SUNDARBANS, or SUNDEBBUNDS  , a tract of waste country in Bengal, India, forming the seaward fringe of the Gangetic delta . It has never been surveyed, nor has the census been extended to it . It stretches for about 165 m., from the mouth of the Hugli to the mouth of the Meghna, and is bordered inland by the three settled districts of the Twenty-four Parganas, Khulna and Backergunje . The total area (including water) is estimated at 6526 sq. m . It is a water-logged jungle, in which tigers and other wild beasts abound . Attempts at reclamation have not been very successful . The forest department realizes a large revenue, chiefly by tolls on produce removed . The characteristic tree is the sundri (Heritiera littoralis), from which the name of the tract has probably been derived . It yields a hard wood, used for building, and for making boats, furniture, &c . The Sundarbans are everywhere intersected by river channels and creeks, some of which afford water communication between Calcutta and the Brahmaputra valley, both for steamers and for native boats .