WEST BENGAL GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

• AMONG THE HIMALAYAN RANGES OF THIS REGION, SINGALILA RANGE HOSTS SANDAKFU WHICH AT 3,636 METRES (11,929 FT) IS THE HIGHEST POINT OF WEST BENGAL. 

• TWO HIGH PEAKS, TIGER HILL AND GHOOM ARE SEEN NEAR THE TOWN OF DARJEELING. MANY RANGES BRANCH OFF IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS FROM TIGER HILL. DURPINDARA IS AN IMPORTANT MOUNTAIN IN THE EASTERN PART OF THE MOUNTAINOUS REGION. 

• A FEW HILLS ALSO OCCUR IN THE TERAI OR DOOARS REGION AT THE FOOT OF THE HIMALAYAS. SOME REMNANTS OF THE SIWALIKS CAN BE SEEN IN THE JALPAIGURI DISTRICT, WHERE THEY ARE KNOWN AS THE BUXA-JAYANTI HILLS.

• A SMALL COASTAL REGION IS ON THE EXTREME SOUTH, WHILE THE SUNDARBANS MANGROVE FORESTS FORM A REMARKABLE GEOGRAPHICAL LANDMARK AT THE GANGES DELTA.

WEST BENGAL GEOGRAPHY AND CLIMATE

• WEST BENGAL IS ON THE EASTERN BOTTLENECK OF INDIA, STRETCHING FROM THE HIMALAYAS IN THE NORTH TO THE BAY OF BENGAL IN THE SOUTH. 

• THE STATE HAS A TOTAL AREA OF 88,752 SQUARE KILOMETRES (34,267 SQ MI). THE DARJEELING HIMALAYAN HILL REGION IN THE NORTHERN EXTREME OF THE STATE BELONGS TO THE EASTERN HIMALAYA. 

• THIS REGION CONTAINS SANDAKFU (3,636 M OR 11,929 FT)—THE HIGHEST PEAK OF THE STATE.THE NARROW TERAI REGION SEPARATES THIS REGION FROM THE PLAINS, WHICH IN TURN TRANSITIONS INTO THE GANGES DELTA TOWARDS THE SOUTH. 

• THE RARH REGION INTERVENES BETWEEN THE GANGES DELTA IN THE EAST AND THE WESTERN PLATEAU AND HIGH LANDS. THE CHOLA RANGE IS SITUATED ON THE SIKKIM AND BHUTAN BORDER. THE HIGHEST PEAK IS RISHILA. 

• THE TOWN OF KALIMPONG IS SITUATED IN THIS REGION. NEORA VALLEY NATIONAL PARK IS LOCATED HERE. THE RELATIVELY LOW-HEIGHT BUXA-JAYANTI RANGE, A PART OF THE SIVALIK, IS ALSO LOCATED HERE.

WEST BENGAL BACKGROUND

 

 

• FROM THE 3RD CENTURY BC THE BROADER REGION OF BENGAL FORMED PART OF ASHOKA’S EMPIRE. IN THE 4TH CENTURY BC IT WAS ABSORBED INTO THE GUPTA EMPIRE. 

• FROM THE 13TH CENTURY IT WAS UNDER MUSLIM RULE UNTIL IT CAME UNDER THE BRITISH IN THE 18TH CENTURY. 

• AT INDIAN INDEPENDENCE IN 1947, BENGAL WAS PARTITIONED, THE EASTERN SECTOR BECOMING EAST PAKISTAN (LATER BANGLADESH) AND THE WESTERN SECTOR BECOMING INDIA’S WEST BENGAL. 

• ALTHOUGH IN AREA WEST BENGAL RANKS AS ONE OF THE SMALLER STATES OF INDIA, IT IS ONE OF THE LARGEST IN POPULATION WITH OVER 91 MILLION PEOPLE.

WEST BENGAL BACKGROUND

 

• WEST BENGAL  IS A STATE IN THE EASTERN REGION OF INDIA AND IS THE NATION'S FOURTH MOST POPULOUS.IT IS ALSO THE SEVENTH MOST POPULOUS SUB-NATIONAL ENTITY IN THE WORLD.

• WEST BENGAL IS THE SIXTH-LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR TO INDIA'S GDP. IT IS BORDERED BY THE COUNTRIES OF NEPAL, BHUTAN, AND BANGLADESH AND THE STATES OF ORISSA, JHARKHAND, BIHAR, SIKKIM, AND ASSAM AND HAS AN AREA OF 34,267 SQ MI (88,752 SQ KM); THE CAPITAL IS KOLKATA (CALCUTTA).

• WEST BENGAL ENCOMPASSES TWO BROAD NATURAL REGIONS, THE GANGETIC PLAIN IN THE SOUTH AND THE SUB-HIMALAYAN AND HIMALAYAN AREA IN THE NORTH.