কলকাতা (Kolkata)

কলকাতা (Kolkata)¹ dates from the 17th century, although the villages of Kolikata, Sutanuti and Gobindapur were there before then. It is the capital of পশিচণবনগ (Paścimbangga or West Bengal), भारत (Bhārat or India), and has a metropolitan population of 16.172 million.² The city proper has almost five million,³ and is on the left bank of the Hugli (Hoogly) River, a distributary of the Ganga (Ganges). The Victoria Memorial Hall, now a museum, is its most frequent monumental image. Its tallest building as of the summer of 2018 is The 42 (804 feet, 2018).⁴

The urban area is served by the Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport, one of the nation's busiest.⁵

হাওড়া (Hāora)⁶ is part of the Kolkata metropolitan area of Bangla State, India. It has over a million residents⁷ and is located on the right bank of the Hugli River, connected to Kolkata by three bridges. It is known for the Belur Math, founded by Swami Vivekananda, the headquarters of the Ramakrishna Mission. Not far south, in Shibpur, is the Giant Banyan Tree, said to have the world's largest canopy.

Historically important when the Portuguese called it Ugulim is চুঁচুড়া-হগলি (Chunchura-Hugli),⁸ which has a population of 170 thousand⁹ and is located along the Hugli River in the northern end of the metropolitan area.

Historical maps

External references

Hāora Bridge between Kolkata and Hāora, Presidency Division, Paścimbangga, Bhārat

Footnotes

1. Formerly spelled Calcutta in English. The district of Kolkata is part of the city.
2. 2012 calculation for the metropolitan area from world-gazetteer.com, accessed February 6, 2013. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_million-plus_urban_agglomerations_in_India, accessed July 10, 2018, estimated 14.036 million for 2011.
3. 4.497 million in 2011 according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_India_by_population, accessed July 10, 2018.
4. The 42 is listed as topped out but not completed in emporis.com, accessed August 29, 2018.
5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_busiest_airports_in_India, table for April 2017 to March 2018, accessed July 11, 2018.
6. Formerly Howrah in English. It is in its own district in the Presidency Division.
7. 1.072 million in 2011 according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_India_by_population, accessed July 10, 2018.
8. The first part is conventionally transliterated as Chinsurah. Formerly Hooghly in English. Also called either Chinsurah or Hugli. The two cities were merged in the 19th century.
9. 2011 figure from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_India_by_population, accessed July 10, 2018. The city is in the Hugli District of the Burdwan Division.
10. Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987), "Tables of the World's Largest Cities." Ugulim was the largest city in what is now West Bengal in 1600. Calcutta was the largest city in that area in 1900 CE.