About West Bengal
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.
The state capital is Kolkata (Calcutta), the third-largest city in India. The geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group is the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority.
Economy
As of 2015, West Bengal has the fifth highest GSDP in India. GSDP at current prices (base 2004–05) has increased from 208,656 crores in 2004–05 to 800,868 crores in 2014–15. Agriculture is the leading occupation in West Bengal. Rice is the state’s principal food crop. Rice, potato, jute, sugarcane and wheat are the top five crops of the state. Tea is produced commercially in northern districts; the region is well known for Darjeeling and other high quality teas. State industries are localised in the Kolkata region, the mineral-rich western highlands, and Haldia port region. The Durgapur–Asansol colliery belt is home to a number of major steel plants. Manufacturing industries playing an important economic role are engineering products, electronics, electrical equipment, cables, steel, leather, textiles, jewellery, frigates, automobiles, railway coaches, and wagons. The Durgapur centre has established a number of industries in the areas of tea, sugar, chemicals and fertilisers. Natural resources like tea and jute in and nearby parts has made West Bengal a major centre for the jute and tea industries.
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