Geography of West Bengal

West Bengal is long and narrow, running from the delta of the Ganges river system in the Bay of Bengal, to the south, up through the Ganges plain, to the heights of the Himalaya and Darjeeling in the north. On the east, it shares a long, rather blurred boundary with Bangladesh, in the Ganga-Brahmaputra river system.

Its capital, Calcutta, sprawls north-south along the eastern bank of the Hooghly river, which divides it from Howrah on the western bank.Apart from Calcutta, with its bewildering maelstrom of noise, beauty, culture, confusion and squalor, and Darjeeling, which is congested yet somehow still serene, West Bengal is relatively untouched by commercialism and tourism.

South of Calcutta on the Bay of Bengal is the area known as the Sunderbans, one of the largest deltas in the world, and home to the elusive Royal Bengal tiger.

To the north lie the flourishing mango plantations and jute fields of the fertile river plains. Farther north again in the Himalayan foothills are the world famous Darjeeling tea plantations. Although most of the lush scenery now falls in Bangladesh, there is sufficient in West Bengal to give some idea of its lyrical beauty.

India embraces a scenic variety quite as complex and fascinating as its social composition. Compared to the grandeur of the Himalayas or the charm of the South, Bengal might not seem remarkable. Its big difference lies in a gentle homeliness and in a passionate attachment this has evoked in the Bengali people.