Paddy field after sowing
:: West Bengal ::
West Bengal (পশ্চিম বঙ্গ, Poshchim Bôngo) is a state in the eastern region of India. The capital of the state is Calcutta. Neighbouring regions are Nepal to the northwest, Sikkim and Bhutan to the north, Assam to the northeast, Bangladesh to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the south, Orissa to the southwest and Jharkhand and Bihar to the west.
| West Bengal | |
|
Capital • Coordinates |
Calcutta • 22.82° N 88.2° E |
| Largest city | Calcutta |
|
Population (2001) • Density |
80,221,171 (4th) • 904/km² |
|
Area • Districts |
88,752 km² (13th) • 18 |
| Time zone | IST (UTC +5:30) |
|
Establishment • Governor • Chief Minister • Legislature (seats) |
1960-05-01 • Gopal Krishna Gandhi • Buddhadev Bhattacharya • Unicameral (295) |
| Official language's | Bengali |
| Website | www.wbgov.com |
| Abbreviation (ISO) | IN-WB |
Contents |
For more on Bengal's history prior to 1947, see Bengal.
Bengal was ruled by the Buddhist Pala dynasty from 750 to 1161. The Palas were eclipsed by the Hindu Sena dynasty, who ruled Bengal from 1095 to 1260. Bengal came under Islamic rule starting in the 13th century, and developed into a wealthy centre of trade and industry under the Mughal Empire during the 16th century. European traders had arrived in the late 15th century and eventually the British East India Company controlled the region by the late 18th century, from which the British extended their rule over all of India.
When Indian independence was achieved in 1947, Bengal was partitioned into predominantly Hindu West Bengal and predominantly Muslim East Bengal. East Bengal later became known as East Pakistan, and became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. On 2 October 1955, Chandannagar, a former enclave of French India which had passed into Indian control after 1950, was integrated into West Bengal state.
Paddy field after sowing
There are 19 districts in West Bengal, namely:
1. Bankura 2. Bardhaman 3. Birbhum 4. Cooch Bihar 5. Darjeeling 6. East Midnapore 7. Hoghly 8. Howrah 9. Jalpaiguri 10. Malda 11. Murshidabad 12. Nadia 13. North 24 Parganas 14. North Dinajpur 15. Puruliya 16. South 24 Parganas 17. South Dinajpur 18. West Midnapore 19. Kolkata
West Bengal's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $57 billion in current prices.
West Bengal has the fourth largest economy (2003-2004) in India. In terms of per capita income it ranks twelfth (2003-2004). Jute is the main cash crop of this region. Together with Bangladesh (earlier known as East Pakistan aka East Bengal), this region satisfies almost 1/3rd of the fiber needs of the world through Jute. Most players of the Jute industry of the world are concentrated in this region.
Like other states in India, the head of state of West Bengal is the governor, appointed by the Central government of India. His or her post is largely ceremonial. The Chief Minister is the head of government and is vested with most of the executive powers. Calcutta is the capital of West Bengal, and houses the Vidhan Sabha) (Legislative Assembly) and the secretariat (Writers' Building). In Calcutta is the Calcutta High Court. The present Legislative assembly of West Bengal is unicameral, consisting of 295 M.L.A. including one nominated from the Anglo-Indian community. Its term is 5 years, unless sooner dissolved. The present chief minister is Buddhadeb Bhattacharya (2001-2006).
See Also : Chief Minister of West Bengal
List of political parties in the state
Communist Party of India (Marxist) has been in power for last 26 years. The other two major political parties are Indian National Congress and Trinamool Congress.
Airports: Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport (Dum Dum, Calcutta), Bagdogra, Kalaikunda, Panagarh, Malda, Barrackpur, Behala, Balurghat and Coochbehar
The vast majority of the people in West Bengal are the Bengalis. Minorities of Biharis are scattered throughout the state, and Sherpa and ethnic Tibetans can be found in regions bordering Sikkim. The Nepali-speaking Gorkhas of Darjeeling district campaigned for a separate state, and have now obtained autonomy within West Bengal as the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council.
Bengal is one of the most important cultural hubs of India. There was a saying by Gopal Krishna Gokhale, "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow". It is the birthplace of India's only Nobel laureate in literature, Rabindranath Tagore. The world famous film director Satyajit Ray was also born here. He along with Bhanu Athaiya is one of only two Oscar winners from India, and won an Oscar for Life Time Achievement. Apart from this, Bengal gave birth to innumerable well known poets and writers who enriched the world literature ceaselessly. Some prominent members include Kazi Nazrul Islam, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay, Bibhutibhushan Bandopadhyay and Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Also from West Bengal is the famous Indian singer in films, Kishore Kumar (a Bengali by lineage but born in Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, India), as well as the world-famous sitarist Ravi Shankar.
One of the unique identifiers of Bengali Culture is Durga Puja.
During the independence movement, Bengal took a leading and especially militant role. Subhash Chandra Bose, who was beloved called "Netaji", is still considered an exemplar of courage for Indian youth. S. N. Bose, FRS 1958, from whom the boson particle and Bose-Einstein theory get their names, was also a Bengali. Rabindranath Tagore also won the Nobel Prize in Literature for "Gitanjali" in 1913. Amartya Sen, who won Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 is a Bengali. Other scientists of repute from Bengal have been Jagadish Chandra Bose (FRS 1920), M. N. Saha (FRS 1927), P.C. Mahalanobis (FRS, 1945), S. K. Mitra (FRS, 1958) and Ashesh Prosad Mitra (FRS 1988), all Fellows of the Royal Society. Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy was a nationalist teacher (Professor of Chemistry and the Founder of Bengal Chemicals). The noted educationist Sir Ashutosh Mukherjee was known as the Tiger of Bengal. Pundit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar was a great reformist of Bengal. Incidentally, Raja Ram Mohan Roy is considered to be the First Modern Man of India.
In politics, Shri Ashoke Kumar Sen was among the first cabinet ministers of India, most remembered for being the Minister of Law and Justice. From independence to 1996, he was a member of parliament, holding the seat for a record number of years which is yet to be broken.
In the religious realm, Bengal gave birth to great Hindu sages and saints like Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (a 15th century major Vaishnava leader), Ramprasad Sen (a famous Kali Bhakta and poet) and Ramakrishna Paramhansa; others include Swami Vivekananda (the most renowned of Shri Ramakrishna's disciples), Śrī Aurobindo Ghosh, Shrii Shrii Anandamurti, founder of the socio-spiritual organisation Ananda Marga and A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).
P. C. Sorcar was a famous magician.
Famous athletes from this state include the cricketer and former Indian Cricket Captain, Sourav Ganguly, tennis star Leander Paes, athlete Jyotirmoyee Sikdar. Former Cricketer Pankaj Roy had also been the skipper of the Indian cricket team.
Main Article : Education in West Bengal
Calcutta- Is the capital of the state and the second largest city in India and among the largest in the world. Till 1911 Calcutta was the capital of India.
Siliguri - Located in North Bengal, one of the most important business hubs in the state and the entire north-eastern region of India.
Asansol - The industrial city is known for its famous iron and steel works and the locomotive works at Chittaranjan.
Durgapur - The commercial capital of the Bengal Ruhr, a large industrial city with very well laid out roads and townships.
Burdwan - The headquarters of Burdwan district and centre of a historical kingdom.
Haldia - The next biggest thing of the state industrially. Home to major petrochemical houses, it is set to become the most important port in the region.
Kharagpur - Home to the first Indian Institute of Technology or IIT as it is known globally. Also has the longest railway platform in the world in its railway station, and a major air force base nearby, Kharagpur is all these and more.
Bishnupur The famous temple-town of West Bengal. This is also a heritage site.
Also see Cities and towns in West Bengal
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