West Bengal

Area : 88,752 sq km

Population: 8,02,21,171;growth rate (1991-2001): 17.84%

Density per sq km: 904

Sex ratio (females per 1,000 males); 934

Literacy rate: 69.22% (males: 77.58% females: 60.22%)

Capital: Kolkata

No. of Districts: 18

Legislature: Unicameral

Principal Language: Bengali

Important Cities, Towns and Religious/Tourist Places:

Alipur, Asansol, Balurghat, Bakkhali Sea Resort, Bakreshwar, Bankura, Barasat, Burdwan, Berhampur, Kolkata (India's largest city and third largest in the world, Howrah Bridge renamed Rabindra Setu, Maidan, Chowringhee, Victoria Memorial, Indian Museum, Zoological Garden, Dakshineshwar Temple, Shaheed Minar, fort William, Jorasanko Thankurbati-Birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore, Rabindra Sarovar, Nehru Children Museum.

Pareshnath Temple, Kalighat Temple, Birla Planetairum, Pareshnath Temple, Kalighat Temple, Birla Planetarium, India's first underground railway ), Coochbehar, Darjeeling(hill stations, Mirik, Kalimpong, Sandakfu and Falut and Kurseong), Digha (Midnapore) Durgapur (Burdwan), Hugli, Jalpaiguri (Jaldapara and Dooars), Kharagpur, Krishnagar, Malda (Gour and Pandua), Midnapur, Murshidabad, Purulia, Sagar Island and Sunderbans (South 24-Parganas), Shantiniketan, Suri, Tarakeswar.

Judicature: High court at Kolkata.

Location: Location in northeast India, West Bengal is bounded north by Sikkim and Bhutan east by Assam and Bangladesh, South by the Bay of Bengal and Orissa, west by Bihar and West Bengal, and northwest by Nepal.

History:

Bengal has a glorious past. It played a prominent part in the history, both in the ancient and the medieval ages. The British established their foothold in India from here in the battle of Plassey in 1757. The partition of the country in 1947 divided Bengal into two parts, East Bengal and West Bengal.

The Muslim majority districts of East Bengal, consisting of the Chittagong and Dacca Divisions and some other Muslim-majority districts became what was then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and rest came to be known as West Bengal and became a constituent of the Indian union. The territory of Cooch Behar was merged with West Bengal on January 1, 1950 and the former French possession of Chandernagore became part of the State on October 2, 1954. Under the States Reorganisation Act, 11956, certain portions of Bihar State were also transferred to West Bengal.

Economy:

For about 75 percent of the population of West6 Bengal agriculture is the main occupation. Agriculture contributes nearly 50 percent of the state income. About 45 percent of the total cultivated area is under irrigation. The major crops are rice and jute. West Bengal occupies a leading position among the rice producing States in India.

The State accounts for about 57.3 percent of jute produced in the country and more than 24 percent of tea production. The export of these two brings about considerable foreign exchange for the State. Wheat, potato, pulses, oilseeds, barley, maize, betel leaf, tobacco and sugarcane are the important crops of West Bengal. About 143.4 percent of the State is covered with forests.

The State is rich in mineral resources:

Coal, china clay and dolomite are the three most important minerals available in West Bengal. Other minerals are rock phosphate, fire clay, limestone, copper, iron, silica, quartz, manganese and sandstone. The State is also highly industrialised one steel plant and one alloy steel plant at Durgapur and another steel plant at Burnpur are the important industries of West Bengal.

Other major industries of the State are jute, tea, cotton textiles, silk, automobiles, bicycles, light engineering, paper, pharmaceuticals, Chemicals, aluminum, sugar, timber processing, ceramic and glass, leather and footwear, bone-metal and dairying. Important multipurpose irrigation schemes of West Bengal include Damodar Valley, Mayurkahi, Kangsbati and Subarnarekha Barrage.

The irrigation schemes : Teesta_Mahananda link canal in Jalpaiguri district, Terageria and Turga irrigation scheme in Purulia, Hinlow irrigation scheme in Birbhum district and Sohajare scheme in Bankura district. Kolkata is the most important port besides Haldia. Dum Dum near Kolkata is an international airport. The other airfields in the State are Balurghat, Cooch Behar, Malda, Bagdogra, Panagarh, Behala, barrackpore and Kalaikunda.

West Bengal State India