West Bengal http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/60/IndiaWestBengal.png Capital Kolkata Governor Viren J. Shah Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya Area 88,752 km² Population  - Total  - Density Ranked 4th in India 80,221,171 (2001) 904/km² Literacy rate:  - Total  - Male  - Female 69.22% 77.58% 60.22% Urbanization: 28.03% West Bengal (পশ্চিম বঙ্গ, Pôščim Bôngô) is a state in the northeast of India. Neighbouring regions are Nepal and Sikkim to the northwest, Bhutan to the north, Assam to the northeast, Bangladesh to the east, the Bay of Bengal to the south, Orissa to the southwest and Jharkhand and Bihar. History of Bengal Bengal came under Islamic rule starting in the 13th century and developed into a wealthy centre of trade and industry under the Mogul Empire during the 16th century. European traders had arrived in the late 15th century and eventually the British East India Company controlled the region by the late 18th century, from which the British extended their rule over all of India. When Indian independence was achieved in 1947, Bengal was divided into predominantly Muslim East Bengal (later changed to East Pakistan and then Bangladesh) and predominantly Hindu West Bengal. For more on Bengal's history prior to 1947, see Bengal. West Bengal State ' Its capital city is Kolkata. There are 18 districts in this state. The primary language of West Bengal is Bengali. Since 1977, the state has been ruled by Left Front, who repeatedly won democratic elections. The climate of West Bengal is tropical. The land is mostly plains except the northern region which is a part of Himalayan Mountain Range. Darjeeling in the north is well known for its high quality teas. At the south of West Bengal the Sundarbans delta on Ganga is a part of the world's largest river delta (rest of it lies in Bangladesh). This region is famous for the Royal Bengal Tiger. Bengal is one of the most important cultural hubs of India. There was a saying, "What Bengal thinks today, India thinks tomorrow". It is the birthplace of India's only Noble laureate in literature, Rabindranath Tagore. The world famous film director Satyajit Ray was also born here. Apart from this, Bengal gave birth to innumerable well known poets and writers who enriched the world literature ceaselessly. To name a few, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Michael Madhusudan Dutt, Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay. Also India's most beloved male singer in films,Kishore Kumar, and the world-famous sitarist Ravi Shankar were Bengali. During independence movement, Bengal took a leading and especially militant role. Subhash Chandra Bose, who was belovedly called "Netaji", is still a burning example of courage for Indian youth. Satyendra Nath Bose, from whom the boson particle and Bose-Einstein theory get their names, was also a Bengali. Amartya Sen, who won Nobel Prize in Economics in 1998 is a Bengali. Mother Teresa, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979, had worked in Kolkata for most of her life. In the religious realm, Bengal gave birth to great Hindu sages and saints like Shri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (15th century major Vaishnava figure), Ramprasad Sen (a famous Kali Bhakta and poet) and Ramakrishna Paramhansa; others include Swami Vivekananda (the most renowned of Shri Ramakrishna's disciples), Śrī Aurobindo Ghosh, and Prabhupada A.C. Bhaktivedanta the founder of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON). See also List of people from West Bengal Bengal External links Official website of Government of West Bengal Map of India showing location of West Bengal District map of West Bengal Railway map West Bengal News FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. You must provide a link to http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html To view or edit this article at Wikipedia go to http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Bengal