The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to West Bengal:

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

– state in eastern India and is the nation's fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants. Spread over , it is bordered by the countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata (Calcutta), one of the largest cities in India. Together with the neighbouring nation of Bangladesh, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal.

General reference

Names

* Common name:

** Pronunciation: * Local name: Paschim Bongo * Abbreviations and name codes ** ISO 3166-2 code: IN-WB **

Vehicle registration Motor vehicle registration is the registration of a motor vehicle with a government authority, either compulsory or otherwise. The purpose of motor vehicle registration is to establish a link between a vehicle and an owner or user of the vehicle. Th ...

code: WB * Nicknames **

Bengal Bengal ( ; bn, বাংলা/বঙ্গ, translit=Bānglā/Bôngô, ) is a geopolitical, cultural and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal, predom ...

* Adjectivals **

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

Rankings (amongst India's states)

* by population: 4th * by area (2011 census): 14th * by crime rate (2015): 17th * by gross domestic product (GDP) (2014): 4th * by Human Development Index (HDI): 11th * by life expectancy at birth: * by literacy rate (2011):76.62%

Geography of West Bengal

Geography of West Bengal The Geography of West Bengal, a state in eastern India, is primarily defined by plains and plateaus, with the high peaks of the Himalayas in the north and the Bay of Bengal to the south. Location and extent West Bengal is on the eastern neck o ...

* West Bengal is: an

Indian state India is a federal union comprising 28 states and 8 union territories, with a total of 36 entities. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and smaller administrative divisions. History Pre-indepen ...

* Population of West Bengal: * Area of West Bengal: 88,750 sq km * Atlas of West Bengal

Location of West Bengal

* West Bengal is situated within the following regions: **

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

Eastern Hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole ...

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Eurasia Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipelag ...

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Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

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South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical and ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka.;;;;; ...

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India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

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East India East India is a region of India consisting of the Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal and also the union territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The region roughly corresponds to the historical region of Magad ...

Time zone A time zone is an area which observes a uniform standard time for legal, commercial and social purposes. Time zones tend to follow the boundaries between countries and their subdivisions instead of strictly following longitude, because it ...

Indian Standard Time Indian Standard Time (IST), sometimes also called India Standard Time, is the time zone observed throughout India, with a time offset of UTC+05:30. India does not observe daylight saving time or other seasonal adjustments. In military and ...

( UTC+05:30)

Environment of West Bengal

* Climate of West Bengal *

Protected areas of West Bengal Protected areas of West Bengal cover 4% of the state area. Forests make up 14% of the geographical area of West Bengal, which is lower than the national average of 33%. West Bengal has a wide variety of fauna, including Bengal tigers, Indian leop ...

* Wildlife of West Bengal

Natural geographic features of West Bengal

Rivers of West Bengal A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of wat ...

Regions of West Bengal

Ecoregions of West Bengal

Administrative divisions of West Bengal

Capital of West Bengal

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

Divisions of West Bengal

Jalpaiguri division Jalpaiguri Division is one of the 5 divisions in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost division of West Bengal. It is surrounded by Nepal on the western side, Bihar on South-Western side, Bhutan on the Northern side and Bangla ...

Burdwan division Burdwan Division is one of the 5 administrative division in the Indian state of West Bengal. The headquarters of the Burdwan division is situated at Chinsurah while the largest city in this division is Asansol. This division is known for its h ...

* Presidency division * Malda division *

Medinipur division Medinipur Division is one of the 5 divisions in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the westernmost division of West Bengal. Earlier it was a part of Burdwan division and was curved out from it in 2016. The port city of Haldia is located i ...

Districts of West Bengal

Districts of West Bengal The Himalayas lies in the north of West Bengal and the Bay of Bengal is at the south. Between them, the river Ganga flows eastwards and its main distributary, the Hooghly River, flows south to reach the Bay of Bengal. The Siliguri Corridor, whic ...

Alipurduar district Alipurduar is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Alipurduar district. Situated on the east bank of Kaljani River on the foothills of the Himalayas, the city is a gateway to Bhutan an ...

Bankura Bankura () is a city and a municipality in the state of West Bengal, India. It is the headquarters of the Bankura district. Etymology In the Mahabharata, Bankura was described as Suhmobhumi. The word or (in Nagari: rāḍh) was introduced ...

purba Bardhaman Purba Bardhaman district is in West Bengal. Its headquarters is in Bardhaman. It was formed on 7 April 2017 after the division of the previous Bardhaman district. Great revolutionary Rash Behari Bose was born in village Subaldaha in the district ...

* Paschim Bardhaman *

Birbhum Birbhum district () is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the northernmost district of Burdwan division—one of the five administrative divisions of West Bengal. The district headquarters is in Suri. Other impo ...

Cooch Behar Cooch Behar (), or Koch Bihar, is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Cooch Behar district. It is in the foothills of the Eastern Himalayas at . Cooch Behar is the only planned city in ...

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the easternmost province of Nep ...

kalimpong Kalimpong (Hindi: कलिम्पोंग) is a town and the headquarters of an eponymous district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located at an average elevation of . The town is the headquarters of the Kalimpong district. The r ...

East Midnapore Purba Medinipur (English: ''East Medinipur'', alternative spelling ''Midnapore'') district is an administrative unit in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the southernmost district of Medinipur division – one of the five administrative ...

* Hooghly *

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is ...

Jalpaiguri Jalpaiguri is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jalpaiguri district as well as of the Jalpaiguri division of West Bengal, covering the jurisdiction of the five districts of North Bengal. The city is locat ...

* Malda *

Murshidabad Murshidabad fa, مرشد آباد (, or ) is a historical city in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on the eastern bank of the Bhagirathi River, a distributary of the Ganges. It forms part of the Murshidabad district. Durin ...

Nadia Nadia is a female name. Variations include Nadja, Nadya, Nadine, Nadiya, and Nadiia. Most variations of the name are derived from Arabic, Slavic languages, or both. In Slavic, names similar to ''Nadia'' mean "hope" in many Slavic languages: ...

North 24 Parganas North 24 Parganas (abv. 24 PGS (N)) or sometimes North Twenty Four Parganas is a district in southern West Bengal, of eastern India. North 24 Parganas extends in the tropical zone from latitude 22° 11′ 6″ north to 23° 15′ 2″ north and ...

(Largest in terms of population and population density) *

Uttar Dinajpur Uttar Dinajpur () is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal. Created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur district, it comprises two subdivisions: Raiganj and Islampur. History Undivided Dinajpur district ...

Purulia Purulia is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Purulia district. It is located on the north of the Kangsabati River. Geography Location Purulia is located at . It has an average elev ...

South 24 Parganas South 24 Parganas (Pron: pɔrɡɔnɔs; abbr. 24 PGS (S)), or sometimes South Twenty Four Parganas and Dakshin 24 Parganas, is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, headquartered in Alipore. It is the largest district of West Bengal by ...

(Largest in terms of area) *

Dakshin Dinajpur Dakshin Dinajpur () or South Dinajpur is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal, India. It was created on 1 April 1992 by the division of the erstwhile West Dinajpur District. The Headquarter (sadar) of the district is at Balurghat. It ...

Jhargram Jhargram is a city and a municipality in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the headquarters of the Jhargram district. It is a popular tourist destination known for its forests, ancient temples and royal palaces. Geography Location Jhargr ...

West Midnapore Paschim Medinipur district or West Midnapore district (also known as Midnapore West) is one of the districts of the state of West Bengal, India. It was formed on 1 January 2002 after the Partition of Midnapore into Paschim Medinipur and Purba ...

= Cities of West Bengal

= * Municipal Corporations of West Bengal *

Municipalities of West Bengal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

* Cities of West Bengal

Demography of West Bengal

Demographics of West Bengal

Government and politics of West Bengal

Politics of West Bengal Politics in West Bengal is dominated by the following major political parties: the All India Trinamool Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), and the Indian National Congress. For many decades, the state under ...

Form of government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

: Indian state government (

parliamentary system A parliamentary system, or parliamentarian democracy, is a system of democratic governance of a state (or subordinate entity) where the executive derives its democratic legitimacy from its ability to command the support ("confidence") of th ...

representative democracy Representative democracy, also known as indirect democracy, is a type of democracy where elected people represent a group of people, in contrast to direct democracy. Nearly all modern Western-style democracies function as some type of represe ...

) *

Capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

of West Bengal: Capital of West Bengal *

Elections in West Bengal Elections in West Bengal, a state in India are conducted in accordance with the Constitution of India. The Assembly of West Bengal creates laws regarding the conduct of local body elections unilaterally while any changes by the state legislature ...

** (specific elections)

Union government in West Bengal

Rajya Sabha members from West Bengal The Rajya Sabha (meaning the "Council of States") is the upper house of the Parliament of India. West Bengal elects 16 seats and they are indirectly elected by the state legislators of West Bengal. The number of seats, allocated to the party, are ...

* Indian general election, 2009 (West Bengal) * Indian general election, 2014 (West Bengal) *

2019 Indian general election in West Bengal The 2019 Indian general election were held in India between April and May 2019 to constitute the 17th Lok Sabha.

Branches of the government of West Bengal

Government of West Bengal The Government of West Bengal also known as the West Bengal Government, is the subnational government of the Indian state of West Bengal , created by the National Constitution as the state's legislative, executive and judicial authority. The ...

Executive branch of the government of West Bengal

Head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

Governor of West Bengal The Governor of West Bengal is the nominal head of state of the Indian state of West Bengal and a representative of the President of India. The governor is appointed by the president for a term of five years. His official residence is the Raj ...

Head of government The head of government is the highest or the second-highest official in the executive branch of a sovereign state, a federated state, or a self-governing colony, autonomous region, or other government who often presides over a cabinet, a ...

Chief Minister of West Bengal The Chief Minister of West Bengal is the representative of the Government of India in the state of West Bengal and the head of the executive branch of the Government of West Bengal. The chief minister is head of the Council of Ministers and ap ...

Council of Ministers of West Bengal The 21st Council of Ministers for the state of West Bengal was formed under the leadership of Mamata Banerjee. She was sworn in as Chief Minister of West Bengal for the third time on 5 May 2021. The remaining council of ministers was sworn in on 1 ...

Legislative branch of the government of West Bengal

West Bengal Legislative Assembly The West Bengal Legislative Assembly is the unicameral legislature of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located in the B. B. D. Bagh area of Kolkata, the capital of the state. Members of the Legislative assembly are directly elected by t ...

* Constituencies of West Bengal Legislative Assembly

Judicial branch of the government of West Bengal

Law and order in West Bengal

* Law enforcement in West Bengal **

West Bengal Police The West Bengal Police is one of the two police forces of the Indian state of West Bengal. The other being the Kolkata Police, which has a separate jurisdiction across Kolkata. The West Bengal Police was reorganized under provisions of the Pol ...

History of West Bengal

History of West Bengal The history of West Bengal began in 1947, when the Hindu-dominated western part of British Bengal Province became the Indian state of West Bengal. When India gained independence in 1947, Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The west ...

History of West Bengal, by period

Prehistoric West Bengal

Ancient West Bengal

Medieval West Bengal

Colonial West Bengal

Contemporary West Bengal

History of West Bengal, by region

History of West Bengal, by subject

Culture of West Bengal

Culture of West Bengal The culture of West Bengal is an Indian culture which has its roots in Bengali literature, music, fine arts, drama and cinema. Different geographic regions of West Bengal have subtle as well as more pronounced variations between each other, w ...

* Architecture of West Bengal * Cuisine of West Bengal *

Languages of West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the four ...

* Monuments in West Bengal **

Monuments of National Importance in West Bengal A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

** State Protected Monuments in West Bengal * World Heritage Sites in West Bengal

Art in West Bengal

Cinema of West Bengal Tollywood, also known as Cinema of West Bengal, is an Indian film industry of Bengali-language motion pictures. It is based in the Tollygunge region of Kolkata, West Bengal, India. The origins of the nickname Tollywood, a portmanteau of ...

Music of West Bengal The music of West Bengal includes multiple indigenous musical genres such as Baul, Ramprasadi, Bishnupuri Classical, Kirtan, Shyama Sangeet, Rabindra Sangeet, Nazrul Geeti, Dwijendrageeti, Prabhat Samgiita, Agamani-Vijaya, Patua Sangeet, ...

People of West Bengal

People from West Bengal A person ( : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of property ...

Religion in West Bengal

Religion in West Bengal Religion in West Bengal is composed of diversified beliefs and practices. As per as 2011 census, Hinduism is the largest and biggest religion practiced by native Bengalis in the state, followed by Islam which is the second largest and biggest m ...

Islam in West Bengal According to the 2011 census, West Bengal has over 24.6 million Muslims, making up 27% of the state's population. The vast majority of Muslims in West Bengal are ethnic Bengali Muslims, numbering around 21 million and comprising 24% of the st ...

Bengali Hindus Bengali Hindus ( bn, বাঙ্গালী হিন্দু/বাঙালি হিন্দু, translit=Bāṅgālī Hindu/Bāṅāli Hindu) are an ethnoreligious population who make up the majority in the Indian states of West Benga ...

Sports in West Bengal

Sports in West Bengal *

Cricket in West Bengal Sports in West Bengal has its own importance. Cricket and football are the most popular sports in the Indian state of West Bengal. Football Unlike in other Indian states where cricket is considered as the most popular game with some exceptions, ...

** West Bengal Cricket Association *

Football in West Bengal Sports in West Bengal has its own importance. Cricket and football are the most popular sports in the Indian state of West Bengal. Football Unlike in other Indian states where cricket is considered as the most popular game with some exceptions ...

West Bengal football team The West Bengal football team (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ ফুটবল দল) is an Indian football team representing West Bengal in Indian state football competitions including the Santosh Trophy. They became the second Indi ...

Symbols of West Bengal

Symbols of West Bengal * State animal:

Fishing cat The fishing cat (''Prionailurus viverrinus'') is a medium-sized wild cat of South and Southeast Asia. Since 2016, it is listed as Vulnerable on the IUCN Red List. Fishing cat populations are threatened by destruction of wetlands and have declin ...

* State bird:

White-throated kingfisher The white-throated kingfisher (''Halcyon smyrnensis'') also known as the white-breasted kingfisher is a tree kingfisher, widely distributed in Asia from the Sinai east through the Indian subcontinent to China and Indonesia. This kingfisher is a ...

* State flower: Night-flowering jasmine * State seal: Seal of West Bengal * State tree: Devil tree * Union Day: August 18 ( Day of accession to India )

Economy and infrastructure of West Bengal

Economy of West Bengal West Bengal is the primary business and financial hub of Eastern India. The state primarily dependent on agriculture and medium-sized industry. West Bengal have Jute industry, Tea industry. West Bengal is rich in minerals like coal. Sin ...

Tourism in West Bengal West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation's fourth-most populous. The state capital is Kolkata. The state encompasses two broad natural regions: the Gangetic Plain in the south and the sub-Himalayan and Himalayan a ...

Transport in West Bengal Total length of road in West Bengal is 92,023 Kilometers. Among these national highway are 2,377 kilometers (1,477 miles), and state highway 2,393 kilometers (1,487 miles) The road density of the state is 103.69 kilometers per 100 square kilomet ...

Airports in West Bengal An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface ...

Education in West Bengal

Education in West Bengal Education is a purposeful activity directed at achieving certain aims, such as transmitting knowledge or fostering skills and character traits. These aims may include the development of understanding, rationality, kindness, and honesty ...

* Institutions of higher education in West Bengal

Health in West Bengal

Notes

References

External links

Official West Bengal Government Web Portal

Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal

Directorate of Commercial Taxes, Government of West Bengal

West Bengal Information Commission

West Bengal
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