<img class="styles__noscript__2rw2y" src="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/f6ec0540-d84b-4c8f-8d0f-1d04d1c3e975.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0" srcset="https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/f6ec0540-d84b-4c8f-8d0f-1d04d1c3e975.jpg?v=at&w=485&h=273&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 400w, https://dsx.weather.com//util/image/w/f6ec0540-d84b-4c8f-8d0f-1d04d1c3e975.jpg?v=ap&w=980&h=551&api=7db9fe61-7414-47b5-9871-e17d87b8b6a0 800w" > 1 of 9 April 26, 1989 Bangladesh Tornado Damage Bangladeshi men, women and children walk in the ruins of their city on April 30, 1989, in Saturia, as the houses were reduced to scraps during a severe tornado on April 26. Image credit: David L. Nelson/AFP/Getty Images

Although the United States sees the most tornadoes of any country in the world each year, it's not the location of the deadliest tornado in recorded history.

(INTERACTIVE: Tornadoes Around the World)

According to the World Meteorological Organization, the world's single deadliest tornado struck the Manikganj district of Bangladesh on April 26, 1989.

The violent tornado carved a path a mile wide and 10 miles long, destroying the towns of Manikgank Sadar and Saturia. An estimated 1,300 people were killed and an additional 12,000 injured.

All structures in a 2.3-square-mile-wide area were destroyed along a portion of the path of the tornado, which left an estimated 80,000 people homeless.

00:00 Busting the Tornado Alley Myth Matt Sampson talks to Dr. Greg Forbes about why tornado alley is much bigger than you might think.

This isn't the only time Bangladesh has suffered a high death toll from tornadoes. Here's a few more examples:

More than 600 people were killed when a series of tornadoes tore through the Jamalpur and Tangail districts on May 13, 1996, according to Thomas Schmidlin and Yuichi Ono.

Four other tornado events since 1964 have killed more than 500 in Bangladesh (April 11, 1964, April 14, 1969, April 17, 1973, and April 1, 1977), according to Chris Burt of Weather Underground.

More recently, 69 people were killed by two tornadoes on April 14, 2004.

A total of 22 people were killed by a tornado on March 22, 2013.

For comparison, the deadliest tornado outbreak in U.S. history was on March 18, 1925, when 747 people lost their lives. Of this total, the Tri-State Tornado alone killed 695 people along its path across three states.

(MORE: 10 Worst U.S. Tornadoes)

Strongest Tornadoes Outside the U.S.

Tornadoes in Bangladesh are most common during the transition to the wet monsoon in the spring. The country's peak month for tornadoes is April, though its tornado season runs from March to May, according to Bangladeshtornadoes.org. Wind shear and instability are maximized during this time period as warm, moist air flows northward from the Bay of Bengal and combines with a westerly wind flow in the upper atmosphere.

Dr. Greg Forbes, The Weather Channel's severe weather expert, notes that Bangladesh experiences some of the strongest and deadliest tornadoes outside the U.S., possibly up to F4 or even F5 intensity. That said, according to this article by Paul and Bhuiyan, the country only averages more than six tornadoes per year. This is much less than the U.S. 10-year average of 1,294 tornadoes annually.

High death counts in past Bangladesh tornadoes are the result of a number of factors identified in a 1996 paper by Schmidlin and Ono. High population density, poor building construction and no warnings systems were just a few of the reasons cited.

Sadly, Bangladesh is also the country where the deadliest tropical cyclone in history struck. On Nov. 11, 1970, the "Bhola Cyclone" killed at least 300,000 people after it sent a 20- to 30-ft.-high storm surge into the low-lying Bangladesh coastline.

MORE ON WEATHER.COM: Deadly Bay of Bengal Tropical Cyclones