West Bengal

West Bengal ( beng-GAWL; Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ, romanised: Paścimbaṅga, pronounced [ˈpoʃtʃimbɔŋɡo] ()) is a state in India. It is in the eastern part of the country. It is along the Bay of Bengal. Its area is 88,752 square kilometres (34,267 square miles). Its population was about 91 million in 2011. It became about 103 million in 2023. West Bengal is the fourth-largest state in India by population. It is the thirteenth-largest state in India by area. It is also the eighth-largest administrative division of the world. West Bengal is part of the broader region of Bengal. Nepal and Bhutan are two countries north of the Indian state, whereas Bihar and Jharkhand are two Indian states bordering the west side of the state. Odisha is another Indian state bordering it from the southwestern side, meanwhile Sikkim is an Indian state north of West Bengal. Kolkata is the capital city of this state and is the third-largest metropolis and seventh-largest city by population. West Bengal is divided into some regions, for example the Darjeeling Hills, the Ganges Delta, the Rarh region, the Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. West Bengal has a tropical climate, so it is very hot and humid in summer and cool in winter. The people of this state are called Bengalis. History The British Empire once ruled most of the Indian subcontinent. The Indians wanted freedom, but the Hindus and the Muslims of India always argued. So it was decided to divide the country into two parts—one part for Muslims and the other part for Hindus. In 1947 Bengal, which was a province of India, was divided into West Bengal and East Bengal,which is now called Bangladesh. West Bengal went to India, and East Bengal went to Pakistan and was called East Pakistan. In 1971, Bangladesh became independent, as a result of the Bangladesh Liberation War. Geography West Bengal is on the eastern part of India. It stretches from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. Its total area is 88,752 square kilometres (34,267 square miles). The Darjeeling Hills is the most northern region of West Bengal. It is a part of the eastern Himalayas. Sandakphu is the highest peak in the state. It is a part of the Darjeeling Hills. Its height is 3,636 metres (11,929 feet). The Terai is a narrow region between the hills and the North Bengal plains. The Ganges Delta is the most southern region of the state. The Rarh region is between the Ganges Delta in the east and the Chota Nagpur Plateau in the west. There is a coastal region south of the state. The Sundarbans is a mangrove forest at the Ganges Delta. It forms a geographical landmark of the region. The Ganges is the main river of West Bengal. It divides into two branches called distributaries. One branch enters Bangladesh as the Padma River. Another branch flows through West Bengal as the Hooghly River. The Farakka Barrage is a barrage over the Ganges. A canal from the Ganges gives water to the Hooghly branch of the river. There is a dispute between India and Bangladesh on sharing the water of the Ganges for a long time. There are some rivers from the northern region, for example the Teesta, Torsa, Jaldhaka and Mahananda rivers. There are also rivers from the Chota Nagpur Plateau, for example the Damodar, Ajay and Kangsabati. The Ganges Delta has more rivers and creeks. The Ganges River becoms polluted because people throw waste into the Ganges River. It is a main problem in West Bengal. The Damodar River is a tributary—a river meeting with another river—of the Ganges. It was once known as the "Sorrow of Bengal" because there were frequent floods on the valley. The river has several dams under the Damodar Valley Project. There amount of arsenic in the groundwaters of at least nine districts of West Bengal is very high. As of 2017, about 10.4 million people were poisoned by arsenic. Politics The Government of West Bengal is a parliamentary system of representative democracy. The same type of government is also found in other Indian states. The residents are given universal suffrage. There are three branches of government: the legislature, the executive and the judiciary. The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the legislature of the state. It has 295 elected members, the Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. The members are called MLAs. One of the elected members is from the Anglo-Indian community. The MLAs elect Speaker and the Deputy Speaker. The Speaker preside over the assembly meetings. The Deputy Speaker would preside over the assembly meetings in the absence of the Speaker. The Council of Ministers is the executive branch of West Bengal. The Governor is the head of state. The President of India appoints the Governor. The Chief Minister is the head of government. The Governor appoints the leader of the political party or coalition with a majority in the Legislative Assembly. The Chief Minister gives an advice to the Governor to appoint the Council of Ministers. The Governor do so. The Council of Ministers reports to the Legislative Assembly. The people of the government run the office for five years unless the Assembly is dissolved before this period. There are 42 seats to the Lok Sabha and 16 seats to the Rajya Sabha of the Parliament of India in West Bengal. The Calcutta High Court and other lower courts are the judiciary of West Bengal. The All India Trinamool Congress (AITC), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Indian National Congress (INC) and the Left Front political alliance have controlled the politics of West Bengal. The Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)) leads the Left Front. In the 2011 West Bengal state assembly election, people elected the coalition of the All India Trinamool Congress and the Indian National Congress to power. Mamata Banerjee was the leader of the coalition. The coalition won 225 seats of the Assembly. The Left Front had ruled the state for 34 years (1977–2011) before the election. It was the world's longest-running democratically elected communist government. Districts and cities Districts As of 1 November 2023, West Bengal is divided into 23 districts. A district collector or district magistrate rule over a district. The Indian Administrative Service or the West Bengal Civil Service appoints them. Each district is divided into subdivisions. A subdivisional magistrate rule over a subdivision. The subdivisions are divided into blocks. Blocks are divided into panchayats (village councils) and municipalities. Cities Kolkata is the capital city of West Bengal. It is also the largest city of the state. Kolkata is the third-largest urban agglomeration in India. It is also the seventh-largest city in India. Asansol is the second-largest urban agglomeration in West Bengal. West Bengal has some planned cities, for example Bidhannagar, Durgapur, Haldia, Kalyani, Kharagpur and New Town. Siliguri is an economically important city. It is in the Siliguri Corridor of India. Howrah, Chandannagar, Bardhaman, Berhampore, Jalpaiguri and Purulia are some other large cities in West Bengal. Transport As of 2011, the total length of surface roads in West Bengal was more than 92,023 kilometres (57,180 miles). The total length of national highways was 2,578 kilometres (1,602 miles). The total length of state highways was 2,393 kilometres (1,487 miles). As of 2006, the road density of the state was 103.69 kilometres per square kilometre (166.87 miles per square mile). It is higher than the average road density of 74.7 kilometres per square kilometre (120.2 miles per square mile) in India. As of 2011, the total length of railways in West Bengal was about 4,481 kilometres (2,784 miles). Kolkata is the headquarters of three zones of the Indian Railways—Eastern Railway (ER), South Eastern Railway (SER) and Kolkata Metro. Kolkata Metro is India's first underground railway. Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) covers northern West Bengal. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is a part of the NFR. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport is an airport at Dum Dum, near Kolkata. It is the largest airport in West Bengal. Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri is a customs airport. It offers regular domestic service. It has international service to Bhutan and Thailand. Kazi Nazrul Islam Airport is a domestic airport at Andal, near Durgapur. It is India's first private sector airport. Kolkata is a major river port in East India. The Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port Trust looks after Kolkata and Haldia docks. There is a passenger service to Port Blair on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Ferries are a main form of transport in southern West Bengal. It is more common in the Sundarbans. The West Bengal Government own some organisations that run buses, for example the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), the South Bengal State Transport Corporation (SBSTC) and the West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC). There are also private bus companies. There are some hired forms of transport, for example metered taxis and auto-rickshaws. They sometimes have their own routes in cities. In most of West Bengal, cycle rickshaws are used to travel short distances. In Kolkata, hand-pulled rickshaws and electric rickshaws are used it. Kolkata is the only city in India to have trams as a form of transport. The West Bengal Transport Corporation (WBTC) runs these trams since 2016. Demographics From the provisional results of the 2011 national census, West Bengal is the fourth-largest state in India by population. Its population is 91,347,736. It is 7.55% of India's population. The state's rate of population growth in ten years from 2001 to 2011 was 13.93%. It is lower than the growth rate of 17.8% from 1991 to 2001. It is also lower than India's population growth rate of 17.64%. The state's gender ratio is 947 females per 1,000 males. West Bengal's population density was 1,029 inhabitants per square kilometre (2,670/sq mi) in 2011. So, it the second-largest state in India by population density. West Bengal's literacy rate is 77.08%. It is higher than India's rate of 74.04%. From 2010 to 2014, we can see that the life expectancy in the state was 70.2 years. It is higher than India's life expectancy of 67.9. In 2013, the percentage of people living below the poverty line was 19.98%. It is lower than the percentage of 31.8% ten years ago. In rural areas, 28.6% of people were Scheduled Castes and 5.8% of people were Scheduled Tribes. In urban areas, 19.9% of people were Scheduled Castes and 1.5% of people were Scheduled Tribes. In September 2017, some far-away villages in the Sundarbans of West Bengal became the last villages to get electricity. So, West Bengal became completely electrified. Bengali people are the largest ethnic group (group of people with same culture) of West Bengal. Most people of the state are Bengalis. Bengali people also live in Bangladesh. The Bengali people are divided into Bengali Hindus, Bengali Muslims, Bengali Christians and some Bengali Buddhists. There are also Marwari, Maithili and Bhojpuri people spread across the state. Buddhist communities, for example Sherpas, Bhutias, Lepchas, Tamangs, Yolmos and Tibetans live in the Darjeeling Hills. Languages Bengali and English are two official languages of West Bengal. Nepali is an additional official language in Darjeeling Sadar, Kurseong and Kalimpong subdivisions. In 2012, the state government passed a bill of law. It gave additional official status to Hindi, Odia, Punjabi, Santali and Urdu in areas where more than 10% of people speak one of those languages. In 2019, the government passed another bill. It gave additional official status to Kamtapuri, Kurmali and Rajbanshi as additional official languages in blocks, divisions or districts where more than 10% of people speak one of those languages. From the 2011 census, 86.22% of people spoke Bengali, 5.00% of people spoke Hindi, 2.66% of people spoke Santali, 1.82% of people spoke Urdu and 1.26% of people spoke Nepali as their first language. Culture Literature The Bengali language has a rich heritage in literature. The Charyapada is one of the oldest literature in Bengali. It is a collection of Buddhist mystic songs. The songs were sung in the 10th and 11th centuries. The Mangalkavya is a collection of Hindu narrative poetry. It was written about the 13th century. People Famous people from West Bengal include: Swami Vivekananda Rabindranath Tagore Subhas Chandra Bose Satyendranath Bose Surendranath Banerjee Jagadish Chandra Bose Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Ramakrishna Shibdas Bhaduri Khudiram Bose Syama Prasad Mukherjee Kadambini Ganguly Satyajit Ray Ritwik Ghatak Pradeep Kumar Banerjee Victor Banerjee Kishore Kumar Biswajit Chatterjee Bappi Lahiri Michael Madhusudan Dutt Rahul Dev Burman Sourav Ganguly Pranab Mukherjee Uttam Kumar Suchitra Sen Sushmita Sen Shreya Ghosal Arijit Singh Mithun Chakraborty The Dhar-Sircar family See also Bengal Himalayas References Other websites Media related to West Bengal at Wikimedia Commons