* West Bengal is a state in the eastern region of India and is the nation`s fourth-most populous.

* It is bordered by the countries of Nepal, Bhutan, and Bangladesh, and the Indian states of Orissa, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, and Assam. West Bengal is surrounded by a few countries, including the Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan.

* The state capital is Kolkata (formerly Calcutta). During the British Era, Kolkata was the capital of India before the construction of Delhi capital. Kolkata  is also known as "City of Joy"  and cultural capital of india & one of the most important for british empire in asia.

* The origin of the name Bengal (known as Bangla and Bongo in Bengali language) is unknown. The word might have been derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga (or Banga).

* At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west. The east came to be known as East Bengal (now bangladesh) and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state.

* According to the Sri Lankan chronicle Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya, a Vanga Kingdom prince, conquered Lanka (modern-day Sri Lanka) and gave the name Sinhala Kingdom to the country.

* West Bengal has a good number of popular tourist attractions, some of them are, Victoria Memorial, Eden Gardens, Indian Museum, Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, Tiger Hill, Howrah Bridge, Peace Pagoda (Darjeeling), Kalighat A Kali Temple, more. Look into cities and destinations section for more details.

* Durga Puja in September–October is the most popular and most widely celebrated festival in West Bengal.

* The University of Calcutta, the oldest public university in India, has 136 affiliated colleges. The Fort William College was established in 1810. The Hindu College was established in 1817. The Scottish Church College, which is the oldest Christian liberal arts college in South Asia, started its journey in 1830. In 1855 the Hindu College was renamed as the Presidency College.

* As per Census 2011, the total population of West Bengal is 91,347,736. West Bengal holds 4th position in population wise.

* West Bengal is divided into 19 all total districts. The Total Land Area of West Bengal is 88,752 sq. km. which is 13th rank in area wise. Bengali is its Principal Language. Its Official Languages are Bengali, Nepali and English.

* West Bengal has given many great leaders and great persons, includes Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Rabindranath Tagore, Khudiram Bose, Matangini Hazra, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, and more. Ram Mohan Roy is considered and regarded as the “Father of the Bengali renaissance” Mother Teresa was based on West Bengal.

* Kolkata Metro is the oldest metro in India, which was started on October 24, 1984.

 * Kolkata is the only city in South Asia and India with Trams. 

* Salt-lake stadium located in Kolkata is the Football stadium with second Highest seating capacity in world. By seating capacity Eden Gardens cricket ground is the 3rd largest cricket stadium in the world.

* The Calcutta football league is the oldest football league in Asia and the second oldest football league in the world, it was started in the year 1898.

* Birla Planetarium, Kolkata is the Second Largest Planetarium in the world, and the largest planetarium in Asia.

* Kolkata is considered the birthplace of a fusion cuisine, now popular as 'Indian-Chinese' food. It was basically brought in by the Chinese from the Haka region (hence the term hakka noddles) and modified to suit the Indian taste. The Tangra neighborhood in East Kolkata is known as 'Chinatown'.

* The U.S Consulate in Calcutta is the U.S. Department of State's second oldest Consulate and dates back to November 19, 1792

* Howrah Station is the busiest railway station India, in terms of unique trains it handles daily. The second passenger train in India was from Howrah to Hooghly on 15th August, 1854.

* The National Library of India,Kolkata is the largest library in India.  Alipore Zoo, Kolkata is the oldest zoo in india. B-Garden,Kolkata is the largest botanical garden in india.

 *One of the popular sweets named roshogolla is from here. Sri Nobin Chandra Das developed this sweet. 

* College street in Kolkata is the largest second hand book market in the world and the largest book market in India.