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kolkata.html
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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1.0">
<title>Kolkata</title>
</head>
<body>
<div class="container" style="text-align: center;padding: 50px;">
<h1>Kolkata</h1>
<p>Kolkata (UK: /kɒlˈkɑːtə/,[15] US: /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/[16] or UK: /kɒlˈkʌtə/,[17] Bengali: [kolˈkata] (listen); also
known as Calcutta /kælˈkʌtə/,[17][16] the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of
West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River 80 km (50 mi) west of the border with Bangladesh. It
is the primary business, commercial, and financial hub of Eastern India and the main port of communication
for North-East India.[18] According to the 2011 Indian census, Kolkata is the seventh-most populous city in
India, with a population of 45 lakh (4.5 million) residents within the city limits, and a population of over
1.41 crore (14.1 million) residents in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area. It is the third-most populous
metropolitan area in India. In 2021, the Kolkata metropolitan area crossed 1.5 crore (15 million) registered
voters. The Port of Kolkata is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. Kolkata is
regarded as the cultural capital of India. Kolkata is the second largest Bengali-speaking city after Dhaka.
It has the highest number of nobel laureates among all cities in India.[1][19]
In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under
Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690,[20] the area
was developed by the Company into an increasingly fortified trading post known as Fort William. 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 native rule, and assumed full sovereignty of the region.
Under company rule and later under the British Raj, Calcutta served as the capital of British-held
territories in India until 1911. In that year, after assessing its geographical location, combined with
growing nationalism in Bengal (Calcutta became the centre for the Indian independence movement), the British
moved the capital to the relatively more centrally located New Delhi.
Following independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the premier centre of Indian commerce, culture, and
politics, suffered many decades of political violence and economic stagnation before it rebounded.[21] A
demographically diverse global city, the culture of Kolkata features idiosyncrasies that include
distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods (paras) and freestyle conversations (adda). Kolkata is home to
eastern India's film industry, known as Tollywood, and cultural institutions, such as the Academy of Fine
Arts, the Victoria Memorial, the Asiatic Society, the Indian Museum, and the National Library of India.
Among 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. Four Nobel laureates and two Nobel Memorial Prize winners
are associated with the city.[22] Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata stands out
in India for being the country's centre of association football and also having strong culture in other
sports less widespread elsewhere.
Contents
1 Etymology
2 History
2.1 British colonial rule
2.2 Contemporary
3 Geography
3.1 Urban structure
3.2 Climate
3.2.1 Temperature
3.2.2 Rainfall
3.3 Environmental issues
4 Economy
5 Demographics
6 Government and public services
6.1 Civic administration
6.2 Utility services
6.3 Military and diplomatic establishments
7 Transport
8 Healthcare
9 Education
10 Culture
11 Media
12 Sports
13 Notable people
14 Sister cities
15 See also
16 References
17 Further reading
18 External links
Etymology
Main article: Etymology of Kolkata
The word Kolkata (Bengali: কলকাতা [kolˈkata]) derives from Kôlikata (Bengali: কলিকাতা [ˈkɔliˌkata]), the
Bengali language name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, the other two
villages were Sutanuti and Govindapur.[23]
There are several explanations for the etymology of this name:
Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô (Bengali: কালীক্ষেত্র [ˈkaliˌkʰetrɔ]), meaning "Field
of [the goddess] Kali". Similarly, it can be a variation of 'Kalikshetra' (Sanskrit: कालीक्षेत्र, lit. "area
of Goddess Kali").
Another theory is that the name derives from Kalighat.[24]
Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila (Bengali: কিলকিলা), or "flat
area".[25]
The name may have its origin in the words khal (Bengali: খাল [ˈkʰal]) meaning "canal", followed by kaṭa
(Bengali: কাটা [ˈkaʈa]), which may mean "dug".[26]
According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun (Bengali: কলি
চুন [ˈkɔliˌtʃun]) and coir or kata (Bengali: কাতা [ˈkata]); hence, it was called Kolikata).[25]
Although the city's name has always been pronounced Kolkata or Kôlikata in Bengali, the anglicised form
Calcutta was the official name until 2001, when it was changed to Kolkata in order to match Bengali
pronunciation.[27]
History
Main article: History of Kolkata
Fort William, headquarters of the British East India Company
British colonial rule
Arms of the city of Calcutta, c. 1914
The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh, 35 km (22 mi) north of Kolkata, provide evidence
that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.[28][29] Kolkata's
recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating
its trade business in Bengal. Job Charnock, an administrator who worked for the company, was formerly
credited as the founder of the city;[30] In response to a public petition,[31] the Calcutta High Court ruled
in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.[32] The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed
three villages: Kalikata, Gobindapur and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside
weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor; the jagirdari (a land grant
bestowed by a king on his noblemen) taxation rights to the villages were held by the Sabarna Roy Choudhury
family of landowners, or zamindars. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.[33]: 1
Chowringhee avenue (now Chitta Ranjan Avenue) and Tipu Sultan Mosque in central Calcutta, 1945. Tram track
closed in 1981.
In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, located on the east bank of the Hooghly
River to protect their trading factory.[34] Facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began
to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation
and tax evasion by the company. His warning went unheeded, and the Nawab attacked; he captured Fort William
which led to the killings of several East India company officials in the Black Hole of Calcutta.[35] A force
of Company soldiers (sepoys) and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following
year.[35] Per the 1765 Treaty of Allahabad following the battle of Buxar, East India company was appointed
imperial tax collector of the Mughal emperor in the province of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, while
Mughal-appointed Nawabs continued to rule the province.[36] Declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the
headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.[37]
In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took complete control of the city
and the province. In the early 19th century, the marshes surrounding the city were drained; the government
area was laid out along the banks of the Hooghly River. Richard Wellesley, Governor-General of the
Presidency of Fort William between 1797 and 1805, was largely responsible for the development of the city
and its public architecture.[38] Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the
East India Company's opium trade.[39] A census in 1837 records the population of the city proper as 229,700,
of which the British residents made up only 3,138.[40] The same source says another 177,000 resided in the
suburbs and neighbouring villages, making the entire population of greater Calcutta 406,700.
In 1864, a typhoon struck the city and killed about 60,000 in Kolkata.[41]
Panoramic view of Kolkata (Calcutta) from the Shaheed Minar (Octerlony Monument), 1832, drawn by Jacob
Janssen
By the 1850s, Calcutta had two areas: White Town, which was primarily British and centred on Chowringhee and
Dalhousie Square; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.[42] The city underwent rapid
industrial growth starting in the early 1850s, especially in the textile and jute industries; this
encouraged British companies to massively invest in infrastructure projects, which included telegraph
connections and Howrah railway station. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the
emergence of a new babu class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals,
newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.[43] In the 19th
century, the Bengal Renaissance brought about an increased sociocultural sophistication among city denizens.
In 1883, Calcutta was host to the first national conference of the Indian National Association, the first
avowed nationalist organisation in India.[44]
Bengali billboards on Harrison Road (now Mahatma Gandhi Road). Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in
British India.
The partition of Bengal in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less
hospitable place for the British.[45][46] The capital was moved to New Delhi in 1911.[47] Calcutta continued
to be a centre for revolutionary organisations associated with the Indian independence movement. The city
and its port were bombed several times by the Japanese between 1942 and 1944, during World War II.[48][49]
Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the Bengal famine of 1943 due to a combination of
military, administrative, and natural factors.[50] Demands for the creation of a Muslim state led in 1946 to
an episode of communal violence that killed over 4,000.[51][52][53] The partition of India led to further
clashes and a demographic shift—many Muslims left for East Pakistan (present day Bangladesh), while hundreds
of thousands of Hindus fled into the city.[54]
Contemporary
During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups
known as the Naxalites damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.[21] The
Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless,
that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.[55] During the mid-1980s, Mumbai (then called Bombay) overtook
Kolkata as India's most populous city. In 1985, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi dubbed Kolkata a "dying city" in
light of its socio-political woes.[56] In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the
Left Front, which was dominated by the Communist Party of India (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving
democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for Indian
communism.[57][58][59] In the 2011 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, Left Front was defeated by the
Trinamool Congress. The city's economic recovery gathered momentum after the 1990s, when India began to
institute pro-market reforms. Since 2000, the information technology (IT) services sector has revitalised
Kolkata's stagnant economy. The city is also experiencing marked growth in its manufacturing base.[60]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Kolkata
Kolkata riverside skyline from Howrah
Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower Ganges
Delta of eastern India approximately 75 km (47 mi) west of the international border with Bangladesh; the
city's elevation is 1.5–9 m (5–30 ft).[61] Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over
the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.[62] The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the East
Kolkata Wetlands, were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the Ramsar Convention
(1975).[63] As with most of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, the soil and water are predominantly alluvial in
origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.[64] Bengal basin
comprises three structural units: shelf or platform in the west; central hinge or shelf/slope break; and
deep basinal part in the east and southeast. Kolkata is located atop the western part of the hinge zone
which is about 25 km (16 mi) wide at a depth of about 45,000 m (148,000 ft) below the surface.[64] The shelf
and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is
nearly 7,500 m (24,600 ft) above the crystalline basement; of these the top 350–450 m (1,150–1,480 ft) is
Quaternary, followed by 4,500–5,500 m (14,760–18,040 ft) of Tertiary sediments, 500–700 m (1,640–2,300 ft)
trap wash of Cretaceous trap and 600–800 m (1,970–2,620 ft) Permian-Carboniferous Gondwana rocks.[64] The
quaternary sediments consist of clay, silt and several grades of sand and gravel. These sediments are
sandwiched between two clay beds: the lower one at a depth of 250–650 m (820–2,130 ft); the upper one 10–40
m (30–130 ft) in thickness.[65] According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, on a scale ranging from I to V
in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside seismic zone III.[66]
Urban structure</p>
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