SANDWIP ISLAND

island situated in the Meghna Estuary, southeastern Bangladesh. The easternmost island of the Ganges Delta, it is 25 miles (40 km) long and 39 miles (515 km) wide. It is separated from Chittagong region to the east by the Sandwip Channel, one of the four mouths of the Meghna Estuary, and from Hatia Island to the west by the Hatia River. Formed of silt deposits from the Meghna, it is an exceptionally fertile area. It is, however, continually subject to tidal waves. Sandwip Island was a 17th-century Portuguese and Arakanese (Burmese) pirate stronghold until the Muslim governor of Bengal put an end to their depredations in 1665. It remained an administrative problem under early British rule. The island is connected to the mainland by steamer.