List of Kolkata facts
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Kolkata (or Calcutta) is the fourth most populous city in India,[1] and by 2007 estimates it is one of the top 15 most populous urban agglomerations in the world.[2] Kolkata features a number of records for India and the rest of the world, ranging from the largest banyan tree to the oldest golf course in India. It also was a home to some of the most prominent characters in India and the world. In the 19th century, Kolkata was the British Empire's second biggest city after London. As late as the 1950s, it was among the top ten largest cities in the world.[3]
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[edit] Ranking
- As of 2006, Kolkata's standing among cities of the world were:
- 7th largest by urban area, preceded in the rankings by Delhi and followed by Jakarta.[4]
- 12th most populous with a population of 12,700,000 people, preceded by Lagos and followed by Cairo in the rankings.[5] By 2007 estimates, it ranked 13th (preceded by Los Angeles and followed by Shanghai) and by 2015 projections it will rank 14th (preceded by Los Angeles and followed by Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto).[2]
- 29th in core city with a population of 4,399,000, preceded by Shenyang and followed by Wuhan.[6]
- 2nd most densely populated, preceded by Mumbai and followed by Karachi.[7]
- 176th in total land area with an area of 531km2, preceded by Auckland and followed by Rotterdam.[8]
- 167th in urban growth with a growth projection of 1.74% till 2020, preceded by Istanbul and followed by Xiantao.[9]
- 49th richest by GDP with US$94 billion in annual urban earning (2005 figure), preceded by Pusan and followed by Vienna[10]
- Kolkata is among the top ten most endangered cities (by population) from exposure to rising sea levels from global warming, along with Mumbai, Guangzhou, Shanghai, Miami, Ho Chi Minh City, Greater New York, Osaka-Kobe, and Alexandria.[11]
[edit] Kolkata in history
- The Hickey's Bengal Gazette or the Calcutta General Advertiser was the first English language newspaper, and indeed the first printed newspaper, to be published in the Indian sub-continent. [12]
- Kolkata has an eminent place in the history of American diplomacy as one of the oldest American Consulates anywhere in the world.[13]
- Established in 1814, the Indian Museum is the oldest museum in Asia and houses vast collection of Indian natural history and Indian art.[14] Today it is the ninth-oldest museum of any kind in the world.[15]
- Kolkata Chinatown is the sixth-oldest existing Chinatown in the world.[16]
- In 1898, Hiralal Sen produced and directed what is believed to be the first film in India, The Flower Of Persia, in Kolkata.[17]
[edit] People of Kolkata
- India has seven Nobel Prize winners, either by birth or citizenship to date, and five of them are directly connected to Kolkata, including Rabindranath Tagore, Mother Teresa and Amartya Sen.
- Several notable writers, actors, and athletes were born in Kolkata, including William Makepeace Thackeray, Vikram Seth, Bharati Mukherjee, Suketu Mehta, Sasthi Brata, Norman Pritchard, and Shashi Kapoor.
[edit] Sports and leisure
- The Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the fifth-oldest golf club in the world, has the oldest golf course outside the British Isles. Calcutta Ladies Golf Club is the only golf club in the world run by women.[18][19]
- Calcutta Cricket and Football Club is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.[20] Founded in 1792 as the Calcutta Cricket Club, it merged later with the Calcutta Football Club (founded 1872) to become the Calcutta Cricket and Football Club.
- Established in 1793, Calcutta Racket Club is one of the oldest Squash clubs in the world.[21]
- Established in 1847, Calcutta Turf Club has one of the oldest racing turfs in the world.
- The Calcutta Club opened its doors to women members in 2007.[22]
- Founded in 1864, the Eden Gardens is the oldest cricket ground in India,[23][24], and is also one of only two 100,000-seat cricket stadiums in the world.[25]
[edit] Science and technology
- In 1897, Ronald Ross proved the link between Anopheles mosquitoes and Malarial parasite, in Secunderabad, based on his work in Kolkata.[26]
- Kolkata was the original headquarters of the IBM Corporation in India before shifting to Bangalore on its return to operations in the country.
- In 1870, Carl Wilhelm Siemens successfully demonstrated the exchange of telegrams from London to Kolkata that took only an hour.[27]
- Medical College Kolkata is the oldest institution of European medicine in Asia.[28]
- Kolkata based physician Subhash Mukhopadhyay was the second doctor to perform a successful in-vitro fertilization in the world leading to the birth of a baby girl, Kanupriya "Durga" Agarwal.[29]
- Kolkata based accountant Amitava Banerjee is the first single man in India (and South Asia) to father an in-vitro fertilised baby.[30]
- Inaugurated in 1959, Birla Industrial and Technological Museum on Gurusaday Dutta Road was the first government funded science museum in India.[31]
[edit] Animals and plants
- The Indian Botanical Gardens at Shibpur, is home to The Great Banyan. A banyan tree which is reported to have the largest canopy in the world, and dates back to at least 221 years, from when the gardens were founded in 1787.[32][33]
- Until March 2006, Kolkata's oldest resident was Adwaita, a 255 year old giant Aldabra giant tortoise, whose residence was the 131 year old Alipore Zoological Gardens.[34]
[edit] Food and beverage
- Kolkata and Mumbai were two of the main export/import destinations for British beer, which would go stale and sour during the sea voyage. So the India Pale Ale style of beer was created specifically to withstand the rigours of the sea between London and these Indian ports.[35]
- Nilhat House in Kolkata is the largest tea auction house in the world.[36]
[edit] Kolkata and other cities
- Kolkata is sister city to Long Beach, California.[37]
- Kolkata and Mumbai are the only two cities in India where the honorary designation of the Sheriff still exists.[38]
- Howrah is Kolkata's biggest satellite city. It also is the second largest city in the state of West Bengal.[39]
[edit] Notes
- ^ India: largest cities and towns and statistics of their population. World Gazetteer. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ a b Demographia World Urban Areas Projections 2007 & 2020 (PDF). Demographia. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ Top 10 largest cities of the year 1950 (population), All Rankings
- ^ Largest cities and urban areas in 2006 (1 to 100), City Mayors
- ^ Largest cities in the world ranked by population (1 to 125), City Mayors
- ^ Cities ranked 1 to 100, City Mayors
- ^ Largest cities in the world ranked by population density (1 to 125), City Mayors
- ^ Largest cities in the world ranked by land area (126 to 250), City Mayors
- ^ Fastest growing cities and urban areas (101 to 200), City Mayors
- ^ Richest cities and urban areas in 2005, City Mayors
- ^ Warming risks listed by population, costs, MSNBC
- ^ Magindia article on History of advertising in Indian media
- ^ About the U.S. Consulate General, Kolkata. U.S. Department of State. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ History of Indian museum. The Indian Museum of Kolkata. Retrieved on 2006-04-23.
- ^ History of the Indian Museum Kolkata. Indian Museum Kolkata. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ The Calcutta Kitchen
- ^ National cinema and the beginning of film history in/of Bangladesh. La Trobe University - Melbourne, Australia. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ Pradyumna Prasad Karan, The Non-western World: Environment, Development and Human Rights, page 359, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0415947138
- ^ History Section: Golf's Roots. Thinkquest.org. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Raju, Mukherji. "Seven Years? Head Start", The Telegraph, March 14, 2005. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
- ^ Of squash, sweat and soda, The Telegraph
- ^ Calcutta Club's first women members, Times of India
- ^ Eden Garden on cricketclub.org
- ^ Eden Garden on cricketweb.net
- ^ India - Eden Gardens (Kolkata). Cricket Web. Retrieved on 2006-10-26.
- ^ Ross and the Discovery that Mosquitoes Transmit Malaria Parasites. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ Sir William Siemens (1823-1883) (PDF). Siemens AG. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Heritage. Medical College & Hospital Kolkata. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ It's official: Kanupriya's India’s first test-tube girl. Diligent Media Corp.. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ IVF son for single Indian father. BBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ General Information. Birla Industrial and Technological Museum. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Eureka! New tallest living thing discovered. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Gardening World Records. LetsGoGardening.co.uk. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Kolkata toasts 255-year-old resident. Sify News. Retrieved on 2008-04-25.
- ^ Tomlinson, Thom. India Pale Ale, Part I:IPA and Empire--Necessity and Enterprise give Birth to a Style
- ^ Tea and technology mix in Calcutta, BBC News
- ^ Online Directory: California, USA. Sister Cities International. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ Singing Sheriff. Living Media India Ltd. Retrieved on 2008-04-24.
- ^ Howrah, Encyclopedia Britannica Online
