Portal:West Bengal
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, Nepal. The region that is now West Bengal was a part of a number of empires and kingdoms during the past two millennia. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the region following the Battle of Plassey in 1757 CE, and the city of Kolkata, then Calcutta, served for many years as the capital of British India. A centre of the Indian independence movement through the early 20th century, Bengal was divided in 1947 into two separate entities, West Bengal - a state of India, and East Pakistan belonging to the new nation of Pakistan. Following India's independence in 1947, West Bengal's economic and political theatres were dominated for many decades by intellectual Marxism, Naxalite movements and trade unionism. From late 1990s, economic rejuvenation led to a spurt in the state's economic and industrial growth. An agriculture-dependent state, West Bengal occupies only 2.7% of the India's land area, though it supports over 7.8% of Indian population, and is the most densely populated state in India. West Bengal has been ruled by the CPI(M)-led Left Front for three decades, making it the world's longest-running democratically-elected communist government. Many notable poets, writers, artists and performers are native to West Bengal.Template:/box-footer Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Kolkata is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal and was capital of British India until 1912. The city's name was officially changed from Calcutta to Kolkata in January 2001. The urban agglomeration of Kolkata covers several municipal corporations, municipalities, city boards and villages and is the third largest urban agglomeration in India after Mumbai and Delhi. As per the census of 2001, the urban agglomeration's population was 13,216,546 while that of the city was 4,580,544. Kolkata city's population growth has been pretty low in the last decade. The city is situated on the banks of the Hoogli River (a distributary of the Ganges). Some of the renowned engineering marvels associated with Kolkata include the bridges like, Howrah Bridge and Vidyasagar Setu. Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India. The city's economic fortunes turned the tide as the early nineties economic liberalization in India reached Kolkata's shores during late nineties.Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, affectionately nicknamed the "Toy Train," is a 2 ft (610 mm) narrow-gauge railway from Siliguri to Darjeeling run by the Indian Railways. It was built between 1879 and 1881 and is about 86 km long. Since 1999 the train has been a World Heritage Site as listed by UNESCO. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Air Marshal Subroto Mukerjee (Bengali: সুব্রত মুখার্জী) OBE, (5 March 1911 – 8 November 1960) born in Kolkata, was educated in India as well as England. He joined Royal Air Force and later was one of the first recruits of the Indian Air Force. He had an illustrious career and had been awarded with many honours until his untimely accidental death in 1960. He took over as the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Air Force on 1 April 1954, in the rank of Air Marshal. When the Change in Designation Act, 1955, was passed, the title of "Commander-in-Chief" was replaced by Chief of the Air Staff, IAF. Thus Mukerjee became the first Indian Commander-in-Chief as well as Chief of Air Staff of the Indian Air Force. He has been called the "Father of the Indian Air Force".
Template:/box-header Geography: Darjeeling Himalayan hill region | Terai | North Bengal plains | Rarh region | Sundarbans | Western plateau and high lands | Ganges Delta | Sundarbans National Park | Singalila National Park | Khoai | Monsoon | More... History: Shashanka | Pala Empire | Sena dynasty | Sher Shah Suri | Mughal Empire | British East India Company | Siraj ud-Daulah | Battle of Plassey | Dutch India | Bengal Presidency | Bengal Renaissance | Brahmo movement | Indian rebellion of 1857 | Bengal famine of 1770 | Bengal famine of 1943 | Partition of Bengal (1905) | Revolutionary movement for Indian independence | Anushilan Samiti | Jugantar | Subhash Chandra Bose | Partition of Bengal (1947) | Bangladesh Liberation War | Naxalite movement | More... Districts and Cities: Districts of West Bengal | Kolkata | Siliguri | Bardhaman | Darjeeling | Kalimpong | Howrah | Durgapur | Asansol | Haldia | Tamluk | Kharagpur | Cooch Behar | Midnapore | Baharampur | Krishnanagar | More... Economy and Politics: Government of West Bengal | Chief Ministers | Governors | Legislative Assembly | Left Front Culture: Bengali language | Baul | Gombhira | Chau dance | cuisine | Rabindra Sangeet | Rabindra Nritya Natya | Dolyatra | Pohela Baishakh | Durgapuja | Bengali literature | Bengali cinema | Jatra People: Rabindranath Tagore | Satyajit Ray | Subhas Chandra Bose | Amartya Sen | Ram Mohan Roy | Mother Teresa | Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay | Kazi Nazrul Islam | Swami Vivekananda | Megh Nad Saha | More...Template:/box-footer Template:/box-header {{Wikipedia:WikiProject West Bengal/to do}}
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