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West Bengal
Area- 88,752 sq km
Capital- Kolkata
Largest city- Kolkata (Calcutta)
Population (2001)- 80,221,171
Density- 904 per sq km
Sex Ratio- 934 females per 1000 males
Literacy Rate- 69.22%
Districts- 19
West Bengal is a state in eastern India. With Bangladesh, which lies on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno linguistic region of Bengal.
To its northeast lie the states of Assam and Sikkim and the country Bhutan, and to its southwest, the state of Orissa. To the west it borders the state of Jharkhand and Bihar and to the northwest is Nepal.
West Bengal occupies only 2.7% of Indias land area, though it supports over 7.8% of Indian population, and is the most densely populated state in India. Around 72 % of the states population lives in villages.
The vast majority of the 80,221,171 people of West Bengal are Bengalis. A Bihari minority is scattered throughout the state and communites of Sherpas and ethnic Tibetans can be found in regions bordering Sikkim.
West Bengal is also home to indigenous tribal Adivasis (including Santals and Kol), mostly concentrated in the western districts.
The official language is Bengali. Hindi and English are also used commonly. Nepali is spoken primarily by the Gorkhas of Darjeeling district.
Hinduism is the principal religion - 72.5% of the population are Hindus. Muslims comprise 25%, and other religions make up the remainder.
West Bengal has been ruled by the CPI (M) led Left Front for three decades, making it the worlds longest running democratically elected communist government.
Many notable poets, writers, artists and performers are native to West Bengal- Rabindranath Tagore, Amartya Sen, Satyajit Ray etc. |
