Kaptai Lake

Where is Kaptai Lake?

Countries on its shores: Bangladesh.

Largest body of water of: Bangladesh.

Middle of the lake: 22.50° N, 92.23° E

The story behind it

Kaptai Lake was created when the Kaptai Dam was built across the Karnaphuli River. Work began in 1957, and the dam was finished in the early 1960s. It is about 670 metres long, and its power station makes electricity from the flowing water. The rising water flooded valleys, fields and villages. About 100 000 people had to move to new homes, and even the palace of the king of the Chakma people disappeared under the water. The tops of the hills became islands. Bangladesh has large marshes, but no natural lake of this size; the largest body of water in the country is this reservoir. Today fishers work on the lake, and wooden boats carry people between the islands and villages. Visitors come to the town of Rangamati on the shore and walk across its hanging bridge. The lake covers about 688 km², though some sources give a larger figure.

Find it on the globe

Kaptai Lake is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.