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sundarbans,_The |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |access-date=11 November 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304200506/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Sundarbans,_The |url-status=live }}</ref>]]
[[File:Cox's Bazar boats.jpg|thumb|[[Cox's Bazar]], the longest stretch of beach in the world.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/the-worlds-longest-beach/2007/01/31/1169919381993.html | work=The Sydney Morning Herald | title=World's longest beach hidden in Bangladesh | date=31 January 2007 | access-date=8 August 2008 | archive-date=30 January 2017 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170130234542/http://www.smh.com.au/news/travel/the-worlds-longest-beach/2007/01/31/1169919381993.html | url-status=live }}</ref>]]

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|+
|-
!Sea Beach !! Location
|-
|[[Cox's Bazar]]|| {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Kuakata]]|| {{BAN}}
|-
|[[St. Martin's Island]]|| {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Sonadia]] || {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Nijhum Dwip]] || {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Inani Beach]] || {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Teknaf]]|| {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Patenga]]|| {{BAN}}
|-
|[[Bakkhali]] Beach, West Bengal|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Digha]] Beach, West Bengal|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Mandarmani|Mandarmoni Beach]], West Bengal|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Tajpur, West Bengal|Tajpur Beach]], West Bengal|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Shankarpur]] Beach, West Bengal|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Talasari Beach]], Odisha|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Chandipur, Odisha]]|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Gahirmatha Beach]], Odisha|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Astaranga]], Odisha|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Chandrabhaga Beach]], [[Konark]], Odisha|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Puri]], Odisha||{{IND}}
|-
|[[Gopalpur, Odisha]]||{{IND}}
|-
|[[Baruva Beach|Baruva]], Andhra Pradesh|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Bheemili Beach|Bheemili]], Andhra Pradesh|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[RK Beach]], [[Visakhapatnam]]|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Rushikonda Beach|Rushikonda]], [[Visakhapatnam]]|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Yarada Beach|Yarada]], [[Visakhapatnam]]|| {{IND}}
|-
|Perupalem Beach|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Manginapudi Beach]], [[Machilipatnam]], Andhra Pradesh|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Mypadu Beach]], [[Nellore]], Andhra Pradesh|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Marina Beach]], [[Chennai]], Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Edward Elliot's Beach]], [[Chennai]], Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Mamallapuram|Mahabalipuram]], Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Nagapattinam]], Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Silver Beach (India)|Silver Beach]], [[Cuddalore]], Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Thoothukudi|Tuticorin]] Beach, Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Rameswaram]] Beach, Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Velankanni]] Beach, Tamil Nadu|| {{IND}}
|-
|Serenity Beach, [[Puducherry (city)|Pondicherry]] || {{IND}}
|-
|[[Promenade Beach]], [[Puducherry (city)|Pondicherry]]|| {{IND}}
|-
|[[Havelock Island|Radhanagar Beach]], [[Andaman & Nicobar Islands]]|| {{IND}}
|-
|Ulee Lheue beach|| {{IDN}}
|-
|Alur Nunang Beach|| {{IDN}}
|-
|[[Ngapali]]||{{MYA}}
|-
|[[Ngwesaung]]||{{MYA}}
|-
|[[Chaungtha, Pathein]]||{{MYA}}
|-
|[[Sittwe]]|| {{MYA}}
|-
|[[Casuarina Beach]], [[Jaffna]]|| {{SRI}}
|-
|[[Trincomalee]] || {{SRI}}
|-
|Navaladi Beach, [[Batticaloa]] ||{{SRI}}
|}

=== Islands ===
[[File:Havelock Island, Ethereal mangrove tree, Andaman Islands.jpg|thumb|[[Havelock Island]], Andaman Islands]]
The islands in the bay are numerous, including the [[Andaman Islands]] and [[Nicobar Islands]] of India. The Cheduba group of islands, in the north-east, off the Burmese coast, are remarkable for a chain of mud volcanoes, which are occasionally active.<ref name=EB1911/>

[[Great Andaman]] is the main archipelago or island group of the Andaman Islands, whereas [[Ritchie's Archipelago]] consists of smaller islands. Only 37, or 6.5%, of the 572 islands and islets of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are inhabited.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20070930024520/http://www.and.nic.in/port-blair.htm The long stretch of sand glistening like silver dust] URL accessed 10 January 2015</ref>

=== Rivers ===
Many major rivers of [[List of major rivers of India|India]] and [[List of rivers of Bangladesh|Bangladesh]] flow west to east before draining into the Bay of Bengal. The [[Ganges|Ganga]] is the northernmost of these rivers. Its main channel enters and flows through Bangladesh, where it is known as the [[Padma River]], before joining the [[Meghna River]]. However, the [[Brahmaputra River]] flows from east to west in [[Assam]] before turning south and entering Bangladesh where it is called the [[Jamuna River]]. This joins the Padma where upon the Padma joins the [[Meghna River]] that finally drains into Bay of Bengal. The [[Sundarbans]] is a mangrove forest in the southern part of the [[Ganges Delta|Ganges-Brahmaputra Delta]] which lies in the Indian state of West Bengal and in Bangladesh. The Brahmaputra at {{convert|2948|km|mi|abbr=on}} is the 15th [[List of rivers by length|longest River]] in the world. It originates in [[Tibet]]. The [[Hooghly River]], another channel of the [[Ganga]] that flows through [[Kolkata]] drains into Bay of Bengal at [[Sagar Island|Sagar]] in West Bengal, India.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

The Ganga–Brahmaputra-Barak rivers deposit nearly 1000&nbsp;million tons of [[sediment]] every year. The sediment from these three rivers form the Bengal Delta and the [[submarine fan]], a vast structure that extends from [[Bengal]] to south of the Equator, is up to {{convert|16.5|km}} thick, and contains at least 1,130&nbsp;trillion tonnes of sediment, which has accumulated over the last 17&nbsp;million years at an average rate of 665&nbsp;million tons per annum.<ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/apr252003/1041.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040520081514/http://www.iisc.ernet.in/currsci/apr252003/1041.pdf |archive-date=2004-05-20 |url-status=live |title=A sediment budget for the Padma-Meghna-Jamuna catchment |first=Robert |last=Wasson |year=2003 |journal=Current Science |volume=84 |issue=8 |pages=1041–1047}}</ref> The fan has buried organic carbon at a rate of nearly 1.1&nbsp;trillion mol/yr (13.2&nbsp;million t/yr) since the early [[Miocene]] period. The three rivers currently contribute nearly 8% of the [[total organic carbon]] (TOC) deposited in the world's oceans. Due to high TOC accumulation in the deep sea bed of the Bay of Bengal, the area is rich in oil and natural gas and [[gas hydrate]] reserves. Bangladesh can [[Land reclamation|reclaim land]] substantially and economically gain from the sea area by constructing sea [[Levee|dikes]], bunds, [[causeways]] and by trapping the sediment from its rivers.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

Further southwest of [[Bengal]], the [[Mahanadi River|Mahanadi]], [[Godavari River|Godavari]], [[Krishna River|Krishna]] and [[Kaveri River]]s also flow from west to east across [[Deccan Plateau]] in Peninsular India and drain into the Bay of Bengal forming [[River delta|delta]]s. Many small rivers also drain directly into the Bay of Bengal forming [[Estuary|estuaries]]; the shortest of them is the [[Cooum River]] at {{convert|64|km|mi|abbr=on}}.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}}

While Myanmar's [[Irrawaddy River]] flows into the [[Andaman Sea]], sediment from the river is found in the eastern Bay of Bengal.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Liu, J.P. |author2=Kuehl, S.A. |author3=Pierce, A.C. |author4=Williams, J. |author5=Blair, N.E. |author6=Harris, C. |author7=Aung, D.W. |author8=Aye, Y.Y. |year=2020|title=Fate of Ayeyarwady and Thanlwin Rivers Sediments in the Andaman Sea and Bay of Bengal.|journal=Marine Geology|doi=10.1016/j.margeo.2020.106137|doi-access=free|volume=423|page=106137 |bibcode=2020MGeol.42306137L }}</ref>

=== Seaports ===
[[File:VizagPort.jpg|thumb|The city of [[Visakhapatnam]] in India is a major port of the Bay of Bengal.]]
Indian ports on the bay include [[Paradip Port]], [[Port of Kolkata|Kolkata Port]], [[Haldia Port]], [[Chennai Port]], [[Visakhapatnam Port]], [[Kakinada Port]], [[Pondicherry Port]], [[Dhamra Port]], and [[Gopalpur-on-Sea]]. Bangladeshi ports on the Bay are [[Port of Chittagong|Chittagong]], [[Port of Mongla|Mongla]], [[Payra Port]]. Sri Lankan ports include [[Jaffna]], [[Kankesanthurai]], [[Batticaloa]], and [[Trincomalee]].{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Myanmar's main sea port includes Akyab (Sittwe).<ref>{{Cite encyclopedia |last=Balakrishna |first=Suri |date=July 26, 1999 |title=Bay of Bengal |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Bay-of-Bengal |access-date=20 November 2022 |encyclopedia=Britannica |archive-date=30 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200430100547/https://www.britannica.com/place/Bay-of-Bengal |url-status=live}}</ref>