Place

West Bengal

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Overview

West Bengal is a state in the eastern part of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal. In 2011, its population was around 91 million in an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi), while the population estimate as of 2026 is 100.6 million. West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“There’s nothing in common between the East Bengalis and the West Bengalis. Between us and the East Bengalis, on the other hand, there’s religion in common. The Partition of 1947 was a very good thing.”
— Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, April 1972 interview to Oriana Fallaci, as quoted in Interviews with History and Conversations with Power (2011).
“This is the history of the people who speak Bengali, covering both present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal and other Bengali-speaking areas of the country from the earliest recorded times to 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan, and nearly two-thirds of undivided Bengal went to Pakistan.”
— Nitish Sengupta in the Preface to the History of the Bengali-speaking People.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.

On IJR

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Overview

West Bengal is a state in the eastern part of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal. In 2011, its population was around 91 million in an area of 88,752 km2 (34,267 sq mi), while the population estimate as of 2026 is 100.6 million. West Bengal is the fourth-most populous and thirteenth-largest state by area in India, as well as the eighth-most populous country subdivision of the world. As a part of the Bengal region of the Indian subcontinent, it borders Bangladesh in the east, and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also borders the Indian states of Jharkhand, Odisha, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the third-largest metropolis, and seventh largest city by population in India. West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans and the Bay of Bengal. The state's main ethnic group are the Bengalis.

From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Notable quotes

“There’s nothing in common between the East Bengalis and the West Bengalis. Between us and the East Bengalis, on the other hand, there’s religion in common. The Partition of 1947 was a very good thing.”
— Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, April 1972 interview to Oriana Fallaci, as quoted in Interviews with History and Conversations with Power (2011).
“This is the history of the people who speak Bengali, covering both present-day Bangladesh and the Indian state of West Bengal and other Bengali-speaking areas of the country from the earliest recorded times to 1947 when the Indian subcontinent was partitioned into India and Pakistan, and nearly two-thirds of undivided Bengal went to Pakistan.”
— Nitish Sengupta in the Preface to the History of the Bengali-speaking People.

Quotes via Wikiquote (CC BY-SA), each with its original source.