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Area
: 87,853 sq. km
Capital : Calcutta
Population : 67,982, 732 (1991)
Languages : Bengali
Literacy : 57.72% (1991)
Roads : 57,539 kms
Railways : 3,800 kms
No. of Districts : 17
No. of Bank Branches:3,990 Major Ports: Calcutta
Airports: Calcutta, Bagdogra
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West
Bengal is India's 12th largest state. West
Bengal is the gateway to the beautiful north eastern states of India
where the visitor can only gaze in wonder at the pristine beauty. Its
capital was once the capital of the british empire, that is Calcutta
remains the cultural capital of India with a strong tradition in litrature
and fine arts. West Bengal's beautiful buildings haven't been eclipsed
by high reises.
The total area of West Bengal is
88,853 sq kms. West Bengal covers the bottleneck of India in the east,
stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the
south. Countries that share international boundaries with West Bengal
include Bhutan, Bangladesh and Nepal while Sikkim, Assam, Orissa and
Bihar frame its domestic borders.
West Bengal is known for its fertility,
which makes is it one of the largest producer of Jute. It is famous
for its cotton and silk sarees, Filigree, Gold Jewellery. It's really
a great time shopping here.In the heart of its city there is Fort William,
surrounded by the maidan all around where sports club flourish. In this
expance of green is the victoria memorial "The British Taj Mahal" Built
in the memory of Queen Victoria.
West Bengal is strategically placed
with three international frontiers - Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan. From
the coastal tropical rain forest at Sundarbans to the great Himalayas,
and the green and fertile alluvial heart land in between, West Bengal
has a lot to offer tourists. Calcutta the capital of West Bengal is
also world's greatest cities and known as the gateway to the East.
Places of Interest
Asansol : Industrial centre. more
Bakreshwar
: Hot springs. Hindu pilgrim centre, Temples.
Bethudahari : Wild life sanctuary.
Bishnupur : Temples, Ruins of ancient capital, Fort, Terracotta work.
Bok-khali : Beach.
Calcutta
: Howrah bridge, Gardens, Museums, Hindu & Jain Temples, Churches, Mosques,
Libraries. Cultural centre, Planetarium, Fort, Sporting centre, Monuments,
Zoological gardens, Underground Metro Railway, Tramways, Memorials,
Boating, Lakes.
Belur (11 kms) : Ramakrishna Mission Headquarters.
Dakshineshwer (11 kms) : Temples.
The confluence of the Ganga and
the Bay of Bengal Sea where the biggest mela in West Bengal is held
every year in Makar Sankranti (mid Jan). The Places in West Bengal are
Youth Hostel Beach resort - Bakkhali, Dharamshala, Tourist Logues.
Bengalis
pride themselves as being the cultural ambassadors of the country, for
after all did they not give the world India's only Poet Laureate, Rabendranath
Tagore and the famous film maker Satyajit Ray And Calcutta, the pulsating
vibrant City of Joy? But there is more to West Bengal than its capital
city.
Tucked
away in the picturesque valleys of the eternal snow-capped Himalayas are
the famous hill resort towns of Darjeeling and Kalimpong and down south
at the mouth of the Bay of Bengal are the Sunderbans, home of the Royal
Bengal Tiger.
The Lay of
Land
A
thin strip of land runs like a wedge between Bangladesh in the east and
Bihar in the west connecting the northern Himalayan highlands with the
plains in the south that reach down to the Bay of Bengal. In the north
West Bengal touches the Indian states of Assam (north-east) and Sikkim
(north) and shares international borders with Bhutan (north) and Nepal
(north-west). To the south-west of the state is Orissa. The southern plains
of the state are criss-crossed with a network of rivers, the major ones
being Bhagirathi and its tributaries. The Bhagirathi itself, known as
Hooghly in the lower reaches, is part of the Ganga. The two great rivers,
the Ganga and the Brahmaputra, merge to form great deltas at the mouth
of the Bay of Bengal before they drain out into the sea.
There
are about 17 districts in West Bengal. They are -
Bankura, Birbhum, Barddhaman, Calcutta, Koch Bihar, Darjeeiling, Hughli,
Howrah, Jalpaiguri, Maldah, Medinipur, Mushidabad, Nadia, Puruliya, North
Parganas, South Parganas and West Dinajpur.
There are three distinct climatic
zones, the coastal region, the interiors and the Himalayan highlands.
Temperatures along the coastal belt are fairly hot and humid with no appreciable
changes throughout the year. The inland plains experience wide fluctuations,
getting to be chilly in winter and scorching in summer. The Himalayan
highlands are cold in winter and wonderfully pleasant in summer. The state
receives around 100 cm to 300 cm of rain each year.
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