Kolkata

Kolkata
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the city. For other uses, see Kolkata (disambiguation).
"Calcutta" redirects here. For other uses, see Calcutta (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Kozhikode.
Kolkata

Calcutta
Megacity
Clockwise from top: Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral,

central business district, Howrah Bridge, city tram line, Vidyasagar
Bridge
Nickname(s): City of Joy

City of Palaces[1]
Cultural Capital of India[2][3]
[4][5][6]
Kolkata
Kolkata
Location of Kolkata in West Bengal
Coordinates: 2234N 8822ECoordinates: 2234N 8822E
Country India
State West Bengal
Division Presidency
District Kolkata[A]
Government
Type MayorCouncil
Body KMC
Mayor Sovan Chatterjee[7]
Sheriff Ranjit Mallick[8]
Police commissioner Rajeev Kumar[9]
Area[10]
Megacity 185.00 km2 (71.43 sq mi)
Metro 1,886.67 km2(728.45 sq mi)
Elevation 9 m (30 ft)
Population (2011)[10][11]
Megacity 4,496,694
Rank 7th
Density 24,000/km2 (63,000/sq mi)
Metro[12][13] 14,112,536
14,617,882 (Extended UA)
Metro rank 3rd
Demonym(s) Kolkatan
Time zone IST (UTC+05:30)
ZIP code(s) 700 001 to 700 162

Area code(s) +91-33
Vehicle registration WB 01 to WB 10, WB 19 to WB 22
UN/LOCODE IN CCU
Metro GDP $60 to $150 billion (PPP)[14][15][16]
Website www.kmcgov.in
1. ^ The Kolkata metropolitan area also includes portions of North 24
Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Nadia, and Hooghly districts.
See: Urban structure.
This article contains Bengali

text. Without proper rendering
support, you may see question
marks, boxes, or other symbols.
Kolkata /kolkt/ (pronounced: [kolkatta], also known as Calcutta /klkt/, the official name
until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of
the Hooghly River, it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of East India,
while the Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. In 2011,
the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was
14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates
of Kolkata Metropolitan Area's economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion (GDP adjusted
for purchasing power parity) making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India,
after Mumbai and Delhi.[14][15][16]
In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of
Bengal under Mughalsuzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a
trading licence in 1690,[17] the area was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified
trading post. Nawab Siraj ud-Daulah occupied Calcutta in 1756, and the East India Company
retook it the following year. In 1793 the East India company was strong enough to abolish
Nizamat (local rule), and assumed full sovereignty of the region. Under the company rule, and
later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until
1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism
in Bengal, led to a shift of the capital to New Delhi. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian
independence movement; it remains a hotbed of contemporary state politics. Following Indian
independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science,
culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.
As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century Bengal Renaissance and a religiously and
ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art,
film, theatre, and literature. Many people from Kolkataamong them several Nobel laureates
have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. Kolkata culture features
idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle
intellectual exchanges (adda). West Bengal's share of the Bengali film industry is based in the
city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the Academy
of Fine Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum and the National
Library of India. Among professional scientific institutions, Kolkata hosts the Agri Horticultural
Society of India, the Geological Survey of India, the Botanical Survey of India, the Calcutta
Mathematical Society, the Indian Science Congress Association, the Zoological Survey of India,
the Institution of Engineers, the Anthropological Survey of India and the Indian Public Health
Association. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other
Indian cities by giving importance to association football and other sports.

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Kolkata

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Clockwise from top: Victoria Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral,

Nickname(s): City of Joy

Coordinates: 2234N 8822ECoordinates: 2234N 8822E

Elevation 9 m (30 ft)

Time zone IST (UTC+05:30)

ZIP code(s) 700 001 to 700 162

1. ^ The Kolkata metropolitan area also includes portions of North 24

Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Nadia, and Hooghly districts.

See: Urban structure.

This article contains Bengali

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