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West Bengal

The only Indian state that runs from the Himalaya to the sea — from the tea gardens of Darjeeling to the Sundarbans mangroves and the Bay of Bengal. The land of Kolkata and the Bengal Renaissance, of Tagore and Ray, of Durga Puja and the world's finest jute — home to ~9 crore people across 23 districts.

Capital Kolkata · Largest city Kolkata · Formed 15 August 1947

  • The only Himalaya-to-sea Indian state
  • Kolkata — capital of British India till 1911
  • The Sundarbans — the world's largest mangrove
  • Durga Puja — on UNESCO's heritage list
  • Home of Tagore, India's first Nobel laureate
  • India's first metro — Kolkata, 1984
Tap a district to highlight it

Illustrative district boundaries (derived from open data) — a reference, not an official survey map.

The Basics

West Bengal at a Glance

A state in eastern India that stretches from the Darjeeling Himalaya to the Bay of Bengal — densely peopled, deeply cultured, and built around the great city of Kolkata.

  • Kolkata Capital and largest city — India's third-largest metropolitan area
  • 15 Aug 1947 Formed at the Partition of Bengal, with Indian independence
  • 88,752 km² Area — India's 13th-largest state
  • A sea coast A Bay of Bengal coastline (~150 km) — the only Indian state running from the Himalaya to the sea
  • 23 Districts · 5 divisions — see the interactive map above
  • Bengali Official language (with English); also Hindi, Urdu, Nepali (in the hills), Santali & more
  • 294 seats Legislative Assembly (unicameral); 42 Lok Sabha seats — among India's most
  • Borders Bangladesh, Nepal & Bhutan; and Sikkim, Assam, Bihar, Jharkhand & Odisha
  • Hills to delta The Darjeeling Himalaya, the Ganga delta & the Sundarbans; rivers Ganga / Hooghly & Teesta
  • Sandakphu The state's highest point, 3,636 m, on the Singalila ridge
  • State symbols Animal: fishing cat · Bird: white-throated kingfisher · Tree: chhatim · Flower: shiuli

People

Population & Society

One of India's most crowded states, with a Hindu majority and one of the country's largest Muslim populations. Census 2011 is the last full count, so current totals are projections.

  • 9.13 cr Population, 2011 (91,276,115) — India's 4th most populous; about 10.6 crore today (projected)
  • 13.8% Decadal growth, 2001–2011
  • 1,028 /km² Population density, 2011 — second only to Bihar among the major states
  • 950 Sex ratio — females per 1,000 males, 2011
  • 76.3% Literacy rate, 2011 — above the national average
  • 31.9% Urbanisation — about two-thirds of the state is still rural
  • Kolkata A ~1.4 crore urban agglomeration (2011) — India's third-largest
  • More cities Asansol, Siliguri (the north Bengal gateway) & the steel city of Durgapur
  • Diverse A Hindu majority alongside one of India's largest Muslim populations (~27%, 2011)

Economy

A ₹20-Lakh-Crore Economy

West Bengal is among India's larger economies, led by services and the commerce of Kolkata — though after a long industrial decline, its income per head has slipped below the national average.

  • ₹20.3 L cr GSDP 2025-26 (budget estimate, current prices) — India's ~6th-largest state economy
  • ~12% Nominal GSDP growth, 2025-26 (budget estimate)
  • ~20% below Per-capita income vs the national average (2021-22) — after a long relative decline
  • ~38% Outstanding debt as % of GSDP (2025-26 BE) — a high burden

What the economy is made of — share of GSVA (2021-22)

  • ~55% Services — Kolkata is eastern India's commercial & financial hub
  • ~24% Industry — engineering, steel, chemicals & the old jute mills
  • ~21% Agriculture & allied — a large share for so industrial a state

Pillars of industry

  • Jute & tea The old Bengal industries — most of India's jute mills line the Hooghly
  • IT Salt Lake's Sector V and New Town — eastern India's main tech hub
  • Coal & steel The Asansol–Durgapur belt; Haldia's petrochemicals & port
  • From first to mid-table: in the 1960s Bengal was among India's richest states; decades of industrial decline have since pushed its income per head to roughly a fifth below the national average — the long story of the state's economy.
  • Figures here are the latest West Bengal Budget estimates (2025-26). The India GDP page compares all states at FY2024-25, so its West Bengal figure is for that earlier year.

Agriculture & Fisheries

Rice, Jute, Tea & Fish

Fed by the Ganga delta, Bengal is one of India's great farming states — its top producer of jute, a leader in rice and potato, and a land where fish is woven into daily life.

  • Rice Historically India's top rice producer, and among the top three today — the staple of every Bengali meal
  • Jute India's largest jute producer — about half the country's raw jute, the "golden fibre"
  • Potato Among India's largest producers — second after Uttar Pradesh
  • Tea India's second tea state — and the home of Darjeeling, the country's first GI (2004)
  • Fish Among India's largest fish producers, second in inland fisheries — and central to Bengali culture
  • Vegetables One of India's largest vegetable producers, across the fertile delta
  • GI produce Banglar Rosogolla, Gobindobhog & Tulaipanji rice, Malda's mangoes & Joynagar Moa
  • Operation Barga The 1970s land reform that gave sharecroppers secure tenure — among India's most successful

Administrative

The 23 Districts

West Bengal is organised into 23 districts across 5 divisions, from the hill district of Darjeeling to the delta of South 24 Parganas. Pick a district below and it will light up on the map above — district pages are coming next.

    The map and this list share the same data. Clicking a district highlights it on the interactive map in the hero; soon each will open its own page.

    What Makes West Bengal Unique

    Heritage, Nature & Industry

    From the world's largest mangrove and a UNESCO mountain railway to the old capital of British India and the mills of the Hooghly — a few things West Bengal is known for.

    World Heritage & nature

    • The Sundarbans A UNESCO World Heritage Site (1987) — the world's largest mangrove forest and the Royal Bengal tiger's home
    • Toy train The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway — a UNESCO World Heritage mountain railway (1999)
    • Santiniketan Tagore's seat of learning — a UNESCO World Heritage Site (2023)
    • Kolkata Capital of British India until 1911 — long called the cultural capital of India

    Industry & landmarks

    • Jute heartland Most of India's jute mills line the Hooghly around Kolkata & Howrah
    • Coal & steel The Asansol–Durgapur belt, with Haldia's petrochemicals on the estuary
    • Victoria Memorial The white-marble landmark and museum at the heart of Kolkata
    • Howrah Bridge The great cantilever bridge over the Hooghly (Rabindra Setu, 1943)
    • Belur Math The Ramakrishna Mission's riverside home, founded by Swami Vivekananda

    Culture & Traditions

    Festivals, Arts & Food

    Bengal's culture is among India's richest — the grand pageant of Durga Puja, the legacy of Tagore and Ray, the music of the Bauls, and a beloved cuisine of fish and sweets.

    • Durga Puja Bengal's grandest festival — on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list (2021)
    • More festivals Kali Puja, Poila Boishakh (the Bengali New Year) & Jagaddhatri Puja
    • Tagore Rabindranath Tagore — the 1913 Nobel laureate who wrote India's national anthem
    • Satyajit Ray The master filmmaker, honoured with a lifetime Academy Award (1992)
    • Baul songs The wandering minstrels' music — on UNESCO's heritage list (2008)
    • Sweets & fish Rosogolla, sandesh, mishti doi and macher jhol — the heart of the Bengali table
    • Crafts Kantha embroidery, Bishnupur's Baluchari silk & terracotta, and Dokra metalwork

    Places to Visit

    Hills, Delta & the City

    Few states offer as much range — Himalayan tea towns, tiger mangroves, a grand old city, sea beaches and the terracotta temples of a forgotten kingdom.

    • Darjeeling The "Queen of the Hills" — tea gardens, Himalayan views & the toy train
    • The Sundarbans Boat safaris through the tiger mangroves of the Ganga delta
    • Kolkata The Victoria Memorial, Howrah Bridge, College Street & the Kumartuli idol-makers
    • Digha Bengal's favourite sea beach, on the Bay of Bengal
    • Bishnupur The Malla kings' famous terracotta temples, in Bankura
    • Murshidabad The old nawabi capital of Bengal, with the Hazarduari Palace
    • Dakshineswar The riverside Kali temple & Belur Math of the Ramakrishna tradition
    • Dooars & Kalimpong The forests, tea and hills of north Bengal

    Modern West Bengal

    Industry, IT & Gateways

    Beyond its old mills, Bengal runs eastern India's main IT hub, its busiest airport and India's oldest port — and recently, the country's first under-river metro.

    • Salt Lake & New Town Sector V and New Town — eastern India's main IT & ITeS hub
    • Kolkata Airport Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International — eastern India's busiest airport
    • Oldest port Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (since 1870) — India's oldest operating port, with Kolkata & Haldia docks
    • Haldia A petrochemical complex and deep-water dock on the Hooghly estuary
    • Coal & steel The Asansol–Durgapur industrial belt, in the Raniganj coalfield
    • Under-river metro India's first metro tunnel beneath a river, under the Hooghly (2024)

    Rail, Road & River

    Metro, Trains & Bridges

    Kolkata gave India its first metro, and Bengal's railways and Hooghly bridges have long carried the traffic of eastern India.

    • Kolkata Metro India's first metro railway (1984) — now grown to several lines across the city
    • Howrah & Sealdah Among India's busiest railway stations; Kolkata is the HQ of two railway zones
    • Toy train The UNESCO Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, winding up to the hills
    • Hooghly bridges Howrah Bridge (1943) and the cable-stayed Vidyasagar Setu (1992)
    • Vande Bharat The Howrah–New Jalpaiguri semi-high-speed train to north Bengal
    • Airports Bagdogra (the gateway to the hills) & Andal near Durgapur, alongside Kolkata

    People & the Renaissance

    A Land of Icons

    Bengal was the cradle of India's modern awakening — its writers, scientists, monks and reformers shaped the nation, and the country's first Nobel laureate was a son of Calcutta.

    • Rabindranath Tagore Nobel laureate (1913) — the first from Asia; he wrote India's national anthem
    • Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose — the Bengali freedom fighter who raised the Indian National Army
    • Vivekananda The Kolkata-born monk who carried Vedanta to the world at Chicago (1893)
    • Satyajit Ray The filmmaker of Pather Panchali, honoured with a lifetime Oscar
    • Bengal Renaissance The 19th-century awakening — from Raja Ram Mohan Roy to Vidyasagar and Tagore
    • More icons Amartya Sen (Nobel in Economics, 1998), Mother Teresa of Kolkata (Nobel Peace, 1979) & the scientist J. C. Bose

    Through the Ages

    A Short History of West Bengal

    From ancient Bengal's empires to the capital of British India and a state of its own — a few milestones that shaped West Bengal.

    Key milestones in the history of West Bengal, from about 750 CE to 2023.
    WhenMilestone
    c. 750–1161 CEThe Buddhist Pala empire rules Bengal and much of northern India
    c. 1070–1230 CEThe Sena dynasty succeeds the Palas
    1352The independent Bengal Sultanate is founded
    1576Bengal becomes the wealthiest province of the Mughal Empire
    1690An English settlement is founded — traditionally attributed to Job Charnock — the seed of Calcutta
    1757The Battle of Plassey brings Bengal under East India Company control
    1772Calcutta becomes the capital of British India (until 1911)
    1905The first Partition of Bengal sparks the Swadeshi movement
    1911The partition is annulled; the capital shifts to Delhi
    1943The Bengal famine kills an estimated 2–3 million
    15 Aug 1947West Bengal is formed at the Partition of Bengal, with Indian independence
    2021Durga Puja joins UNESCO's heritage list; Santiniketan follows in 2023

    Spotted an error, or know this state well?

    This profile is compiled from Census 2011, the West Bengal budget (via PRS), NITI Aayog, MoSPI, UNESCO and IBEF sources. If you find an inaccuracy or have a better source, tell us and we'll review and correct it.

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