- "Haors are flooded every year by the monsoon floods, and most retain some water throughout the dry season. Most are found in eastern Mymensingh and Sylhet, in a region known as the Haor Basin. A baor is an oxbow lake or other wetland formed in a dead arm of a river. Baors range in size from about 50 ha to 1,300 ha, and most retain water throughout the year. All are situated in the moribund delta of the Ganges in Kushtia, Jessore and Faridpur. Beels are usually saucer-like depressions which generally retain water throughout the year. Most become overgrown with marsh vegetation during the dry season, but a few dry out completely. There are over a thousand beels in the country, the greatest concentrations being in the main delta region (Rajshahi, Pabna, Kushtia, Jessore, Faridpur, Comilla and Noakhali) and in the Haor Basin (eastern Mymensingh and Syihet)." - Abdul Wahab Akonda, BANGLADESH, International Water Management Institute; Retrieved: 2007-12-04
- "The haors, from which the region's central basin takes its name, are back swamps or bowl-shaped depressions between the natural levees of rivers, or in some cases, much larger areas incorporating a succession of these depressions. The haors flood to a depth of as much as six metres during the rainy season, and in many cases two or more neighbouring haors link up to form much larger water bodies. During the dry season, most of the water drains out, leaving one or more shallow lakes (beels). Many of these become overgrown with aquatic vegetation, and some dry out completely by the end of the dry season. The term beel is also used for oxbow lakes and other permanent water bodies in abandoned river channels; these are especially numerous along the lower courses of the Baulai and Kalni Rivers. As the monsoon flood waters recede during the dry season, rich alluvial soils are exposed around the margins of the beels, and these are extensively cultivated for rice." - Dr. Sara Bennett, Dr. Derek Scott, Ansarul Karim, Istiak Sobhan, Anisuzzaman Khan, and S.M.A. Rashid, Interpretive Description Of The Region's Wetlands, Wetland Resources Specialist Study, Northeast Regional Water Management Plan, Bangladesh Flood Action Plan 6, Bangladesh Water Development Board, 1995; Retrieved: 2007-12-04
- "The floodplains also include numerous permanent and seasonal freshwater lakes and marshes known as: beels, oxbow lakes; baors, saucers shaped depression of marsh vegetation; and, haors, bowl shaped water bodies lying between river leeves. haors are flooded every year during the monsoon and most retain some water throughout the dry season. They are found in eastern Mymensingh and Sylhet, in a region known as the Haor Basin. These water bodies are extensively utilized for fish extensively utilized for for fish production. A baor is an oxbow lake or other wetland formed in a dead arm of a river, and ranging in size from about 50 hectors to 1,300 hectors, most retain water throughout the year. All are situated in the moribund delta of the Ganges in Kushtia, Jessore and Faridpur. Beels are usually saucer-like depressions most of which become overgrown with marsh vegetation during the dry season, although a few dry out completely. There are over a thousand beels in the country, the greatest concentrations being in the main delta region and in the Haor Basin." - John C. Pernetta; Marine Protected Areas Needs in the South Asian Seas Region: Bangladesh; page 6; The World Conservation Union (IUCN); 1993; ISBN 2831701740
- "Haor – seasonal wetland, baor – oxbow lake, and beel – perennial waterbody." - Saila Parveen and Islam M Faisal, Open-water Fisheries in Bangladesh: A Critical Review, The Second International Symposium on the Management of Large Rivers for Fisheries, Large River Symposium; Retrieved: 2007-12-04
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