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A district in West Bengal is governed by a district collector or district magistrate, appointed either by the Indian Administrative Service or the West Bengal Civil Service. Each district is subdivided into Sub-Divisions, governed by a sub-divisional magistrate, and again into Blocks. Blocks consists of panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities.
There are 19 districts in West Bengal, under 3 divisions:
[edit] Major cities and towns in West Bengal
- See also: Cities and towns in West Bengal
The capital and largest city of the state is Kolkata — the third-largest urban agglomeration[1] and the fourth-largest city[2] in India. Kolkata is a city district. Siliguri, an economically important town in Darjeeling District, is strategically located in the northeastern Siliguri Corridor (Chicken's Neck) of India. Asansol, Durgapur and Raniganj are cities in the western industrial belt; all of them are in Bardhaman District. Other major cities and towns in West Bengal are Howrah in Howrah District, Haldia in Purba Medinipur District , Kharagpur in Paschim Medinipur District, Burdwan in Bardhaman District, Darjeeling in Darjeeling District, Midnapore in Paschim Medinipur District, Tamluk in Purba Medinipur District, Malda in Malda District and Cooch Behar in Cooch Behar District.
[edit] History of districts in West Bengal
- Cooch Behar district was a princely state named Koch Bihar till 20th August 1949, when the state formally agreed to join India. Transfer of administration started on 12th September 1949 and finally, it became a district of West Bengal from 19th January 1950.[3]
- States Reorganisation Act of 1956 advised revision of boundaries of Indian states based on linguistic lines. During this time, the then West Dinajpur District was enlarged with the addition of some areas from Bihar.
- Partition on 24 Parganas: The district of 24 parganas was bifurcated into two districts, viz. North 24 Parganas district and South 24 Parganas district, with effect from March 1, 1986. North 24 parganas was formed with the Barasat sadar, Barrackpore, Bongaon and Basirhat subdivisions; South 24 parganas consisted of two subdivision: Alipore sadar and Diamond Harbour.[4]
- Partition of West Dinajpur: With effect from April 1, 1992, the West Dinajpur district was bifurcated into North Dinajpur and South Dinajpur.[5][6]
- Partition of Midnapore: With effect from January 1, 2002, erstwhile Midnapore district was divided into two districts: Purba Medinipur District and Paschim Medinipur District. With the division of the district, the subdivisions of Medinipur Sadar, Kharagpur, Jhargram, and Ghatal were placed in Paschim Medinipur, with Midnapore as the district headquarter of only the western half. The subdivisions of Tamluk, Contai, and Haldia were placed in the eastern district with district headquarters at Tamluk. [7] Egra subdivision, a new subdivision of Purba Medinipur, was created out of the erstwhile Contai subdivision.
[edit] District-wise statistics
| Code[8] |
District |
Headquarters |
Population (2001) |
Area |
Population Density |
| BN |
Bankura District |
Bankura |
3,192,695 |
6,882 km² (2,657 sq mi) |
464/km² (1,202/sq mi) |
| BR |
Bardhaman District |
Bardhaman |
6,895,514 |
7,024 km² (2,712 sq mi) |
974/km² (2,523/sq mi) |
| BI |
Birbhum District |
Siuri |
3,015,422 |
4,550 km² (1,757 sq mi) |
662/km² (1,715/sq mi) |
| KB |
Cooch Behar District |
Cooch Behar |
2,479,155 |
3,387 km² (1,308 sq mi) |
732/km² (1,896/sq mi) |
| DA |
Darjeeling District |
Darjeeling |
1,609,172 |
3,149 km² (1,216 sq mi) |
510/km² (1,321/sq mi) |
| ME |
East Midnapore[9] |
Tamluk |
9,610,788 |
14,081 km² (5,437 sq mi) |
683/km² (1,769/sq mi) |
| HG |
Hooghly District |
Chinsura |
5,041,976 |
3,149 km² (1,216 sq mi) |
1,601/km² (4,147/sq mi) |
| HR |
Howrah District |
Howrah |
4,273,099 |
1,467 km² (566 sq mi) |
2,913/km² (7,545/sq mi) |
| JA |
Jalpaiguri District |
Jalpaiguri |
3,401,173 |
6,227 km² (2,404 sq mi) |
546/km² (1,414/sq mi) |
| KO |
Kolkata District |
Kolkata |
4,572,876 |
185 km² (71 sq mi) |
24,718/km² (64,019/sq mi) |
| MA |
Malda District |
English Bazar |
3,290,468 |
3,733 km² (1,441 sq mi) |
881/km² (2,282/sq mi) |
| MU |
Murshidabad District |
Baharampur |
5,863,717 |
5,324 km² (2,056 sq mi) |
1,101/km² (2,852/sq mi) |
| NA |
Nadia District |
Krishnanagar |
4,604,827 |
3,927 km² (1,516 sq mi) |
1,173/km² (3,038/sq mi) |
| PN |
North 24 Parganas |
Barasat |
8,934,286 |
4,094 km² (1,581 sq mi) |
2,182/km² (5,651/sq mi) |
| UD |
North Dinajpur |
Raiganj |
2,441,794 |
3,140 km² (1,212 sq mi) |
778/km² (2,015/sq mi) |
| PU |
Purulia District |
Purulia |
2,536,516 |
6,259 km² (2,417 sq mi) |
405/km² (1,049/sq mi) |
| PS |
South 24 Parganas |
Alipore |
6,906,689 |
9,960 km² (3,846 sq mi) |
693/km² (1,795/sq mi) |
| DD |
South Dinajpur |
Balurghat |
1,503,178 |
2,219 km² (857 sq mi) |
677/km² (1,753/sq mi) |
| ME |
West Midnapore[9] |
Medinipur |
5,193,411 |
9,296 km² (3,589 sq mi) |
559/km² (1,448/sq mi) |
| Total |
-- |
Kolkata |
80,176,197 |
88,752 km² (34,267 sq mi) |
904/km² (2,341/sq mi) |
[edit] References
[edit] External links
