Rivers, as a key part of the landscape, are an important geographic feature on Earth because they provide fresh water, fertile soils, and other resources necessary for sustaining human life. Throughout time, many civilizations developed along the banks of rivers because they provided resources to sustain agriculture, transportation, and trade.
For this reason, river basins remain an important source of natural resource wealth and support the growing human population and economic growth. Also, most densely populated areas are found in large river basins. Thus, millions of people rely upon these rivers every day and depend on their continued supply of clean water to survive.
By finding out which river basin has the highest number of inhabitants, we can better understand the significance of that river basin from a global perspective, as well as the growing challenges of managing the resources in each respective river basin.
Which River Basin Supports the Largest Human Population?
The River Basin of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna is home to more people than any other area in the world. It is located in five countries: India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and China. Over 650 million people depend on the River Basin on either side of the Ganges.
Because of its extensive area, the River Basin provides fertile land for agriculture; therefore, it contains some of the most productive agricultural areas in the world. One of the biggest cities or metropolises in the River Basin is Kolkata (35 million) & another large city is Dhaka (25 million). For thousands of years, the abundant water supply, good soils, and climate have created very dense urban settlements in the River Basin.
However, the River Basin does face many challenges that threaten to undermine its sustainability over time: pollution from all types of sources, flooding, population pressures (due to continued increases in the number of people), & changes in the earth’s climate.
Which Countries Share This River Basin?
India
India has the biggest section of the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River basin with major rivers like the Ganges and Brahmaputra traversing a number of Indian states. These rivers are very important because they are a source of water for agriculture, drinking and to support industry, and are an important lifeline for millions of people living in northern and eastern India as they provide a fertile river basin with very good farming conditions allowing densely populated areas and large scale agriculture.
Bangladesh
The part of the basin that supplies water to Bangladesh is located at the lower end of the basin and has been formed by the Ganges and Brahmaputra rivers and where they can be found in the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna system.
Bangladesh is very dependent on these rivers for agriculture, fish production, transportation and more. Flooding is a constant threat in most areas but it also brings with it topsoil which provides a good environment for agricultural growth.
Nepal
Many tributaries provide the vital flow requirements needed to keep the Ganges River on course from Nepalese rivers fed by snowmelt from the Himalayas and to provide hydro-electricity and irrigation resources. The inclusion of these tributaries into the Ganges Basin is very important from Nepal’s perspective of managing rivers in mountainous regions can be very difficult, but the water that flows into the Ganges Basin from Nepal is also extremely important in maintaining continuity and maintaining water levels in the Ganges Basin as they flow into India and Bangladesh.
Bhutan
Bhutan is situated in the Eastern Himalayan Region of Asia and supplies a number of rapidly flowing rivers to the Brahmaputra River System. These rivers consist mainly of rainwater run-off and melting glacier water. The majority of Bhutan's rivers are used for hydropower, and carry much of the nation's wealth, while they also provide a continuous flow of water downstream and maintain the basin's ecosystem.
China
Beginning in the Tibetan Plateau, the Upper Part of the Brahmaputra originates in China's portion of the Upper Basin; this geographic area is a significant contributor to the basin's hydrology and is responsible for much of the change of flow from China downstream into the basin, thus reinforcing the importance of regional cooperation and the management of water resources.
Conclusion
As the most populous river basin in the world, with a population of billions, the Ganges-Brahmaputra-Meghna River Basin supports people's livelihoods with abundant fertile land and water resources, but is also facing significant environmental and climate change-related pressures that are in urgent need of sustainable management practices.