West Bengal

Streets of Calcutta

Introduction

Geography

West Bengal stretches some 600 kilometres from the Bay of Bengal to the Himalayan hills of Darjeeling. It is bordered by Orissa and Bihar in the west, Nepal, Sikkim and Bhutan in the north, and Assam and Bangladesh in the east.

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Cities

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Sights and Activities

The Sundarbans

The Sundarbans mangrove forest is one of the largest forests of its kind and is located in the west of India and the southwest of Bangladesh on the delta of the Ganges, Brahmaputra and Meghna rivers on the Bay of Bengal. The Sundarbans are shared with Bangladesh and form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It contains a complex network of tidal waterways, mudflats and small islands of salt-tolerant mangrove forests and has a high biodiversity with a wide range of flora and fauna. Animals include 260 bird species, the Royal Bengal tiger and other threatened species such as the estuarine crocodile and the Indian python. Some of the wildlife though is very elusive and it is a matter of luck for example to see a tiger. It is best to arrange tours from Dhaka or Kulna which can last for a week if you want.