Ganges

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Major river of India and Bangladesh; length 2,510 km/1,560 mi. It drains a fertile and densely populated basin, approximately a quarter of the total area of India, and is the most sacred river for Hindus.

Its chief tributary is the Yamuna (Jumna), length 1,385 km/860 mi, which joins the Ganges near Allahabad, where there is a sacred bathing place. The Indian political leaders Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, and Indira Gandhi were all cremated on the banks of the Yamuna at Delhi. The Ganges is joined in its delta in Bangladesh by the River Brahmaputra. The Ganges' most commercially important and westernmost channel to the Bay of Bengal is the Hooghly, which receives untreated sewage and chemical waste from more than a hundred cities and has also been subject to silting and incursions of sea water. The Indian government attempted to remedy these problems by diverting Ganges water from the Farakka Barrage at the apex of the delta to flush and raise the water level of the Hooghly, though this has caused a dispute with Bangladesh which claims that this diversion deprives its people of essential water supplies.

The bird of paradise represents liberty. The Southern Cross recalls the country's links with Australia. Effective date: 16 September 1975. >>