West Bengal (redirected from Bengal, West)

West Bengal: see Bengal.

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West Bengal

State (pop., 2001: 80,176,197), northeastern India. It is bordered by Nepal and Bangladesh and the states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, Assam, and Meghalaya and has an area of 34,267 sq mi (88,752 sq km); the capital is Kolkata (Calcutta). It encompasses two broad natural regions, the Gangetic Plain in the south and the Himalayas in the north. From the 3rd century BC it formed part of Ashoka's empire. In the 4th century AD it was absorbed into the Gupta empire. From the 13th century it was under Muslim rule, until it came under the British in 1757. At Indian independence in 1947, it was partitioned, with the eastern sector becoming East Pakistan (later Bangladesh) and the western sector becoming India's West Bengal. The state is important for its mineral output, but agriculture is its main economic activity. It is noted for its artistic endeavours, including filmmaking.

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West Bengal

a state of E India, on the Bay of Bengal: formed in 1947 from the Hindu area of Bengal; additional territories added in 1950 (Cooch Behar), 1954 (Chandernagor), and 1956 (part of Bihar); mostly low-lying and crossed by the Hooghly River. Capital: Calcutta. Pop.: 80 221 171 (2001). Area: 88 752 sq. km (34 260 sq. miles)

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West Bengal 

a state in eastern India on the Gulf of Bengal, occupying the western Ganges Delta. Area, 88,000 sq km; population, 44.5 million (1971). The administrative center is Calcutta.

West Bengal is one of the world’s most densely populated regions, with 500 persons per sq km. The population is 24.5 percent urban, with three-fourths of the people living in Calcutta and its suburbs. About 84 percent of the population is Bengali. The remainder include the Bhojpuri, Magdhi, Santali, Oraoni, and Oriya; 79 percent are Hindu and 20 percent Muslim.

West Bengal is an alluvial lowland plain, formed by deposits of the tributaries and arms of the Ganges. In the west the elevations reach 300-400 m; the Himalayas rise in the north (in the Darjeeling region there are elevations as high as 4,000 m). The climate is tropical, moist, and monsoonal, with an annual precipitation of 1,400-1,800 mm in the plains and more than 3,000 mm in the mountains. June to October is the rainy season; November through February is dry and cool; and March through May is hot and dry. In the plains the average temperature in December is about 19°C; in May it is about 30°C. Fertile alluvial soil predominates. Woods and shrubs, covering about 10 percent of the territory, are concentrated in the north in the Himalayas and the Terai, although there is also foliage in the west and south (mangroves in the lower Ganges Delta).

West Bengal is economically one of the most highly developed states of India and an important agricultural region. According to the 1961 census, 57.8 percent of the population works in agriculture, producing 39.8 percent of the state’s income, and 18 percent works in industry and construction, producing 23.5 percent of the income. Foreign and Indian monopolies are of considerable importance in the economy.

Chronic food shortages are characteristic of West Bengal. Over 60 percent of the territory is under cultivation (5.7 million hectares [ha] in 1964-65); over one-fourth of this area is irrigated. There are large irrigation canals in the Damodar Mayurakshi-Kasai river system. Small-scale farmers, who commonly work rented land, predominate. Almost three-quarters of the crop (more than nine-tenths in the west) is rice; in 1966-67, 4.8 million tons were harvested, accounting for one-seventh of the national production and occupying first place in India. Vegetables, potatoes, fruits (mangoes, bananas), tobacco, leguminous plants, rapeseed, mustard, and corn (in the north) are other important crops. Jute is cultivated, with 496,000 ha under cultivation, and a harvest of 700,000 tons in 1967-68 (over half the Indian and more than one-fifth the world production). Kenaf is also raised. In the north, in the mountain and foothill regions of Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri, there are tea plantations covering 86,000 ha, with a crop of 87,000 tons in 1965. This region produces one-fourth of the nation’s tea. Fish are caught in ponds, rivers, and the sea.

West Bengal is one of the Indian states with highly developed industry, both light industry and food processing as well as heavy industry. The officially recorded industries of West Bengal, which employ 22.3 percent of Indian factory workers, are responsible for 20.6 percent of the officially recorded gross output in the country. Small industry is widespread. The Raniganj Basin yields annually one-third of the nation’s coal (about 23 million tons in 1967). One-fifth of India’s electrical energy is produced in West Bengal, with thermoelectric power plants in Calcutta (506 megawatts [MW] in 1966-67), Durgapur (435 and 305 MW), and Bandel (330 MW). Hydroelectric power plants are located on the Damodar and Jaldhak rivers.

Many manufacturing and processing industries are located in West Bengal. Jute processing employs 30.3 percent of all factory workers and produces 20.9 percent of the gross state product (1961)—nine-tenths of Indian and one-half of world production. Ferrous metallurgy produces one-third of the national production, with large factories in Burnpur and Durgapur. Metal-processing and machine-building industries, accounting for one-third of the national production, produce industrial equipment, machine tools, electrical devices, ships, railroad rolling stock, automobiles, motorcycles, and bicycles. Chemical industries manufacture plastic and rubber items, chemicals and Pharmaceuticals, and paints and lacquers. Other industries are cottons and other textiles, knitted goods, glass, leather and footwear, polygraphy, and food processing (rice, tea, tobacco, and vegetable oils). These enterprises are concentrated in Calcutta and its suburbs (Howrah, Garden Reach, Bhatpara). The Raniganj Basin is also an important region for heavy industry, particularly the cities of Asansol, Burnpur, Durgapur, and Chittaranjan. A seaport in Haldia is being constructed (1972) on the lower Hooghly.

I. V. SAKHAROV