West Bengal

Verified Timeline

Lore & Background

After India gained independence in 1947, the province of Bengal was partitioned along religious lines. The western part remained in India and was named West Bengal, while the eastern part joined newly formed Pakistan as a province called East Pakistan (later giving rise to Bangladesh in 1971). At the time of its creation in 1947, the state of West Bengal was divided into 14 districts—Bankura, Birbhum, Burdwan, Calcutta (Kolkata), Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, Hooghly, Howrah, Malda, Midnapore, Murshidabad, Nadia, West Dinajpur and 24 Parganas. The former princely state Koch Bihar joined as a district on 26 January 1950, and the former French enclave Chandannagore joined as part of the Hooghly district in 1954. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 led to addition of Purulia district to the state and to enlargement of West Dinajpur district. Later, larger districts such as West Dinajpur, 24 Parganas and Midnapore were bifurcated. On 22 June 2026, in West Bengal Legislative Assembly during the 2026-27 Budget in Badal Session, the Finance Minister Shri Swapan Dasgupta announced the creation of 5 new districts: Kolkata (reorganisation), Basirhat, Sundarban, Jangipur & Arambagh. West Bengal is now divided into 27 districts into 5 divisions.

Reader's Guide

A district is governed by a District Collector, better known as a District Magistrate (DM), appointed by the State Government of West Bengal. Each district is divided into subdivisions, except the Kolkata district, which contains urban area only, administered by Kolkata Municipal Corporation. A subdivision is governed by a Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO). Other than urban units such as town municipalities, a subdivision contains 'community development blocks' (CD blocks). A block is administered by a Block Development Officer (BDO). The Panchayati Raj has a three-tier structure: the atomic unit is a Gram Panchayat for a collection of villages; the block-level organisations are called Panchayat Samiti; and the district-level organisations are named Zilla Parishad. The Gorkha Hill Council, formed in 1988, administers three subdivisions of the Darjeeling district: Darjeeling Sadar, Kalimpong and Kurseong. It manages departments of Public Health, Education, Public Works, Transport, Tourism, Market, Small scale industries, Agriculture, Agricultural waterways, Forest (except reserved forests), Water, Livestock, Vocational Training and Sports and Youth services. District administration of Darjeeling remains responsible for election, panchayat, law and order, and revenue, and acts as an interface between the Council and the State Government.

Did You Know?

• The Tropic of Cancer (23°30' N latitude) passes through five districts of West Bengal.
• West Bengal is the only state of India that has both snowy mountains (Himalayas in the north) and sea beaches (on the coast of the Bay of Bengal in the south).
• The uninhabited South Talpatti Island, which surfaced in the Bay of Bengal in the 1970s near the Indo-Bangladesh border, is claimed by both India and Bangladesh.
• The Siliguri Corridor, also known as Chicken's Neck, connects North-East India with the rest of India and lies in the North Bengal region.
• On 22 June 2026, Finance Minister Shri Swapan Dasgupta announced the creation of 5 new districts: Kolkata (reorganisation), Basirhat, Sundarban, Jangipur & Arambagh.