India's easternmost state is called West Bengal. With nearly 91 million people living in an area of 88,752 km2, it is located along the Bay of Bengal (34,267 sq mi). West Bengal is the eighth-most populous country subdivision in the world, the fourth-most populous state in India, and the thirteenth-largest state in terms of area. Its borders with Bangladesh in the east, Nepal and Bhutan in the north, and Bhutan are all parts of the Bengal area of the Indian subcontinent. It also has boundaries with the states of Assam, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, and Odisha in India. Kolkata, India's third-largest metropolis and seventh-largest city by population, serves as the state capital. The Bay of Bengal, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region, the coastal Sundarbans, and the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region are all parts of West Bengal. Bengalis make up the majority of the state's population and are the dominant ethnic group. The early history of the region was marked by a series of Indian empires, internal strife, and a struggle for supremacy between Buddhism and Hinduism. Several significant Janapadas were located in ancient Bengal, but the earliest cities date to the Vedic era. The Vangas, Mauryans, and Guptas were only a few of the ancient pan-Indian dynasties that ruled over this area. The Gaua Kingdom, the Pala Empire, and the Sena Empire all had their capitals in the Gaua fortress. The proto-industrialized Mughal Bengal under the control of the Nawabs of Bengal became a semi-independent state after the early 1700s death of Emperor Aurangzeb and began to exhibit traces of the first Industrial revolution. After the Battle of Plassey in 1757, the British East India Company took control of the area, which was then incorporated into the Bengal Presidency. The area served as a focal point for the Indian independence movement and has since become one of the country's premier creative and intellectual hubs. Following widespread religious violence, Bengal was divided into two independent nations in 1947 by a vote of the Bengal Legislative Council and Bengal Legislative Assembly: West Bengal, an Indian state with a majority of Hindus, and East Bengal, a Pakistani province with a majority of Muslims that later became the independent nation of Bangladesh. West Bengal's economy is built on agricultural output and small and medium-sized businesses because it is a welfare state established after Indian independence. The state had political unrest and economic stagnation for several decades before it began to recover. West Bengal's economy is projected to be the sixth-largest state economy in India in 2021–2022 with a gross state product (GSDP) of 15.36 lakh crore (US$190 billion) and the 20th-highest GSDP per capita ($1,500) in the nation. West Bengal has had trouble luring foreign direct investment despite having one of the fastest-growing major economies because of unfavorable land acquisition regulations, subpar infrastructure, and excessive red tape. The state is tenth in India for both media exposure and commercial accessibility. With 14.88% of the population living below the national poverty line, West Bengal performs poorly in terms of reducing the poverty rate. Although the state has a high incidence of human trafficking and a low percentage of school enrolment, it does relatively well in terms of child nutrition, women's safety, and literacy rates. In terms of human development index, it ranks 28th out of all Indian states, with a number that is lower than the national average. The state government debt is the fifth highest in India at 5.2 lakh crore ($65 billion), or 34.41% of GSDP, but it has decreased from 40.65% since 2010–11. There is a mild unemployment rate. West Bengal is the seventh-most popular tourist destination in India and is home to two World Heritage sites.
