WEST BENGAL

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Districts: 20
Capital: Kolkata
Languages: Bengali

West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is India's fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants. It has a total area of 34,267 sq mi (88,750 km2), making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and Bhutan in the north. It also has borders with five Indian states, including Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam.

Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka. In the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by several sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords, until the beginning of British rule in the 18th century. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the region following the Battle of Plasseyin 1757, and Calcutta served for many years as the capital of British India. The early and prolonged exposure to British administration resulted in expansion of Western education, culminating in development in science, institutional education, and social reforms of the region, including what became known as the Bengal Renaissance. A hotbed of the Indian independence movement through the early 20th century, Bengal was divided during India's independence in 1947 along religious lines into two separate entities: West Bengal—a state of India—and East Bengal—a part of the newly-created Pakistan—later becoming Bangladesh in 1971. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the world's longest elected Communist government.

West Bengal has a rich heritage of handloom weaving, and produces some of the finest varieties of cotton and silk sarees in the country. From an economic standpoint, handlooms come second only to agriculture in providing livelihood to the rural population of the state. Every district has weaving ‘clusters’, which are home to artisan communities, each specialising in specific varieties of handloom weaving. Famous handloom sarees woven in the state include tant, jamdani, garad, korial, baluchari, tussar and muslin.

Poila Baishakh, Dolyatra or Holi, Poush Parbon, Kali Puja, Saraswati Puja, Diwali, Lakshmi Puja, Janmashtami, Jagaddhatri Puja, Vishwakarma Puja, Bhai Phonta, Rakhi Bandhan, Kalpataru Day, Shivratri, Ganesh Chathurthi, Maghotsav, Kartik Puja, Akshay Tritiya, Raas Yatra, Guru Purnima, Annapurna Puja, Charak Puja, Gajan, Buddha Purnima, Christmas, Eid ul-Fitr, Eid ul-Adha and Muharram are other major festivals of Bengal. Rabindra Jayanti, Kolkata Book Fair, Kolkata Film Festival and Nazrul Jayanti are important socio-cultural events.