View source for Kolkata

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
{{Redirect|Calcutta|other uses|Calcutta (disambiguation)|and|Kolkata (disambiguation)}}
{{pp-semi-indef}}
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{{Short description|Capital city of West Bengal, India}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name                            = Kolkata
| native_name                     = <!-- Please do not add any Indic script in this infobox, per WP:INDICSCRIPT policy. -->
| official_name                   = 
| other_name                      = Calcutta
| settlement_type                 = [[Megacity]]<!-- Kolkata is a mother city, so it is metropolis. If the page includes surrounding places, then it can be mentioned as metropolitan area]] -->
| image_seal                    = Logo KMC.PNG
| image_skyline                 = Kolkata Imgs.jpg
| image_size                    = 270
| image_caption                 = Clockwise from top: [[Victoria Memorial (India)|Victoria Memorial]], [[St. Paul's Cathedral, Kolkata|St. Paul's Cathedral]], Central Business District, [[Howrah Bridge]], [[Trams in Kolkata|City Tram Line]], [[Vidyasagar Setu|Vidyasagar Bridge]]
| nickname                        = City of Joy<br />Cultural Capital of India<ref name="teleg16"/><ref name="dnaind"/><ref name="bus-std"/><br />[[Cinema of West Bengal|Tollywood]]<ref name=Sarkar/>
| pushpin_map
= India West Bengal#India#Asia#Earth
| pushpin_map_caption           = Location in West Bengal, India
| pushpin_mapsize                 = 
| coordinates                     = {{coord|22.5726|N|88.3639|E|region:IN-WB|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type                = Country
| subdivision_name                = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1               = [[States and union territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_type2               = [[Divisions of West Bengal|Division]]
| subdivision_type3               = [[List of districts of West Bengal|District]]
| subdivision_name1               = {{flagicon image|..West Bengal Flag(INDIA).png}} [[West Bengal]]
| subdivision_name2               = [[:Presidency division|Presidency]]
| subdivision_name3              = {{plainlist|
* [[Kolkata district|Kolkata]]}}<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ceowestbengal.nic.in/ACName?DCID=12|title=Home &#124; Chief Electoral Officer|website=ceowestbengal.nic.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ceowestbengal.nic.in/ACName?DCID=11|title=Home &#124; Chief Electoral Officer|website=ceowestbengal.nic.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ceowestbengal.nic.in/ACName?DCID=10|title=Home &#124; Chief Electoral Officer|website=ceowestbengal.nic.in}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://s24pgs.gov.in/election/ac_poll.php|title=AC-Wise Polling Stations – South 24 Parganas|website=s24pgs.gov.in}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=web.archieve.org|url=http://www.s24pgs.gov.in/election/doc/electors%20details.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529011629/http://www.s24pgs.gov.in/election/doc/electors%20details.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=29 May 2013}}</ref>{{refn|The Kolkata metropolitan area also includes portions of [[North 24 Parganas district|North 24 Parganas]], [[South 24 Parganas district|South 24 Parganas]], [[Howrah district|Howrah]], [[Nadia district|Nadia]] and [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]] districts. See: [[Kolkata#Urban structure|Urban structure]].|group=upper-alpha}}
| government_type                 = [[Municipal Corporations in India|Municipal Corporation]]
| governing_body                  = [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]]
| leader_party                    = [[All India Trinamool Congress|(AITC)]]
| leader_title1                   = [[Mayor of Kolkata|Mayor]]
| leader_name1                    = [[Firhad Hakim]] ([[All India Trinamool Congress|AITC]])
| area_footnotes                  = <ref name="census1"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Basic Statistics of Kolkata|url=https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KolkataStatistics.jsp|website=Kolkata Municipal Corporation|publisher=Kolkata Municipal Corporation|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402172553/https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KolkataStatistics.jsp|archivedate=2 April 2015}}</ref>
| area_magnitude                  = 1 E+7
| area_total_km2                  = 205.00
| area_total_sq_mi                = 79.151
| area_metro_km2                  = 1886.67
| area_metro_sq_mi                = 728.45
| elevation_m                     = 9
| elevation_ft                    = 30
| population_total                = 4,496,694
| population_as_of                = 2011
| population_footnotes            = <ref name="census1">{{cite web|title=District Census Handbook – Kolkata|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/1916_PART_B_DCHB_KOLKATA.pdf|website=Census of India|publisher=The Registrar General & Census Commissioner|accessdate=13 May 2016|page=43|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018013413/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/dchb/1916_PART_B_DCHB_KOLKATA.pdf|archivedate=18 October 2016}}</ref><ref name="KOL">{{cite web|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/pca/SearchDetails.aspx?Id=375980|publisher=Census of India|title=Kolkata Municipal Corporation Demographics|access-date=3 June 2016}}</ref>
| population_density_km2          = auto
| population_metro                = {{nowrap| 14112536<br />14,617,882 (Extended UA) }}
| population_metro_footnotes      = <ref name=kolkatauapop2011/><ref name="extended UA 2011">{{cite web|title=INDIA STATS: Million plus cities in India as per Census 2011|url=http://pibmumbai.gov.in/scripts/detail.asp?releaseId=E2011IS3|website=Press Information Bureau, Mumbai|publisher=National Informatics Centre|accessdate=20 August 2015|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150630112755/http://pibmumbai.gov.in/scripts/detail.asp?releaseId=E2011IS3|archivedate=30 June 2015}}</ref>
| population_rank                 = [[List of most populous cities in India|7th]]
| population_blank1_title         = Metro rank
| population_blank1               = [[List of million-plus agglomerations in India|3rd]]
| population_demonyms             = Kolkatan <br /> Calcuttan
| timezone1                       = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1                     = +05:30
| postal_code_type                = [[Postal Index Number|ZIP code(s)]]
| postal_code                     =700 xxx
| area_code                       = [[Telephone numbers in India|+91-33]]
| registration_plate              = [[List of Regional Transport Office districts in India#WB.E2.80.94West Bengal|WB]]
| blank_name_sec1                 = [[UN/LOCODE]]
| blank_info_sec1                 = IN CCU
| blank1_name_sec1                = [[Gross metropolitan product|Metro GDP]]/[[Purchasing power parity|PPP]] <!-- GDP consensus approach, per [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Indian Economy#City economy size and rank claims - a consensual approach|WikiProject Indian Economy talk]] -->
| blank1_info_sec1                = $60 Billion-150&nbsp;Billion (PPP) <ref name="Brookings"/><ref name="pricewater"/><ref name="YahooTop15"/>
| blank2_name_sec1                = [[Human Development Index|HDI]] {{nobold|(2004)}}
| blank2_info_sec1                = {{increase}} 0.78<ref>{{cite news |title= West Bengal Human Development Report 2004|url=http://hdr.undp.org/sites/default/files/india_west_bengal_2004_en.pdf|language=en}}</ref> ({{color|green|High}})
| website                         = {{cite news|title=Kolkata Municipal Corporation|url=https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KolkataStatistics.jsp}}
| footnotes                       = {{Reflist|group=upper-alpha}}
| leader_title2                   = [[Sheriff of Kolkata|Sheriff]]
| leader_name2                    = Dr. Swapan Kumar Ghosh
| leader_title3                   = [[Police Commissioner of Kolkata|Police commissioner]]
| leader_name3                    = [[Anuj Sharma (IPS)|Anuj Sharma, IPS]]
| blank_name_sec2                 = {{nowrap|[[Official languages]]}}
| blank_info_sec2                 = [[Bengali language|Bengali]]<!--PLEASE DO NOT ADD "ENGLISH" HERE WITHOUT A REFERENCE, ELSE IT WILL BE REMOVED--><ref name=nclmanurep2010>{{cite web |url=http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM47thReport.pdf |title=Report of the Commissioner for linguistic minorities: 47th report (July 2008 to June 2010) |pages=122–126 |publisher=Commissioner for Linguistic Minorities, Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India |accessdate=16 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120513161847/http://nclm.nic.in/shared/linkimages/NCLM47thReport.pdf |archivedate=13 May 2012 }}</ref>
}}
{{Contains Bangla text}}

'''Kolkata''' ({{IPAc-en|k|Q|l|ˈ|k|V|t|@}},<ref name=longman>{{cite book|last=Wells|first=John|authorlink=John C. Wells|title=Longman Pronunciation Dictionary|publisher=Pearson Longman|edition=3rd|date=3 April 2008|isbn=978-1-4058-8118-0}}</ref> {{IPA-bn|kolkata|lang|Bn-কলকাতা.oga}}, also known as '''Calcutta''' {{IPAc-en|k|ae|l|'|k|V|t|@}},<ref name=longman/> [[List of renamed Indian cities and states#West Bengal|the official name until 2001]]) is the "cultural capital" of India and the [[Capital city|capital]] of the [[India]]n [[States and union territories of India|state]] of [[West Bengal]]. According to the 2011 Indian census, it is the [[List of most populous cities in India|seventh most populous city]]; the city had a population of 4.5&nbsp;million, while the suburb population brought the total to 14.1&nbsp;million, making it the [[List of most populous metropolitan areas in India|third-most populous metropolitan area]] in India. Kolkata [[Megalopolis]] is the area surrounding Kolkata Metropolitan city with additional population.<ref>{{cite book|title=Issues in Global Environment—Climate and Climate Change: 2013 Edition|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ORLrsQVTTXEC&pg=PA399|date=1 May 2013|publisher=ScholarlyEditions|isbn=978-1-4901-0965-7|page=399}}</ref> Located on the east bank of the [[Hooghly River]] approximately {{convert|80|km}} west of the border with [[Bangladesh]], it is the principal commercial, cultural, and educational centre of [[East India]], while the [[Port of Kolkata]] is India's oldest operating port and its sole major riverine port. The city, nicknamed the "City of Joy" is widely regarded as the "cultural capital" of India and as of 2019, six [[List of Indian Nobel laureates|Nobel Laureates]] have been associated with the city.<ref name="teleg16">{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/travel/1245/india-calcutta-the-capital-of-culture.html|title=India: Calcutta, the capital of culture-Telegraph|work=telegraph.co.uk|accessdate=25 July 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102024458/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/luxury/travel/1245/india-calcutta-the-capital-of-culture.html|archivedate=2 January 2016}}</ref><ref name="dnaind">{{cite web|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-kolkata-remains-cultural-capital-of-india-amitabh-bachchan-1763111|title=Kolkata remains cultural capital of India: Amitabh Bachchan – Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis|date=10 November 2012|accessdate=25 November 2016|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170625005244/http://www.dnaindia.com/entertainment/report-kolkata-remains-cultural-capital-of-india-amitabh-bachchan-1763111|archivedate=25 June 2017}}</ref><ref name="bus-std">{{cite news|url=http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/foundation-of-kolkata-museum-of-modern-art-laid-113111400889_1.html|title=Foundation of Kolkata Museum of Modern Art laid|first=Press Trust of|last=India|work=business-standard.com|accessdate=25 July 2016|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305054533/http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/foundation-of-kolkata-museum-of-modern-art-laid-113111400889_1.html|archivedate=5 March 2016|date=14 November 2013}}</ref> Recent estimates of [[Kolkata Metropolitan Area]]'s economy have ranged from $60 to $150&nbsp;billion (GDP adjusted for [[purchasing power parity]]) making it [[List of cities by GDP|third most-productive metropolitan area]] in India, after [[Mumbai]] and [[Delhi]].<ref name="Brookings">{{cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/global-metro-monitor/|title=Global city GDP 2014|publisher=[[Brookings Institution]]|accessdate=8 May 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525113815/https://www.brookings.edu/research/global-metro-monitor/|archivedate=25 May 2017|date=22 January 2015}}</ref><ref name="pricewater">{{cite web|author1=John Hawksworth|author2=Thomas Hoehn|author3=Anmol Tiwari|title=Which are the largest city economies in the world and how might this change by 2025?|url=http://pwc.blogs.com/files/global-city-gdp-rankings-2008-2025.pdf|publisher=[[PricewaterhouseCoopers]]|accessdate=17 April 2015|date=November 2009|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418012510/http://pwc.blogs.com/files/global-city-gdp-rankings-2008-2025.pdf|archivedate=18 April 2015}}</ref><ref name="YahooTop15">{{cite news |title = India's top 15 cities with the highest GDP Photos Yahoo! India Finance|url = https://in.finance.yahoo.com/photos/the-top-15-indian-cities-by-gdp-1348807591-slideshow/the-top-15-indian-cities-by-gdp-photo-1348807049.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141009131024/https://in.finance.yahoo.com/photos/the-top-15-indian-cities-by-gdp-1348807591-slideshow/the-top-15-indian-cities-by-gdp-photo-1348807049.html|archivedate=9 October 2014|work = [[Yahoo! Finance]] |date = 28 September 2012 |accessdate = 27 March 2017}}</ref>

In the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the [[Nawab of Bengal]] under [[Mughal emperors|Mughal]] [[suzerainty]]. After the Nawab granted the [[East India Company]] a trading [[licence]] in 1690,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Dutta|first=K.|last2=Desai|first2=A.|date=April 2008|title=Calcutta: a cultural history|publisher=Interlink Books|location=Northampton, Massachusetts, US|pages=9–10|isbn=978-1-56656-721-3|ref=harv}}</ref> the area was developed by the Company into [[Fort William, India|an increasingly fortified trading post]]. 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 Nizamat (local rule), and [[Permanent Settlement|assumed full sovereignty]] of the region. Under the company rule, and later under the [[British Raj]], Calcutta served as the capital of British-held territories in India until 1911, when its perceived geographical disadvantages, combined with growing nationalism in [[Bengal]], led to a shift of the capital to [[New Delhi]]. Calcutta was the centre for the [[Indian independence movement]]; it remains a hotbed of [[Politics of West Bengal|contemporary state politics]]. Following Indian independence in 1947, Kolkata, which was once the centre of modern Indian education, science, culture, and politics, suffered several decades of economic stagnation.

As a nucleus of the 19th- and early 20th-century [[Bengal Renaissance]] and a religiously and ethnically diverse centre of culture in Bengal and India, Kolkata has local traditions in drama, art, film, theatre, and literature. Many [[List of people from Kolkata|people from Kolkata]]—among them, several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, and other areas. [[Kolkata culture]] features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively [[Para (Bengali)|close-knit neighbourhoods]] (''paras'') and [[Adda (South Asian)|freestyle intellectual exchanges]] (''adda''). West Bengal's share of the [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali film industry]] is based in the city, which also hosts venerable cultural institutions of national importance, such as the [[Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta|Academy of Fine Arts]], the [[Victoria Memorial (India)|Victoria Memorial]], the [[The Asiatic Society|Asiatic Society]], the [[Indian Museum]] and the [[National Library of India]]. Among professional 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 (India)|Institution of Engineers]], the [[Anthropological Survey of India]] and the [[Indian Public Health Association]]. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by [[Football in Kolkata|focusing]] on [[association football]] and other sports.

==Etymology==
{{main|Etymology of Kolkata}}
The word ''Kolkata'' derives from ''[[Kalikata|Kôlikata]]'' ({{Lang-bn|কলিকাতা}}) [ˈkɔlikat̪a], the Bengali name of one of three villages that predated the arrival of the British, in the area where the city was eventually established; the other two villages were [[Sutanuti]] and [[Gobindapur, Kolkata|Govindapur]].<ref name="spatialchange">{{cite book |title= Globalizing cities: a new spatial order?|last=Chakravorty|first=Sanjoy|editor1-last=Marcuse |editor1-first=Peter |editor2-last=Kempen |editor2-first=Ronald van |chapter=From colonial city to global city? The far-from-complete spatial transformation of Calcutta|year=2000 |publisher=Blackwell Publishing |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-631-21290-4 |pages= 56–77}}</ref>

There are several explanations for the etymology of this name:
* ''Kolikata'' is thought to be a variation of ''Kalikkhetrô'' [ˈkalikʰːet̪rɔ] ({{Lang-bn|কালীক্ষেত্র}}), 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]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://kalighattemple.com/|title=Kalighat Kali Temple|website=kalighattemple.com|language=en|access-date=24 September 2017|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170917134630/http://kalighattemple.com/|archivedate=17 September 2017}}</ref>
* Alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term ''kilkila'' ({{lang-bn|কিলকিলা}}), or "flat area".<ref name="chatterjeename">{{cite book |title=Water resources, conservation and management |last=Chatterjee |first=S.N. |year=2008 |publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-269-0868-4 |page=85 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lpREeIZQvrcC |accessdate=29 January 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130619194712/http://books.google.com/books?id=lpREeIZQvrcC |archivedate=19 June 2013  }}</ref>
* The name may have its origin in the words ''khal'' [ˈkʰal] ({{lang-bn|খাল}}) meaning "canal", followed by ''kaṭa'' [ˈkata] ({{lang-bn|কাটা}}), which may mean "dug".<ref name="Nair">{{Cite book
|last = Nair|first=P. Thankappan |title = Calcutta in the 17th century |pages=54–58|publisher = Firma KLM |location=Kolkata|year = 1986}}</ref>
* According to another theory, the area specialised in the production of [[Calcium oxide|quicklime]] or ''koli chun'' [ˈkɔlitɕun] ({{lang-bn|কলি চুন}}) and coir or ''kata'' [ˈkat̪a] ({{lang-bn|কাতা}}); hence, it was called ''Kolikata'' [ˈkɔlikat̪a] ({{lang-bn|কলিকাতা}}).<ref name="chatterjeename" /> 
Although the city's name has always been pronounced ''Kolkata'' [ˈkolkat̪a] ({{lang-bn|কলকাতা}}) or ''Kôlikata'' [ˈkɔlikat̪a] ({{lang-bn|কলিকাতা}}) in Bengali, the anglicised form ''Calcutta'' was the official name until 2001, when it [[Renaming of cities in India|was changed]] to ''Kolkata'' in order to match Bengali pronunciation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~easwaran/papers/india.html |title= The politics of name changes in India|accessdate=26 January 2012|last=Easwaran|first= Kenny|publisher=Open Computing Facility, University of California at Berkeley
|archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719150356/http://www.ocf.berkeley.edu/~easwaran/papers/india.html |archivedate = 19 July 2011}}</ref>

==History==
{{Main|History of Kolkata}}
[[File:Fort William, Calcutta, 1735.jpg|thumb|left|[[Fort William, India|Fort William]], headquarters of the [[British East India Company]]]]
===British colonial rule===
The discovery and [[archaeological]] study of [[Chandraketugarh]], {{Convert|35|km}} north of Kolkata, provide evidence that the region in which the city stands has been inhabited for over two millennia.<ref>{{cite book |title= A history of ancient and early medieval India: from the Stone Age to the 12th century |last=Singh |first=Upinder |authorlink= Upinder Singh|year=2008 |publisher=[[Pearson Education]] |location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-317-1677-9  |page= 395|url= https://books.google.com/?id=GW5Gx0HSXKUC&pg=PA395 |accessdate=25 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="Das">{{cite news| last = Das| first = S.| url = http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030115/asp/frontpage/story_1575128.asp| title = Pre-Raj crown on Clive House: abode of historical riches to be museum| work = [[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]| location = Kolkata| date = 15 January 2003| accessdate = 26 April 2006| url-status = live| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070930061030/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1030115/asp/frontpage/story_1575128.asp| archivedate = 30 September 2007| df = dmy-all}}</ref> 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;<ref>{{cite book|last=Nair|first=P. Thankappan|title=Job Charnock: the founder of Calcutta : in facts and fiction : an anthology|year=1977|publisher=Engineering Times Publications|location=Kolkata|page=164}}</ref> In response to a public petition,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3034419.stm|title=Court changes Calcutta's history|date=16 May 2003|accessdate=25 July 2016|work=BBC News|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306211159/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3034419.stm|archivedate=6 March 2016}}</ref> the [[Calcutta High Court]] ruled in 2003 that the city does not have a founder.<ref name="notcharnock">{{Cite news|last=Gupta|first=Subhrangshu|title=Job Charnock not Kolkata founder: HC says city has no foundation day|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030518/nation.htm#3|work=[[The Tribune (Chandigarh)|The Tribune]]|location=Chandigarh, India|date=18 May 2003|accessdate=7 December 2006|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129050204/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030518/nation.htm#3|archivedate=29 November 2006}}</ref> The area occupied by the present-day city encompassed three villages: [[Kalikata]], [[Gobindapur, Kolkata|Gobindapur]], and [[Sutanuti]]. Kalikata was a fishing village; Sutanuti was a riverside weavers' village. They were part of an estate belonging to the [[Mughal emperors|Mughal emperor]]; the ''[[jagir]]dari'' (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 ''[[zamindar]]s''. These rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698.<ref name="BanerjeePage1and3">{{cite book|editor1-last=Banerjee|editor1-first=Himadri|editor2-last=Gupta|editor2-first=Nilanjana|editor3-last=Mukherjee|editor3-first=Sipra|title=Calcutta mosaic: essays and interviews on the minority communities of Calcutta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSTEOx_Lw9MC&dq|accessdate=29 January 2012|year=2009|publisher=Anthem Press|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-905835-5-8|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509233321/http://books.google.com/books?id=cSTEOx_Lw9MC&dq|archivedate=9 May 2013}}</ref>{{rp|1}}
[[File:Chowringhee Square, Calcutta in 1945.jpg|thumb|[[Chowringhee]] avenue and [[Tipu Sultan Mosque]] in central Calcutta, 1945|right]]
In 1712, the British completed the construction of [[Fort William, India|Fort William]], located on the east bank of the Hooghly River to protect their trading factory.<ref name="mitter">{{cite journal|last=Mitter|first=Partha|journal=[[Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians]]|volume=45|issue=2|date=June 1986|pages=95–114
|title=The early British port cities of India: their planning and architecture circa 1640–1757|jstor=990090|doi=10.2307/990090|ref=harv}}</ref> Facing frequent skirmishes with [[French East India Company|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]].<ref name="hunterhistory">{{cite book |title=The Indian Empire: its peoples, history, and products |last= Hunter|first=William Wilson |authorlink=William Wilson Hunter|year=1886 |publisher=Trübner & co |location= London|pages=381–82 |url= https://books.google.com/?id=gHeBAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA381 |accessdate=25 January 2011}}</ref> A force of Company soldiers (''[[sepoy]]s'') and British troops led by [[Robert Clive]] recaptured the city the following year.<ref name="hunterhistory" /> 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.<ref name="AhmedFarooqui">{{cite book|last1=Ahmed|first1=Farooqui Salma|last2=Farooqui|first2=Salma Ahmed|title=A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&pg=PA369|publisher=Pearson Education India|isbn=978-81-317-3202-1|page=369|accessdate=2 January 2016|year=2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102024457/https://books.google.com/books?id=sxhAtCflwOMC&pg=PA369|archivedate=2 January 2016}}</ref> Declared a [[Presidencies and provinces of British India|presidency city]], Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1773.<ref name="Arnold-Baker2015">{{cite book|last=Arnold-Baker|first=Charles|title=The Companion to British History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=75ZGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT504|date=30 July 2015|publisher=Taylor & Francis|isbn=978-1-317-40039-4|page=504|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180303193215/https://books.google.com/books?id=75ZGCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT504|archivedate=3 March 2018}}</ref> 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, 1st Marquess Wellesley|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.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC|title=Calcutta: a cultural and literary history|accessdate=11 October 2007|last=Dutta|first=Krishna|publisher=[[Signal Books]]|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-1-902669-59-5|year=2003|page=58|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728081609/http://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC|archivedate=28 July 2011}}</ref> Throughout the late 18th and 19th century, the city was a centre of the East India Company's opium trade.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Pati |first=Biswamoy |title=Narcotics and empire |volume=23 |issue=10 |year=2006 |journal=The Hindu; Frontline |url=http://frontlineonnet.com/fl2310/stories/20060602000307600.htm |accessdate=3 March 2012 |ref=harv |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061016231426/http://www.frontlineonnet.com/fl2310/stories/20060602000307600.htm |archivedate=16 October 2006 }}</ref> A census in 1837 records the population of the city proper as 229,700, of which the British residents made up only 3,138.<ref>''The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.IV'', (1848) London, Charles Knight, p.35</ref> 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.<ref>[https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/calcutta-cyclone-1864-1356569-2018-10-05]</ref> 

{{wide image|Panorama of Kolkata (Calcutta), 1832 Jacob Janssen.jpg|1150px|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 [[B. B. D. Bagh|Dalhousie Square]]; and Black Town, mainly Indian and centred on North Calcutta.<ref name="hardgrave">{{Cite book|last=Hardgrave|first=Robert L. Jr|editor1-first=Pratapaditya|editor1-last=Pal|title=Changing visions, lasting images: Calcutta through 300 years|year=1990|publisher=Marg Publications|location=Bombay|isbn=978-81-85026-11-4|pages=31–46|chapter=A portrait of Black Town: Balthazard Solvyns in Calcutta, 1791–1804|chapterurl=http://www.laits.utexas.edu/solvyns-project/hardgraveportrait.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120112023055/http://www.laits.utexas.edu/solvyns-project/hardgraveportrait.html|archivedate=12 January 2012}}</ref> 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 station|Howrah railway station]]. The coalescence of British and Indian culture resulted in the emergence of a new ''[[Babu (title)|babu]]'' class of urbane Indians, whose members were often bureaucrats, professionals, newspaper readers, and Anglophiles; they usually belonged to upper-caste Hindu communities.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Chaudhuri| given1 = NC| year = 2001| title = The autobiography of an unknown Indian| publisher = New York Review of Books| location = New York| isbn = 978-0-940322-82-0| ref = harv| url = https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofu00chau/page/| pages = [https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofu00chau/page/ v–xi]}}</ref> 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.<ref name="stepienchap3">{{cite book |last1=Stępień |first1=Jakub |last2=Tokarski|first2= Stanisław|last3=Latos|first3=Tomasz |last4=Jarecka-Stępień|first4=Katarzyna |title=Towards freedom. Ideas of "solidarity" in comparison with the thought of the Indian National Congress |year=2011 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Stowarzyszenia "Projekt Orient" |location=Kraków, Poland|isbn=978-83-933917-4-5 |pages= 58–59|chapter=Indian way to independence. The Indian National Congress}}</ref>
[[File:Corner of Harrison Street (Burra Bazar) and Strand Road, Calcutta in 1945.jpg|thumb|Bengali billboards on Harrison Street. Calcutta was the largest commercial centre in British India.|right]]
[[File:Calcutta (Baedeker, 1914).jpg|thumb|left|Map of Calcutta, ca 1914]]

The [[Partition of Bengal (1905)|partition of Bengal]] in 1905 along religious lines led to mass protests, making Calcutta a less hospitable place for the British.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Chatterji |first1=Joya |title=The Spoils of Partition: Bengal and India, 1947–1967 |date=2007 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=9781139468305 |page=9 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FjQ0iWSq2R0C&pg=PA9 |language=en |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190401093431/https://books.google.com/books?id=FjQ0iWSq2R0C&pg=PA9 |archive-date=1 April 2019 |url-status=live  }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Wright |first1=Tom |title=Why Delhi? The Move From Calcutta |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/11/11/why-delhi-the-move-from-calcutta/ |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=11 November 2011 |access-date=31 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180606045722/https://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/11/11/why-delhi-the-move-from-calcutta/ |archive-date=6 June 2018 |url-status=live  }}</ref> The capital was moved to [[New Delhi]] in 1911.<ref>{{Cite book|last= Hall|first= Peter|authorlink= Peter Hall (urbanist)|title=Cities of tomorrow |year=2002 |publisher= [[Blackwell Publishing]] |location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-0-631-23252-0 |pages = 198–206}}</ref> Calcutta continued to be a centre for [[Revolutionary movement for Indian independence|revolutionary organisations]] associated with the [[Indian independence movement]]. The city and its port were bombed several times by the [[Imperial Japanese Army|Japanese]] between 1942 and 1944, during [[World War II]].<ref name="Randhawa">{{cite web|last =Randhawa | first=K. | publisher=BBC | url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/50/a5756150.shtml | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204062423/http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stories/50/a5756150.shtml | archivedate=4 February 2012|title=The bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese | date= 15 September 2005 |accessdate=26 April 2006}}</ref><ref name="PacificWar">{{cite web | url= http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/war-in-the-pacific/timeline | title= Pacific War timeline: New Zealanders in the Pacific War | publisher= [[New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage]] | accessdate= 13 October 2008 | url-status= live | archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20081021064031/http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/war/war-in-the-pacific/timeline | archivedate= 21 October 2008 | df= dmy-all }}</ref> Coinciding with the war, millions starved to death during the [[Bengal famine of 1943]] due to a combination of military, administrative, and natural factors.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Sen | first1 = A| year = 1973| title = Poverty and famines| publisher = Oxford University Press|location=Oxford, UK| isbn = 978-0-19-828463-5|pages= 52–85}}</ref> [[Pakistan Movement|Demands for the creation of a Muslim state]] led in 1946 to [[Direct Action Day|an episode of communal violence]] that killed over 4,000.<ref name="Burrows">{{Cite report |last=Burrows |first=Frederick |authorlink=Frederick Burrows |date=22 August 1946 |title=A copy of a secret report written on 22 August 1946 to the Viceroy Lord Wavell, from Sir Frederick John Burrows, concerning the Calcutta riots |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indianindependence/indiapakistan/partition4/index.html |publisher=[[The British Library]] |docket=IOR: L/P&J/8/655 f.f. 95, 96–107 |accessdate=25 February 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104191417/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelpregion/asia/india/indianindependence/indiapakistan/partition4/index.html |archivedate=4 January 2012  }}</ref><ref name="DasS">{{cite journal |last=Das |first=Suranjan |date=2000 |title=The 1992 Calcutta Riot in Historical Continuum: A Relapse into 'Communal Fury'? |journal=Modern Asian Studies |volume=34 |issue=2 |pages=281–306 |doi=10.1017/S0026749X0000336X |jstor=313064 |ref=harv}}</ref><ref name="Talukdar">{{Cite book |last=Suhrawardy |first=H. S. |year=1987 |title=Memoirs of Huseyn Shaheed Suhrawardy |chapter=Direct action day |chapterurl=http://www.globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/suhrawardy/direct_action.html |editor1-last=Talukdar |editor1-first=M. H. R. |pages=55–56 |publisher=The University Press |location=Dhaka, Bangladesh |isbn=978-984-05-1087-0 |authorlink=H. S. Suhrawardy |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060314030646/http://globalwebpost.com/farooqm/study_res/suhrawardy/direct_action.html |archivedate=14 March 2006}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Gandhi | given1 = R | year = 1992 | title = Patel: a life | publisher = [[Navajivan]] |location=Ahmedabad, India| asin = B0006EYQ0A | page = 497}}</ref>

===Contemporary===
During the 1960s and 1970s, severe power shortages, strikes, and a violent Marxist–Maoist movement by groups known as the [[Naxalite]]s damaged much of the city's infrastructure, resulting in economic stagnation.<ref name="ianjack">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/05/ian-jack-kolkata |title=India's riptide of modern aspiration has not reached Kolkata&nbsp;– but that can't last |last1=Jack |first1=Ian |date=4 February 2011 |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |accessdate=6 November 2016 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161107093315/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2011/feb/05/ian-jack-kolkata |archivedate=7 November 2016  }}</ref> The [[Bangladesh Liberation War]] of 1971 led to a massive influx of thousands of refugees, many of them penniless, that strained Kolkata's infrastructure.<ref>{{cite book| last1 = Bennett| given1 = A| surname2 = Hindle| given2 = J| year = 1996| title = London review of books: an anthology| publisher = Verso Books|location=London| isbn = 978-1-85984-121-1| pages = 63–70}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news | last=Follath | first=Erich | work=[[Spiegel Online]] | location=Hamburg | url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,387701,00.html | title=From poorhouse to powerhouse | accessdate=15 January 2011 | date=30 November 2005 | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110707163423/http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,387701,00.html | archivedate=7 July 2011 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> In the period 1977–2011, West Bengal was governed from Kolkata by the [[Left Front (West Bengal)|Left Front]], which was dominated by the [[Communist Party of India (Marxist)|Communist Party of India]] (CPM). It was the world's longest-serving democratically elected communist government, during which Kolkata was a key base for [[Socialism in India|Indian communism]].<ref name="Biswas">{{cite news |last= Biswas |first= S. |work= BBC News |url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4909832.stm |title= Calcutta's colorless campaign |accessdate= 26 April 2006 |date= 16 April 2006 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120214053922/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4909832.stm |archivedate= 14 February 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC|title=Calcutta: a cultural and literary history|accessdate=30 January 2012|last=Dutta|first=Krishna|publisher=[[Signal Books]]|location=Oxford, UK|isbn=978-1-902669-59-5|year=2003|pages=185–87|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110728081609/http://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC|archivedate=28 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Sl1vY5gAdsC&dq|title=Communist and socialist movement in India: a critical account|accessdate=30 January 2012|last=Singh|first=Chandrika|publisher=Mittal Publications|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7099-031-4|year=1987|pages=154–55|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130616061027/http://books.google.com/books?id=2Sl1vY5gAdsC&dq|archivedate=16 June 2013}}</ref> 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 [[Economic liberalisation in India|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.<ref name="bbceco" />

==Geography==
{{Main|Geography of Kolkata}}
[[File:Howrah Pano 3.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Kolkata Skyline from Howrah.]]
[[File:Kolkata City skyline from Hoogly bridge.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|Aerial view of the Kolkata skyline, including the [[Victoria Memorial, Kolkata|Victoria Memorial]] and [[Vidyasagar Setu]].]]
Spread roughly north–south along the east bank of the Hooghly River, Kolkata sits within the lower [[Ganges Delta]] of eastern India approximately 75&nbsp;km (47&nbsp;mi) west of the international border with [[Bangladesh]]; the city's elevation is {{convert|1.5|-|9|m|ft|abbr=on|0}}.<ref>{{cite web|title=PIA01844: space radar image of Calcutta, West Bengal, India|url=http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01844|publisher=NASA|accessdate=15 January 2012|date=15 April 1999|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114231031/http://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA01844|archivedate=14 January 2012}}</ref> Much of the city was originally a wetland that was reclaimed over the decades to accommodate a burgeoning population.<ref>{{cite book|last=Chatterjee|first=S. N.|title=Water Resources, Conservation and Management|year=2008|publisher=Atlantic Publishers and Distributors|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-269-0868-4|page=33}}</ref> The remaining undeveloped areas, known as the [[East Kolkata Wetlands]], were designated a "wetland of international importance" by the [[Ramsar Convention]] (1975).<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Roy Chadhuri| first1=S.|last2= Thakur|first2= A. R.|title=Microbial genetic resource mapping of East Calcutta wetlands|journal=Current Science| volume =91| issue =2 |date=25 July 2006| pages =212–17|ref=harv}}</ref> As with most of the [[Indo-Gangetic Plain]], the soil and water are predominantly [[alluvium|alluvial]] in origin. Kolkata is located over the "Bengal basin", a pericratonic tertiary basin.<ref name="soil characterisation">{{cite conference |url=http://gndec.ac.in/~igs/ldh/conf/2009/articles/T01_03.pdf |title=Characterization of soil over Kolkata municipal area |first1=Diptendra |last1=Das |first2=B. C. |last2=Chattopadhyay |date=17–19 December 2009 |conference=Indian Geotechnical Conference |conferenceurl=http://gndec.ac.in/~igs/ldh/conf/2009/ |volume=1 |location=Guntur, India |pages=11–12 |accessdate=19 November 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131106050646/http://gndec.ac.in/~igs/ldh/conf/2009/articles/T01_03.pdf |archivedate=6 November 2013  }}</ref> 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 {{convert|25|km|mi|abbr=on}} wide at a depth of about {{convert|45000|m|ft|abbr=on}} below the surface.<ref name="soil characterisation" /> The shelf and hinge zones have many faults, among them some are active. Total thickness of sediment below Kolkata is nearly {{convert|7500|m|ft|abbr=on}} above the [[Basement (geology)|crystalline basement]]; of these the top {{convert|350|-|450|m|ft|abbr=on|-1}} is [[Quaternary]], followed by {{convert|4500|-|5500|m|ft|abbr=on|-1}} of [[Tertiary]] sediments, {{convert|500|-|700|m|ft|abbr=on|-1}} [[Trap rock|trap]] wash of [[Cretaceous]] trap and {{convert|600|-|800|m|ft|abbr=on|-1}} [[Permian]]-[[Carboniferous]] [[Gondwana]] rocks.<ref name="soil characterisation" /> 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 {{convert|250|-|650|m|ft|abbr=on|-1}}; the upper one {{convert|10|-|40|m|ft|abbr=on|-1}} in thickness.<ref name="Bunting">{{Cite report |last1=Bunting|first1=S. W. |last2=Kundu |first2=N. |last3=Mukherjee |first3=M. |publisher=Institute of Aquaculture, University of Stirling |location=Stirling, UK |url=http://www.dfid.stir.ac.uk/dfid/nrsp/download/sitanal.pdf |title=Situation analysis. Production systems and natural resources use in PU Kolkata |page=3 |access-date=26 April 2006 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060505141605/http://www.dfid.stir.ac.uk/dfid/nrsp/download/sitanal.pdf |archive-date=5 May 2006}}</ref> According to the [[Bureau of Indian Standards]], on a scale ranging from {{nowrap|I to V}} in order of increasing susceptibility to earthquakes, the city lies inside [[Earthquake hazard zoning of India|seismic zone III]].<ref name="hazardprofile">{{cite web|url=http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/hazardprofile.pdf|title=Hazard profiles of Indian districts|accessdate=23 August 2006|work=National Capacity Building Project in Disaster Management |publisher=[[UNDP]]|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060519100611/http://www.undp.org.in/dmweb/hazardprofile.pdf|archivedate=19 May 2006}}</ref>

===Urban structure===
The [[Kolkata metropolitan area]] is spread over {{Convert|1886.67|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|2}}<ref name=kmdaanreport2011kma>{{cite web |url=http://www.kmdaonline.org/pdf/aar11/introducing_kma.pdf |title=Introducing KMA |year=2011 |work= Annual Report 2011|publisher=Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority |format=PDF|accessdate= 9 February 2012}}</ref>{{rp|7}} and comprises 3&nbsp;municipal corporations (including Kolkata Municipal Corporation), 37&nbsp;[[Neighbourhoods in Kolkata|local municipalities]] and 24&nbsp;[[panchayat samiti]]s, as of 2011.<ref name=kmdaanreport2011kma/>{{rp|7}} The urban agglomeration encompassed 72&nbsp;cities and 527&nbsp;towns and villages, as of 2006.<ref name=Metropolis/> Suburban areas in the Kolkata metropolitan area incorporate parts of the following districts: [[North 24 Parganas district|North 24 Parganas]], [[South 24 Parganas district|South 24 Parganas]], [[Howrah district|Howrah]], [[Hooghly district|Hooghly]], and [[Nadia district|Nadia]].<ref name="urbanprice">{{Cite book|editor1-last=Sahdev|editor1-first=Shashi|editor2-last=Verma|editor2-first=Nilima|url=http://tcpomud.gov.in/Divisions/IEP/Urban%20Land%20Price%20Scenario-%20Kolkata/chapter%20II%20Kol.doc|series=Industry and Economic Planning|year=2008|title=Kolkata—an outline|publisher=Town and Country Planning Organisation, Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India|format=DOC|ref=harv|postscript=.|access-date=6 December 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426025356/http://tcpomud.gov.in/Divisions/IEP/Urban%20Land%20Price%20Scenario-%20Kolkata/chapter%20II%20Kol.doc|archive-date=26 April 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|15}} Kolkata, which is under the jurisdiction of the [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]] ( KMC), has an area of {{Convert|205|km2|sqmi|abbr=on|0}}.<ref name=Metropolis>{{cite web|publisher = World Association of the Major Metropolises |url=http://www.metropolis.org/sites/default/files/metropolitan_regions/438_007_kolkata_eng.pdf |title=007 Kolkata (India) |format=PDF |accessdate=31 August 2007}}</ref> The east–west dimension of the city is comparatively narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the [[Eastern Metropolitan Bypass]] in the east—a span of {{Convert|9|-|10|km|mi|abbr=on|1}}.<ref>{{cite map |publisher=NASA |title=Calcutta, West Bengal, India |url=http://southport.jpl.nasa.gov/cdrom/sirced03/cdrom/DATA/LOCATION/ASIAMIDE/CALCUTTA/CALCUTTA.HTM |date=20 June 1996 |series=Mission to planet earth program |accessdate=25 February 2012}}</ref> The north–south distance is greater, and its axis is used to section the city into North, Central, South and East Kolkata.

[[File:Kolkata SPOT 1354.jpg|thumb|left|Satellite view of Kolkata|alt=Satellite view of Kolkata]]

North Kolkata is the oldest part of the city. Characterised by 19th-century architecture and narrow alleyways, it includes areas such as [[Shyambazar]], [[Shobhabazar]], [[Chitpur]], [[Cossipore]], [[Baranagar]], [[Sinthee]], and [[Dum Dum]].<ref name="urbanprice"/>{{rp|65–66}} Central Kolkata hosts the central business district. It contains [[B. B. D. Bagh]], formerly known as Dalhousie Square, and the [[Esplanade, Kolkata|Esplanade]] on its east; [[Strand Road, Kolkata|Strand Road]] is on its west.<ref>{{Cite document|url=http://www.westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/dalhousie-square|title=Kolkata heritage|publisher=Government of West Bengal|accessdate=27 November 2011|ref=harv|postscript=.}}</ref> The [[Writers' Building|West Bengal Secretariat]], [[General Post Office, Kolkata|General Post Office]], [[Reserve Bank of India]], [[Calcutta High Court|High Court]], [[Lalbazar|Lalbazar Police Headquarters]], and several other government and private offices are located there. Another business hub is the area south of [[Park Street, Kolkata|Park Street]], which comprises thoroughfares such as [[Jawaharlal Nehru Road]], [[Camac Street]], Wood Street, Loudon Street, [[Shakespeare Sarani]], and [[AJC Bose Road|A. J. C. Bose Road]].<ref>{{Cite news|title=BSNL may take two weeks to be back online|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-07-09/kolkata/28184192_1_broadband-connections-calcutta-telephones-broadband-lines |agency=[[Times News Network|Times News Network (TNN)]] |newspaper= Times of India|date=9 July 2009 |accessdate=27 November 2011 |quote=With the Camac Street-Park Street-Shakespeare Sarani commercial hub located smack in the middle of the affected zone...|ref=harv|postscript=. |location=New Delhi}}</ref> South Kolkata developed after India gained independence in 1947; it includes upscale neighbourhoods such as [[Ballygunge]], [[Alipore]], [[New Alipore]], [[Sarat Bose Road|Lansdowne]], [[Bhowanipore]], [[Tollygunge]], [[Jodhpur Park]], Lake Gardens, [[Golf Green]], [[Jadavpur]], and [[Kasba (Kolkata)|Kasba]].<ref name=spatialchange/> The [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]] is a large open field in the heart of the city that has been called the "lungs of Kolkata"<ref>{{cite news|title=In city's teeming heart, a place to gaze and graze  |first=Jim |last=Yardley |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/asia/28india.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1 |newspaper=The New York Times |location=New York|date= 27 January 2011 |accessdate=27 November 2011|quote=To Kolkata, it is the 'lungs of the city,' a recharge zone for the soul.}}</ref> and accommodates sporting events and public meetings.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Maidan marauders|last=Das |first=Soumitra |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1100221/jsp/calcutta/story_12132260.jsp|newspaper=The Telegraph |date= 21 February 2010|location= Kolkata|accessdate=27 November 2011|ref=harv|postscript=.}}</ref> The [[Victoria Memorial (India)|Victoria Memorial]] and [[Kolkata Race Course]] are located at the southern end of the Maidan. Among the other parks are [[Central Park (Kolkata)|Central Park]] in Bidhannagar and [[Millennium Park (Kolkata)|Millennium Park]] on Strand Road, along the Hooghly River.

Two planned townships in the greater Kolkata region are [[Bidhannagar, Kolkata|Bidhannagar]], also known as Salt Lake City and located north-east of the city; and [[Rajarhat]], also called [[New Town,Kolkata|New Town]] and located east of Bidhannagar.<ref name=spatialchange /><ref name="Sectorv">{{cite news|last=Chakraborti|first=Suman|title=Beautification project for Salt Lake, Sec V and New Town|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-02/kolkata/30349773_1_traffic-islands-road-dividers-and-boulevards-bidhannagar-municipality|accessdate=6 December 2011|newspaper=Times of India|date=2 November 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref> In the 2000s, Sector&nbsp;V in Bidhannagar developed into a business hub for information technology and telecommunication companies.<ref>{{cite web|title=History of Sector V|url=http://egovernance.ndita.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=45&Itemid=58|publisher=Nabadiganta Industrial Township Authority|accessdate=6 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Kolkata! India's new IT hub|url=http://www.rediff.com/money/2005/jul/13spec2.htm|accessdate=6 December 2011|newspaper=Rediff.com|date=13 July 2005}}</ref> Both Bidhannagar and New Town are situated outside the Kolkata Municipal Corporation limits, in their own municipalities.<ref name="Sectorv"/>

===Climate===
{{Main|Climate of Kolkata}}Kolkata is subject to a [[tropical savanna climate|tropical wet-and-dry climate]] that is designated ''Aw'' under the [[Köppen climate classification]]. According to a [[United Nations Development Programme]] report, its wind and cyclone zone is "very high damage risk".<ref name="hazardprofile" />

====Temperature====
The annual mean temperature is {{Convert|26.8|C|F|abbr=on|1}}; monthly mean temperatures are {{Convert|19|-|30|C|F|abbr=on|0}}. Summers (March–June) are hot and humid, with temperatures in the low 30s Celsius; during dry spells, maximum temperatures often exceed 40&nbsp;°C (104&nbsp;°F) in May and June.<ref name="weatherbase">{{cite web | publisher=Canty and Associates LLC | url=http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=090824&refer=&units=metric | title=Weatherbase entry for Kolkata | accessdate=26 April 2006 | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110907174739/http://www.weatherbase.com/weather/weatherall.php3?s=090824&refer=&units=metric | archivedate=7 September 2011 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Winter lasts for roughly two-and-a-half months, with seasonal lows dipping to {{Convert|9|–|11|C|F|abbr=on|0}} in December and January. May is the hottest month, with daily temperatures ranging from {{Convert|27|-|37|C|F|abbr=on|0}}; January, the coldest month, has temperatures varying from {{convert|12|-|23|C|F|abbr=on|0}}. The highest recorded temperature is {{Convert|43.9|C|F|abbr=on|1}}, and the lowest is {{Convert|5|C|F|abbr=on|0}}.<ref name="weatherbase" /> The winter is mild and very comfortable weather pertains over the city throughout this season.
Often, in April–June, the city is struck by heavy rains or dusty squalls that are followed by thunderstorms or hailstorms, bringing cooling relief from the prevailing humidity. These thunderstorms are [[Convection rain|convective]] in nature, and are known locally as ''kal bôishakhi'' ({{Lang|bn|কালবৈশাখী}}), or "Nor'westers" in English.<ref name="kalboisakhi">{{cite web|url=http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=kal-baisakhi1|title=kal Baisakhi|accessdate=5 September 2006|work=Glossary of Meteorology|publisher=American Meteorological Society|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060830065710/http://amsglossary.allenpress.com/glossary/search?id=kal-baisakhi1|archivedate=30 August 2006}}</ref>

====Rainfall====

Rains brought by the Bay of Bengal branch of the [[Southwest monsoon|south-west summer monsoon]]<ref name="monsoontribune">{{Cite news|last1=Khichar|first1=M. L.|last2=Niwas|first2=R.|date=14 July 2003|title=Know your monsoon|newspaper=The Tribune|location=Chandigarh, India|url=http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030714/agro.htm#2|accessdate=9 June 2007|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070618121810/http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030714/agro.htm#2|archivedate=18 June 2007}}</ref> lash Kolkata between June and September, supplying it with most of its annual rainfall of about {{Convert|1850|mm|in|abbr=on|0}}. The highest monthly rainfall total occurs in July and August. In these months often incessant rain for days brings life to a stall for the city dwellers. The city receives 2,107&nbsp;hours of sunshine per year, with maximum [[Insolation|sunlight exposure]] occurring in April.<ref name="ESS" /> Kolkata has been hit by several cyclones; these include systems occurring in 1737 and 1864 that killed thousands.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Bilham |first=Roger |year=1994 |title=The 1737 Calcutta earthquake and cyclone evaluated |journal=Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America |volume=84 |issue=5 |pages=1650–57 |url=http://cires.colorado.edu/~bilham/gif_images/1737Calcutta.pdf |accessdate=20 July 2011 |ref=harv |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811224058/http://cires.colorado.edu/~bilham/gif_images/1737Calcutta.pdf |archivedate=11 August 2011  }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title= Report on the Calcutta cyclone of the 5th October 1864|last1=Gastrell |first1= James Eardley | first2=Henry Francis|last2= Blanford|year= 1866|publisher= O.T. Cutter, Military Orphan Press|location=Calcutta |url=https://books.google.com/?id=3khBrTZHDM8C |accessdate=20 July 2011}}</ref>

{{Kolkata weatherbox}}

===Environmental issues===
{{main|Environmental issues in Kolkata}}
Pollution is a major concern in Kolkata. {{As of|2008}}, [[sulphur dioxide]] and [[nitrogen dioxide]] annual concentration were within the national ambient air quality standards of India, but respirable [[suspended particulate matter]] levels were high, and on an increasing trend for five consecutive years, causing smog and haze.<ref name="ambientairquality">{{cite web | author=Central Pollution Control Board | publisher=Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India | url=http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/AnnualReports/AnnualReport_37_ANNUAL_REPORT-08-09.pdf | title=Annual report 2008–2009 | page=40 | accessdate=2 February 2012 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426072456/http://cpcb.nic.in/upload/AnnualReports/AnnualReport_37_ANNUAL_REPORT-08-09.pdf | archivedate=26 April 2012 | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081030/jsp/calcutta/story_10035984.jsp |title=Smog city chokes & grounds: foul air, moist and smoky |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Kolkata |date=30 October 2008 |accessdate=25 April 2011 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110604143452/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081030/jsp/calcutta/story_10035984.jsp |archivedate=4 June 2011  }}</ref> Severe air pollution in the city has caused a rise in pollution-related respiratory ailments, such as lung cancer.<ref name="BBC51707">{{Cite news |last=Bhaumik |first=Subir |title=Oxygen supplies for India police |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6665803.stm |publisher=BBC |date=17 May 2007 |accessdate=23 June 2007 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070612072737/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6665803.stm |archivedate=12 June 2007  }}</ref>

==Economy==
{{Main|Economy of Kolkata}}

[[File: Reserve Bank of India (RBI) building, September 2011.jpg|thumb|left|Reserve Bank of India building, Kolkata]]
[[File:KolkataFlowermarket.jpg|alt=Mallikghat flower market|thumb|Flower hawkers in a roadside markt]]

Kolkata is the commercial and financial hub of [[East India|East]] and [[North-East India]]<ref name="urbanprice" /> and home to the [[Calcutta Stock Exchange Association Limited|Calcutta Stock Exchange]].<ref name="CSE">{{cite web | publisher=Calcutta Stock Exchange Association | url=http://www.cse-india.com/cse_factbook.htm | title=Genesis and growth of the Calcutta Stock Exchange | accessdate=26 April 2006 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060419055547/http://cse-india.com/cse_factbook.htm | archivedate=19 April 2006 | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref name="worldbank2016">{{cite web |url= https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/04/19/better-integrated-transport-modes-will-help-reinvent-kolkata |title= Better Integrated Transport Modes will Help Reinvent Kolkata|date= 20 April 2016 |publisher= [[World Bank]] |accessdate= 9 February 2020 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20190327204243/http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/feature/2016/04/19/better-integrated-transport-modes-will-help-reinvent-kolkata |archivedate= 27 March 2019|df= dmy-all }}</ref> It is a major commercial and military port, and is the only city in eastern India, apart from Bhubaneswar to have an international airport. Once India's leading city, Kolkata experienced a steady economic decline in the decades following India's independence due to steep population increases and a rise in militant [[trade-unionism]], which included frequent strikes that were backed by left-wing parties.<ref name="bbceco">{{cite news|last= Dutta|first= Tanya|authorlink= Tanya Datta|title= Rising Kolkata's winners and losers|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/4830762.stm|accessdate= 11 December 2011|publisher= BBC|date= 22 March 2006|url-status= live|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120204123645/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/crossing_continents/4830762.stm|archivedate= 4 February 2012|df= dmy-all}}</ref> From the 1960s to the late 1990s, several factories were closed and businesses relocated.<ref name="bbceco" /> The lack of capital and resources added to the depressed state of the city's economy and gave rise to an unwelcome sobriquet: the "dying city".<ref>{{Cite news|first=Sudipta|last=Dutta|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/news/calcutta-chronicles/417579/|title=Calcutta chronicles|date=1 February 2009|newspaper=Financial Express|location=New Delhi|accessdate=6 December 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615141012/http://www.financialexpress.com/news/calcutta-chronicles/417579|archivedate=15 June 2013}}</ref> The city's fortunes improved after the [[Economy of India|Indian economy]] was liberalised in the 1990s and changes in economic policy were enacted by the West Bengal state government.<ref name="bbceco" />

Flexible production has been the norm in Kolkata, which has an [[informal sector]] that employs more than 40% of the labour force.<ref name="spatialchange" /> One unorganised group, [[Hawkers in Kolkata|roadside hawkers]], generated business worth {{INR}} 87.72&nbsp;billion ({{USD}} 2&nbsp;billion) in 2005.<ref name="Telegraphhawker">{{cite news |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061130/asp/frontpage/story_7071031.asp |title= Hawkers stay as Rs. 265 crore talks |accessdate= 16 February 2008 |last= Ganguly |first= Deepankar |newspaper= The Telegraph |location= Kolkata |date= 30 November 2006 |df= dmy-all |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070927200645/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1061130/asp/frontpage/story_7071031.asp |archive-date= 27 September 2007 |url-status= live }}</ref> {{As of|2001}}, around 0.81% of the city's workforce was employed in the [[Primary sector of the economy|primary sector]] (agriculture, forestry, mining, etc.); 15.49% worked in the [[Secondary sector of the economy|secondary sector]] (industrial and manufacturing); and 83.69% worked in the [[Tertiary sector of the economy|tertiary sector]] (service industries).<ref name="urbanprice" />{{rp|19}} {{As of|2003}}, the majority of households in slums were engaged in occupations belonging to the informal sector; 36.5% were involved in servicing the urban middle class (as maids, drivers, etc.), and 22.2% were [[Wage labour|casual labourers]].<ref name="kundu" />{{rp|11}} About 34% of the available labour force in Kolkata slums were unemployed.<ref name="kundu" />{{rp|11}}  According to one estimate, almost a quarter of the population live on less than 27 rupees (equivalent to 45 US cents) per day.<ref name="2014 Indian general election, Calcutta">{{cite news |url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article4086790.ece |title=End is nigh for Gandhis after India's marathon poll |work=The Times |date=12 January 2014 |accessdate=12 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140512160254/http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/world/asia/article4086790.ece |archive-date=12 May 2014 |url-status=live  }}</ref>  {{As of|2010}}, Kolkata, with an estimated gross domestic product (GDP) by [[purchasing power parity]] of 150&nbsp;billion dollars, ranked third among South Asian cities, after Mumbai and Delhi.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/apr/23/slide-show-1-the-top-10-cities-in-india-by-gdp.htm|accessdate=3 March 2012|title=GDP: The top 10 cities in India|date=23 April 2010|publisher=rediff.com|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120307061857/http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2010/apr/23/slide-show-1-the-top-10-cities-in-india-by-gdp.htm|archivedate=7 March 2012}}</ref> Kolkata's GDP in 2014 was Rs 1.84&nbsp;trillion, according to a collaborative assessment by multiple universities and climate agencies.<ref name="elcc">{{cite web|url=http://www.climatesmartcities.org/sites/default/files/3710%20Kolkata%20Full%20Report%20Oct%202014%20v12.pdf|title=The Economics of Low Carbon Cities: Kolkata, India|year=2014|publisher=climatesmartcities.org|accessdate=1 August 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150206020921/http://climatesmartcities.org/sites/default/files/3710%20Kolkata%20Full%20Report%20Oct%202014%20v12.pdf|archivedate=6 February 2015}}</ref> As in many other Indian cities, information technology became a high-growth sector in Kolkata starting in the late 1990s; the city's IT sector grew at 70% per annum—a rate that was twice the national average.<ref name="bbceco" /> The 2000s saw a surge of investments in the real estate, infrastructure, retail, and hospitality sectors; [[List of shopping malls in Kolkata|several large shopping malls]] and hotels were launched.<ref>{{cite news|first=Sonalee|last=M.|title=Kolkata's retail story|url=http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=177844|accessdate=11 December 2011|newspaper=The Daily Star|location=Dhaka, Bangladesh|date=16 March 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111093014/http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=177844|archive-date=11 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=George|first=Tunia Cherian|title=Hospitality sector gets a boost from buoyant economy|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2006/01/01/stories/2006010102500200.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111024010101/http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2006/01/01/stories/2006010102500200.htm|accessdate=11 December 2011|newspaper=The Hindu Business Line|location=Chennai|date=1 January 2006|url-status=dead| archivedate=24 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|first1=Rohit|last1=Khanna|last2=Roy|first2=Monalisa|url=http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Kolkata-real-estate-players-project-40-growth-by-April/409526/|title=Kolkata real estate players project 40% growth by April|accessdate=11 December 2011|newspaper=Financial Express|location=New Delhi|date=12 January 2009|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130615173428/http://www.financialexpress.com/news/Kolkata-real-estate-players-project-40-growth-by-April/409526|archivedate=15 June 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Roy Chowdhury|first=Joy|title=Looking East|url=http://www.expresshospitality.com/20111031/management01.shtml|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426010101/http://www.expresshospitality.com/20111031/management01.shtml|work=The Express Hospitality |location=New Delhi|accessdate=11 December 2011|date=October 2011|url-status=dead|archivedate=26 April 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=West Bengal industrial growth rate higher than national average|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2008-12-01/news/28383530_1_food-processing-industrial-growth-rate-sectors|accessdate=11 December 2011|newspaper=Economic Times|date=1 December 2008|location=New Delhi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114105933/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2008-12-01/news/28383530_1_food-processing-industrial-growth-rate-sectors|archive-date=14 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref> Companies such as [[ITC Limited]], [[CESC Limited]], [[Exide Industries]], [[Emami]], [[Eveready Industries India]], [[Lux Industries]], [[Rupa Company]], [[Berger Paints]], [[Birla Corporation]] and [[Britannia Industries]] are headquartered in the city. [[Philips]] India, [[PricewaterhouseCoopers]] India, [[Tata Global Beverages]], [[Tata Steel]] have their registered office and zonal headquarters in Kolkata.
Kolkata hosts the headquarters of three major public-sector banks: [[Allahabad Bank]], [[UCO Bank]], and the [[United Bank of India]]; and a private bank [[Bandhan Bank]]. [[Reserve Bank of India]] has its eastern zonal office in Kolkata, and [[India Government Mint, Kolkata]] is one of the four mints in India.
Some of the oldest public sector companies are headquartered in the city such as the [[Coal India Limited]], [[National Insurance Company]], [[Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers]], [[Tea Board of India]], [[Geological Survey of India]], [[Zoological Survey of India]], [[Botanical Survey of India]], [[Jute Corporation of India]], National Test House, [[Hindustan Copper]] and the [[Ordnance Factories Board]] of the [[Ministry of Defence (India)|Indian Ministry of Defence]]. 
{{wide image|Downtown Salt Lake, Kolkata.jpg|850px|Panoramic view of the Downtown Sector V one of the major IT hubs of Kolkata as seen from the lakes surrounding Bidhannagar. Major Buildings such as Technopolis, [[Godrej Properties Limited#Timeline of Godrej Properties Limited|Godrej Waterside]], [[Tata Consultancy Services|TCS]] Lords, Eden and Wanderers Park, Gobsyn Crystal, South City Pinnacle, RDB Boulevard, [[West Bengal Electronics Industry Development Corporation]] (WEBEL) Bhawan can be seen.}}

==Demographics==
{{See also|Ethnic communities in Kolkata}}{{historical populations|11=1901|12=10,09,853|13=1911|14=11,17,966|15=1921|16=11,58,497|17=1931|18=12,89,461|19=1941|20=23,52,399|21=1951|22=29,56,475|23=1961|24=33,51,250|25=1971|26=37,27,020|27=1981|28=41,26,846|29=1991|30=43,99,819|31=2001|32=45,72,876|33=2011|34=44,96,694|percentages=pagr|footnote=source:<ref>[http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/PCA/A2_Data_Table.html Decadal Variation In Population Since 1901]</ref>|align=right}}[[File:South City Towers, Kolkata.JPG|thumb|left|Residential high-rise buildings in [[South City]]|alt=A skyline consisting of several high-rise buildings]]
[[File:Slum Area - Dunlop - Kolkata 2012-04-11 9445.JPG|thumb|A slum area of the city]]

The [[demonym]] for residents of Kolkata are ''Calcuttan'' and ''Kolkatan''.<ref>{{cite dictionary|title=Calcuttan |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/calcuttan |dictionary=dictionary.com |accessdate=10 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120303171515/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/calcuttan |archivedate=3 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Prithvijit|title=Kolkatans relish a journey down familiar terrain|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-14/kolkata/30396787_1_first-film-strong-film-culture-satyajit-ray|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120709202313/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-11-14/kolkata/30396787_1_first-film-strong-film-culture-satyajit-ray|url-status=dead|archive-date=9 July 2012|accessdate=2 February 2012|newspaper=Times of India|date=14 November 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref> According to provisional results of the 2011 national census, Kolkata district, which occupies an area of {{Convert|185|sqkm|sqmi|abbr=on}}, had a population of
4,486,679;<ref name="census">{{cite web |url= http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_data_products_wb.html |title= Area, population, decennial growth rate and density for 2001 and 2011 at a glance for West Bengal and the districts: provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011: West Bengal |publisher= Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |accessdate= 26 January 2012 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120107060612/http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_data_products_wb.html |archivedate= 7 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> its population density was {{convert|24252|/sqkm|/sqmi|abbr=on}}.<ref name="census" /> This represents a decline of 1.88% during the decade 2001–11. The [[human sex ratio|sex ratio]] is 899&nbsp;females per 1000&nbsp;males—lower than the national average.<ref name="2011 pp table3A2">{{cite web |url= http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_data_products_wb.html |title= Sex ratio, 0–6 age population, literates and literacy rate by sex for 2001 and 2011 at a glance for West Bengal and the districts: provisional population totals paper 1 of 2011: West Bengal |publisher= Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India |accessdate= 29 January 2012 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120107060612/http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/prov_data_products_wb.html |archivedate= 7 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> The ratio is depressed by the influx of working males from surrounding rural areas, from the rest of West Bengal; these men commonly leave their families behind.<ref>{{cite news |last= Dutta |first= Romita |title= Kolkata sees dip in population, suburbs register an increase |url= http://www.livemint.com/2011/04/05224458/Kolkata-sees-dip-in-population.html |accessdate= 10 December 2011 |newspaper= Mint |location= New Delhi |date= 5 April 2011 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110824001826/http://www.livemint.com/2011/04/05224458/Kolkata-sees-dip-in-population.html |archivedate= 24 August 2011 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> Kolkata's literacy rate of 87.14%<ref name="2011 pp table3A2" /> exceeds the national average of 74%.<ref name="censusindliter">{{cite web| url= http://www.census2011.co.in| title= Population census 2011| publisher= Census of India 2011, Government of India| accessdate= 6 December 2011| url-status= live| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20111120202313/http://www.census2011.co.in/| archivedate= 20 November 2011| df= dmy-all}}</ref> The final population totals of census 2011 stated the population of city as 4,496,694.<ref name="KOL" /> The urban agglomeration had a population of 14,112,536 in 2011.<ref name="kolkatauapop2011">{{cite web|url=http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/india2/Million_Plus_UAs_Cities_2011.pdf|title=Urban agglomerations/cities having population 1 million and above|year=2011|work=Provisional population totals, census of India 2011|publisher=Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India|accessdate=26 January 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111215163132/http://censusindia.gov.in/2011-prov-results/paper2/data_files/india2/Million_Plus_UAs_Cities_2011.pdf|archivedate=15 December 2011}}</ref>

[[Bengali Hindus]] form the majority of Kolkata's population; [[Marwaris]], [[Bihari people|Biharis]] and [[Muslims]] compose large minorities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kolkatamycity.com/basic_stat.asp |title=Basic statistics of Kolkata |publisher=Kolkata Municipal Corporation |accessdate=2 November 2008|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20080516090951/http://www.kolkatamycity.com/basic_stat.asp |archivedate = 16 May 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> Among [[Ethnic communities in Kolkata|Kolkata's smaller communities]] are [[Overseas Chinese|Chinese]], [[Tamil people|Tamils]], [[People of Nepal|Nepalis]], [[Odia people|Odias]], [[Telugu people|Telugus]], [[Assamese people|Assamese]], [[Gujarati people|Gujaratis]], [[Anglo-Indian]]s, [[Armenians in India|Armenians]], [[Greeks]], [[Tibetan people|Tibetans]], [[Marathi people|Maharashtrians]], [[Konkani people|Konkanis]], [[Malayali|Malayalees]], [[Punjabis]], and [[Parsi people|Parsis]].<ref name="BanerjeePage1and3" />{{rp|3}} The number of Armenians, Greeks, [[Jews]], and other foreign-origin groups declined during the 20th century.<ref name="BanerjeePage10" /> The [[History of the Jews in Kolkata|Jewish population of Kolkata]] was 5,000 during World War II, but declined after [[Independence of India|Indian independence]] and the establishment of [[Israel]];<ref>{{cite news|url= http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/29/india.jews/index.html|title= Twilight comes for India's fading Jewish community|last= Basu|first= Moni|date= 29 March 2010|publisher= CNN|accessdate= 25 February 2012|url-status= live|archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120711133814/http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/03/29/india.jews/index.html|archivedate= 11 July 2012|df= dmy-all}}</ref> by 2013, there were 25 Jews in the city.<ref>{{cite news|author=Zach Marks|title=The Last Jews of Kolkata|url=http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/the-last-jews-of-kolkata/?_r=1&|work=[[New York Times]]|date=24 October 2013|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150404010630/http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/10/24/the-last-jews-of-kolkata/?_r=1&|archivedate=4 April 2015}}</ref> India's sole [[Chinatown, Kolkata|Chinatown]] is in eastern Kolkata;<ref name="BanerjeePage10" /> once home to 20,000 ethnic Chinese, its population dropped to around 2,000 {{as of|2009|lc=on}}<ref name="BanerjeePage10" /> as a result of multiple factors including repatriation and denial of Indian citizenship following the 1962 [[Sino-Indian War]], and immigration to foreign countries for better economic opportunities.<ref name="thampi">{{cite book |title= India and China in the colonial world&#124;|editor-last=Thampi |editor-first= Madhavi |year=2005 |publisher=Social Science Press|location=New Delhi |isbn=978-81-87358-20-6 |pages=60–64 |url=https://books.google.com/?id=IZ5RdT5mHHIC |accessdate=31 January 2012}}</ref> The Chinese community traditionally worked in the local tanning industry and ran Chinese restaurants.<ref name="BanerjeePage10" /><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/07/31/2003181147 |title=Calcutta's Chinatown facing extinction over new rule |newspaper=Taipei Times |location=Taipei, Taiwan |date=18 April 2011 |accessdate=25 April 2011 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110513234646/http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/world/archives/2004/07/31/2003181147 |archivedate=13 May 2011  }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style="float:left; border: 16px solid #FFF;"
|
{| class="wikitable" style="float:left;"
|+Kolkata urban agglomeration population growth
|-
! scope="col" | Census
! scope="col" | Total
! scope="col" | %±
|-
! scope="row" | 1981
| style="text-align:right;"| 9,194,000
| style="text-align:center;"|&nbsp;—
|-
! scope="row" | [[1991 Census of India|1991]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 11,021,900
| style="text-align:right;"| 19.9%
|-
! scope="row" | [[2001 census of India|2001]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 13,114,700
| style="text-align:right;"| 19.0%
|-
! scope="row" | [[2011 census of India|2011]]
| style="text-align:right;"| 14,112,536
| style="text-align:right;"| 7.6%
|-
| colspan="3" |Source: [[Demographics of India|Census of India]]<ref name="kolkatauapop2011" />
|}
|}

{{bar box
|title=Religion in Kolkata<ref name="census2011">{{cite web
 |title       = Population by Religious Community
 |publisher   = Census of India
 |url         = http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html
 |accessdate  = 10 May 2016
 |url-status     = live
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20150913045700/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html
 |archivedate = 13 September 2015
 |df          = dmy-all
}}Click on arrow adjacent to state West Bengal so that a Microsoft excel document is downloaded with district wise population of different religious groups. Scroll down to Kolkata district in the document at row no. '''1629'''.
</ref>
|titlebar=#Fcd116
|left1=Religion
|right1=Percent
|float=right
|bars=
{{bar percent|[[Hinduism]]|orange|76.51}}
{{bar percent|[[Islam]]|#009000|20.60}}
{{bar percent|[[Christianity]]|DodgerBlue|0.88}}
{{bar percent|[[Jainism]]|#FFFF00|0.47}}
{{bar percent|Others|#808080|1.54}}
<small>Others include [[Sikhism]], [[Buddhism]] & Other religions (0.03%)</small>
}}

[[Bengali language|Bengali]], the official state language, is the dominant language in Kolkata.<ref name="kmcbasicstat">{{cite web|title=Basic statistics of Kolkata|url=https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/BasicStatistics.jsp|publisher=Kolkata Municipal Corporation|accessdate=5 February 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120104175605/https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/BasicStatistics.jsp|archivedate=4 January 2012}}</ref> English is also used, particularly by the white-collar workforce. [[Hindi]] and [[Urdu]] are spoken by a sizeable minority.<ref>{{cite news|last=Roy|first=Anirban|title=West Bengal to have six more languages for official use|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/west-bengal-mamata-banerjee-recognizes-six-non-bengali-languages/1/139450.html|accessdate=26 January 2012|newspaper=India Today|location=Noida, India|date=27 May 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110829190220/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/west-bengal-mamata-banerjee-recognizes-six-non-bengali-languages/1/139450.html|archivedate=29 August 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Bengal gives second language status to Urdu in 18 areas |url=http://archive.asianage.com/india/bengal-gives-second-language-status-urdu-18-areas-955 |accessdate=9 February 2012 |newspaper=Asian Age |location=New Delhi |agency=[[Press Trust of India]] |date=4 February 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20161029045815/http://archive.asianage.com/india/bengal-gives-second-language-status-urdu-18-areas-955 |archivedate=29 October 2016  }}</ref> According to the 2011 census, 76.51% of the population is [[Hindu]], 20.60%&nbsp;[[Muslim]], 0.88%&nbsp;[[Christians|Christian]], and 0.47%&nbsp;[[Jainism|Jain]].<ref name="census2">{{cite web|publisher = Census 2011 India|url = http://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/215-kolkata.html|title = Kolkata City Census 2011|accessdate = 10 May 2016|url-status = live|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20160427001813/http://www.census2011.co.in/census/city/215-kolkata.html|archivedate = 27 April 2016|df = dmy-all}} Scroll down to "Religion in Kolkata"</ref> The remainder of the population includes [[Sikh]]s, [[Buddhist]]s, and other religions which accounts for 0.45% of the population; 1.09% did not state a religion in the census.<ref name="census2" /> Kolkata reported 67.6% of [[Crime in India|Special and Local Laws]] crimes registered in 35&nbsp;large Indian cities during 2004.<ref name="ncrb2004">{{Cite book |author = National Crime Records Bureau |year = 2004 |title = Crime in India-2004 |chapter = General crime statistics snapshots 2004 |chapterurl = http://ncrb.nic.in/crime2004/cii-2004/Snapshots.pdf |page = 1 |publisher = Ministry of Home Affairs |url-status = dead |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20070710044553/http://ncrb.nic.in/crime2004/cii-2004/Snapshots.pdf |archivedate = 10 July 2007}}</ref> The Kolkata police district registered 15,510&nbsp;[[Indian Penal Code]] cases in 2010, the 8th-highest total in the country.<ref name="ncrb2">{{Cite book
 |author         = National Crime Records Bureau
 |year           = 2010
 |title          = Crime in India 2010
 |chapter        = Compendium
 |chapterurl     = http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/cii2010/Compendium2010.pdf
 |page           = 35
 |publisher      = Ministry of Home Affairs
 |archiveurl     = https://web.archive.org/web/20170819232153/http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/cii2010/Compendium2010.pdf
 |archivedate    = 19 August 2017}}</ref> In 2010, the crime rate was 117.3 per 100,000, below the national rate of 187.6; it was the lowest rate among India's largest cities.<ref name="ncrb10megacities">{{Cite book |author=National Crime Records Bureau |year=2010 |title=Crime in India-2010 |chapter=Crimes in mega dities |chapterurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102012424/http://ncrb.nic.in/CII2010/cii-2010/Chapter%202.pdf |page=44 |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102012424/http://ncrb.nic.in/CII2010/cii-2010/Chapter%202.pdf |archivedate=2 January 2016  |url=http://ncrb.nic.in/CII2010/cii-2010/Chapter%202.pdf }}</ref>

{{As of|2003}}, about one-third of the population, or 1.5&nbsp;million people, lived in 3,500&nbsp;unregistered [[Squatting|squatter-occupied]] and 2,011&nbsp;registered [[slum]]s.<ref name="kundu">{{cite web | last=Kundu | first=N | publisher=Development Planning Unit. [[University College, London]] | url=http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/Global_Report/pdfs/Kolkata_bw.pdf | title=Understanding slums: case studies for the global report on human settlements 2003. The case of Kolkata, India | accessdate=26 April 2006 | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060524005019/http://www.ucl.ac.uk/dpu-projects/Global_Report/pdfs/Kolkata_bw.pdf | archivedate=24 May 2006 | df=dmy-all }}</ref>{{rp|4}}<ref name="slumdiversity" />{{rp|92}} The authorised slums (with access to basic services like water, latrines, trash removal by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation) can be broadly divided into two groups—''bustees'', in which slum dwellers have some long term tenancy agreement with the landowners; and ''udbastu colonies'', settlements which had been leased to refugees from present-day Bangladesh by the government.<ref name="slumdiversity">{{cite journal|last=Schenk|first=W. Collin|title=Slum diversity in Kolkata|journal=Columbia Undergraduate Journal of South Asian Studies|year=2010|volume=1|issue=2|pages=91–108 [92]|url=http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cujsas/Volume%20I/Issue%20II/W%20Collin%20Schenk%20-%20Slum%20Diversity.pdf|accessdate=2 February 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120131170736/http://www.columbia.edu/cu/cujsas/Volume%20I/Issue%20II/W%20Collin%20Schenk%20-%20Slum%20Diversity.pdf|archivedate=31 January 2012}}</ref><ref name="kundu" />{{rp|5}} The [[Shanty town|unauthorised slums]] (devoid of basic services provided by the municipality) are occupied by squatters who started living on encroached lands—mainly along canals, railway lines and roads.<ref name="slumdiversity" />{{rp|92}}<ref name="kundu" />{{rp|5}} According to the 2005 National Family Health Survey, around 14% of the households in Kolkata were poor, while 33% lived in slums, indicating a substantial proportion of households in slum areas were better off economically than the bottom quarter of urban households in terms of wealth status.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|23}} [[Mother Teresa]] was awarded the [[Nobel Peace Prize]] for founding and working with the [[Missionaries of Charity]] in Kolkata—an organisation "whose primary task was to love and care for those persons nobody was prepared to look after".<ref>{{cite book|title=Nobel Lectures, Peace 1971–1980 |year=1997 |publisher=World Scientific Publishing Co |location=Singapore |isbn=978-981-02-1179-0 |page=221 |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html |editor1=Frängsmyr, Tore |editor2=Abrams, Irwin |accessdate=3 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141011210335/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/1979/teresa-bio.html |archivedate=11 October 2014 }}</ref>

==Government and public services==

===Civic administration===
{{Main|Civic administration of Kolkata}}

[[File:Calcutta High Court.jpg|thumb|[[Calcutta High Court]]|alt=A red-and-yellow building with multiple arches and towers standing against a backdrop of blue sky and framed by trees]]
Kolkata is administered by several government agencies. The [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]], or KMC, oversees and manages the civic infrastructure of the city's 16&nbsp;boroughs, which together encompass 144&nbsp;wards.<ref name="kmcbasicstat" /> Each ward elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee of councillors, each of whom is elected to represent a ward. By means of the borough committees, the corporation undertakes urban planning and maintains roads, government-aided schools, hospitals, and municipal markets.<ref name="kmcfunction" /> As Kolkata's apex body, the corporation discharges its functions through the mayor-in-council, which comprises a mayor, a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC.<ref name="kmcstructure">{{cite web |url= https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/structure.pdf |title= Legislative structure |publisher= Kolkata Municipal Corporation |accessdate= 3 December 2011 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120104193107/https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/structure.pdf |archivedate= 4 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> The functions of the KMC include water supply, drainage and sewerage, sanitation, solid waste management, street lighting, and building regulation.<ref name="kmcfunction">{{cite web |url=https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KMCFunctions.jsp |title=KMC functions |publisher=Kolkata Municipal Corporation |accessdate=3 December 2011 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120104184545/https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KMCFunctions.jsp |archivedate=4 January 2012  }}</ref>

The Kolkata Municipal Corporation was ranked 1st out of 21 Cities for best governance & administrative practices in India in 2014. It scored 4.0 on 10 compared to the national average of 3.3.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Nair|first1=Ajesh|title=Annual Survey of India's City-Systems|url=http://janaagraha.org/asics/images/Annual-Survey-of-Indias-City-Systems-2014.pdf|publisher=Janaagraha Centre for Citizenship and Democracy|accessdate=7 March 2015|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150319003215/http://janaagraha.org/asics/images/Annual-Survey-of-Indias-City-Systems-2014.pdf|archivedate=19 March 2015}}</ref>

The Kolkata Port Trust, an agency of the central government, manages the city's river port. {{As of|2012}}, the [[All India Trinamool Congress]] controls the KMC; the mayor is [[Firhad Hakim]], while the deputy mayor is Atin Ghosh.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/kolkata/firhad-hakim-all-set-to-be-the-new-mayor-of-kolkata/article25574386.ece | title=Firhad Hakim all set to be the new Mayor of Kolkata| newspaper=The Hindu| accessdate=4 December 2018| date=23 November 2018}}</ref> The city has an apolitical [[Titular ruler|titular]] post, that of the [[Sheriff of Kolkata]], which presides over various city-related functions and conferences.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051228/asp/calcutta/story_5652677.asp |title=The city dairy: new sheriff |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Kolkata |date=28 December 2005 |accessdate=1 September 2007 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818104039/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1051228/asp/calcutta/story_5652677.asp |archivedate=18 August 2007  }}</ref>

Kolkata's administrative agencies have areas of jurisdiction that do not coincide. Listed in ascending order by area, they are: [[Kolkata district]]; the [[Divisions of Kolkata Police|Kolkata Police area]] and the Kolkata Municipal Corporation area, or "Kolkata city";<ref>{{cite news|title=Change of guard brings welcome relief|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-02/kolkata/30105377_1_police-stations-cycle-rickshaws-kolkata-police|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707223852/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-02/kolkata/30105377_1_police-stations-cycle-rickshaws-kolkata-police|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2012|accessdate=10 December 2011|newspaper=Times of India|date=2 September 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref> and the [[Kolkata metropolitan area]], which is the city's urban agglomeration. The agency overseeing the latter, the [[Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority]], is responsible for the [[statutory planning]] and development of greater Kolkata.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kmdaonline.org/pdf/aar11/role_of_kmda.pdf |title=Role of KMDA |year=2011 |work=Annual Report 2011 |publisher=Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority |accessdate=9 February 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605120105/http://www.kmdaonline.org/pdf/aar11/role_of_kmda.pdf |archivedate=5 June 2013  }}</ref>

As the seat of the [[Government of West Bengal]], Kolkata is home to not only the offices of the local governing agencies, but also the [[West Bengal Legislative Assembly]]; the state secretariat, which is housed in the [[Writers' Building]]; and the [[Calcutta High Court]]. Most government establishments and institutions are housed in the centre of the city in [[B. B. D. Bagh]] (formerly known as Dalhousie Square). The [[Calcutta High Court]] is the oldest [[High Courts of India|High Court]] in India. It was preceded by the [[Supreme Court of Judicature at Fort William]] which was established in 1774. The Calcutta High Court has jurisdiction over the state of [[West Bengal]] and the [[Union Territory]] of the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]. Kolkata has lower courts: the [[Court of Small Causes]] and the City Civil Court decide civil matters; the [[Sessions Court]] rules in criminal cases.<ref>{{cite web|title=City Sessions Court, Calcutta|url=http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/citysessions.htm|publisher=Calcutta High Court|accessdate=24 January 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120209100032/http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/citysessions.htm|archivedate=9 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Civil Court, Kolkata|url=http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/citycivil.htm|publisher=Calcutta High Court|accessdate=24 January 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219145445/http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/citycivil.htm|archivedate=19 December 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Presidency Small Causes Court|url=http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/presidencysmall.htm|publisher=Calcutta High Court|accessdate=24 January 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111219140230/http://calcuttahighcourt.nic.in/district_courts/presidencysmall.htm|archivedate=19 December 2011}}</ref> The [[Kolkata Police]], headed by a police commissioner, is overseen by the [[Ministry of Home Affairs (West Bengal)|West Bengal Ministry of Home Affairs]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Home Department, Government of West Bengal |url=http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/DepartmentListPortletWindow?action=1&deptId=21&deptName=Home&deptDispName=Home |publisher=Government of West Bengal |accessdate=24 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121203071623/http://www.banglarmukh.com/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/DepartmentListPortletWindow?action=1&deptId=21&deptName=Home&deptDispName=Home |archivedate=3 December 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Setup of Kolkata Police |url=http://www.kolkatapolice.gov.in/structure1.html |publisher=Kolkata Police |accessdate=24 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120107001537/http://www.kolkatapolice.gov.in/Structure1.html |archivedate=7 January 2012 }}</ref> The Kolkata district elects two representatives to India's lower house, the [[Lok Sabha]], and 11&nbsp;representatives to the state legislative assembly.<ref name="delimitgazzette">{{cite web|url=http://ceowestbengal.nic.in/news_pdf/gazette123.pdf |title=Notification: order no. 18 |author=Delimitation Commission |date=15 February 2006 |publisher=Election Commission of India |location=New Delhi |pages=12–25 |accessdate=11 February 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813092204/http://ceowestbengal.nic.in/news_pdf/gazette123.pdf |archivedate=13 August 2011 }}</ref>

===Utility services===
[[File:Kolkatavsnl.JPG|thumb|A telecommunications tower belonging to services provider [[Tata Communications]]]]

The [[Kolkata Municipal Corporation]] supplies the city with potable water that is sourced from the [[Hooghly River]];<ref>{{cite web|title=KMC functions|url=https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KMCFunctions.jsp|publisher=Kolkata Municipal Corporation|accessdate=9 December 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20120104184545/https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/jsp/KMCFunctions.jsp|archivedate=4 January 2012}}</ref> most of it is treated and purified at the Palta pumping station located in North&nbsp;24 Parganas district.<ref>{{cite news|title=Raj legacy mainstay of water supply|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-09-03/kolkata/27191946_1_water-supply-palta-sovan-chatterjee|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701162444/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-09-03/kolkata/27191946_1_water-supply-palta-sovan-chatterjee|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 July 2012|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Times of India|agency=[[Times News Network|TNN]]|date=3 September 2003|location=New Delhi}}</ref> Roughly 95% of the 4,000&nbsp;tonnes of refuse produced daily by the city is transported to the dumping grounds in [[Dhapa, India|Dhapa]], which is east of the town.<ref>{{cite web|title=Master plan on solid waste management |url=http://www.keip.in/bl3/pdfFiles/master_plan.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110304075915/http://www.keip.in/bl3/pdfFiles/master_plan.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date= 4 March 2011 |publisher=Kolkata Environmental Improvement Project, Kolkata Municipal Corporation |accessdate=9 December 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gon Chaudhuri |first= S. P.|title=KMC has no alternative to overburdened Dhapa|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-28/kolkata/27894436_1_dhapa-tonnes-of-municipal-waste-garbage|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708073541/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-12-28/kolkata/27894436_1_dhapa-tonnes-of-municipal-waste-garbage|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 July 2012|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Times of India|date=28 December 2008|location=New Delhi}}</ref> To promote the recycling of garbage and sewer water, agriculture is encouraged on the dumping grounds.<ref name="UN">{{cite web
 |url=http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/ESTdir/Pub/MSW/SP/SP4/SP4_2.asp 
 |title=Sound practices composting: sound technical options 
 |work=International source book on environmentally sound technologies for municipal solid waste management 
 |publisher=United Nations Environment Programme 
 |accessdate=26 April 2006 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060511133821/http://www.unep.or.jp/ietc/ESTdir/Pub/MSW/SP/SP4/SP4_2.asp 
 |archivedate=11 May 2006 
}}</ref> Parts of the city lack proper sewerage, leading to unsanitary methods of waste disposal.<ref name="ESS">{{cite web |publisher = Gaia: Environmental Information System |url = http://www.ess.co.at/GAIA/CASES/IND/CAL/CALmain.html |title = Calcutta: not 'the city of joy' |accessdate = 26 April 2006 |url-status = live |archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20060427072542/http://www.ess.co.at/GAIA/CASES/IND/CAL/CALmain.html |archivedate = 27 April 2006 }}</ref>

In 1856 the Bengal Government appointed [[George Turnbull (civil engineer)|George Turnbull]] to be the Commissioner of Drainage and Sewerage to improve the city's sewerage. Turnbull's main job was to be the Chief Engineer of the [[East Indian Railway Company]] responsible for building the first railway 541 miles from [[Howrah]] to [[Varanasi]] (then [[Benares]]).

Electricity is supplied by the privately operated [[CESC Limited|Calcutta Electric Supply Corporation]], or CESC, to the city proper; the [[West Bengal State Electricity Board]] supplies it in the suburbs.<ref>{{cite news|title=Power cuts, soaring heat leave city boiling|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-02/kolkata/29842062_1_cesc-mw-unit-mw-southern-generating-station|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701140339/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-02/kolkata/29842062_1_cesc-mw-unit-mw-southern-generating-station|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 July 2012|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Times of India|agency=TNN|date=2 August 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Power crisis raises fear of dark Diwali in Bengal|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-18/kolkata/30296185_1_mw-power-coal-national-power-grid|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120720110728/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-18/kolkata/30296185_1_mw-power-coal-national-power-grid|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 July 2012|accessdate=9 December 2011|newspaper=Times of India|agency=TNN|date=18 October 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref> Fire services are handled by the [[West Bengal Fire Service]], a state agency.<ref name="fireservice">{{cite web|url=http://www.westbengal.gov.in/portal/banglarMukh/Government/Departments/DepartmentListPortletWindow?action=e&windowstate=normal&mode=view |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101009093640/http://www.westbengal.gov.in/portal/banglarmukh/Government/Departments/DepartmentListPortletWindow?action=e&mode=view&windowstate=normal |url-status=dead |archive-date= 9 October 2010 |title=Fire and emergency services |publisher=Government of West Bengal |accessdate=6 December 2011 }}</ref> {{As of|2012}}, the city had 16&nbsp;fire stations.<ref>{{cite news |title= CM in firefighting mode—six new fire stations, better coordination between agencies |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120103/jsp/calcutta/story_14954836.jsp |newspaper= The Telegraph |location= Kolkata |date= 3 January 2012 |accessdate= 26 February 2012 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20140502203410/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120103/jsp/calcutta/story_14954836.jsp |archivedate= 2 May 2014 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

State-owned [[Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited]], or BSNL, as well as private enterprises, among them [[Vodafone India|Vodafone]], [[Bharti Airtel]], [[Reliance Communications|Reliance]], [[Idea Cellular]], [[Aircel]], [[Tata DoCoMo]], [[Tata Teleservices]], [[Virgin Mobile]], and [[MTS India]], are the leading telephone and cell phone service providers in the city.<ref name="trai ar 11 wire">{{cite web|title=Annual report 2010–11|url=http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/UserFiles/Documents/AnuualReports/ar_10_11.pdf|publisher=Telecom Regulatory Authority of India|accessdate=13 June 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526230024/http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/UserFiles/Documents/AnuualReports/ar_10_11.pdf|archivedate=26 May 2012}}</ref>{{rp|25–26}}{{rp|179}} with Kolkata being the first city in India to have cell phone and [[4G]] connectivity, the [[GSM]] and [[Code division multiple access|CDMA]] cellular coverage is extensive.<ref>{{cite news|title=Kolkata connects India to 4G era|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-11/kolkata/31324556_1_4g-3g-telecom-equipment|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130103073810/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-11/kolkata/31324556_1_4g-3g-telecom-equipment|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 January 2013|accessdate=25 June 2012|newspaper=Times of India|date=11 April 2012|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=City of the third revolution&nbsp;– First 4G service to be launched in Calcutta|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120404/jsp/frontpage/story_15333017.jsp#.T-hXdbUe7HU|accessdate=25 June 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=4 April 2012|location=Kolkata|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120507220230/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1120404/jsp/frontpage/story_15333017.jsp#.T-hXdbUe7HU|archivedate=7 May 2012}}</ref> {{As of|2010}}, Kolkata has 7 percent of the total Broadband internet consumers in India; BSNL, VSNL, Tata Indicom, Sify, Airtel, and Reliance are among the main vendors.<ref>{{cite web|title=Recommendations on national broadband plan |url=http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/Recommendation/Documents/Rcommendation81210.pdf |publisher=Telecom Regulatory Authority of India |accessdate=25 June 2012 |page=22 |date=8 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927084149/http://trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/Recommendation/Documents/Rcommendation81210.pdf |archivedate=27 September 2013 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The Indian telecom services performance indicators October&nbsp;– December 2011|url=http://trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PIRReport/Documents/Indicator%20Report-dec-2011.pdf|publisher=Telecom Regulatory Authority of India|accessdate=25 June 2012|pages=122–126|date=13 April 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526133859/http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/PIRReport/Documents/Indicator%20Report-dec-2011.pdf|archivedate=26 May 2012}}</ref>

===Military and diplomatic establishments===

The [[Eastern Command (India)|Eastern Command]] of the [[Indian Army]] is based in the city. 
Being one of India's major city and the largest city in eastern and north-eastern India, Kolkata hosts diplomatic missions of many countries such as [[List of diplomatic missions in India|Australia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, People's Republic of China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Myanmar, Nepal, Russia, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Thailand, United Kingdom and United States]]. The [[Consulate General of the United States, Kolkata|U.S Consulate in Kolkata]] is the [[United States Department of State|US Department of State]]'s second-oldest Consulate and dates from 19 November 1792.<ref>{{cite web|title=About the Consulate {{!}} Kolkata, India – Consulate General of the United States |url=http://kolkata.usconsulate.gov/about_the_consulate.html |website=kolkata.usconsulate.gov |accessdate=30 December 2015 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151025091257/http://kolkata.usconsulate.gov/about_the_consulate.html |archivedate=25 October 2015 }}</ref>

==Transport==
{{Main|Transport in Kolkata}}

[[File: Kolkata transport.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|[[Trams in Kolkata|The Kolkata tram system]] is the oldest operating electric tram system in Asia]]

[[File: Traffic in Kolkata.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|A road in Kolkata showing buses, taxis, [[auto rickshaw]]s, cars, and other modes of road transport]]
[[File: Kolkata Airport Terminal (14668163978).jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.9|The terminal of the [[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport|Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport]]]]
[[File:Central park metro Station Train trail (Kolkata Metro Line 2) 03.jpg|alt=|thumb|The [[Kolkata Metro]] is the oldest metro system in India]]
Public transport is provided by the [[Kolkata Suburban Railway]], the [[Kolkata Metro]], [[Trams in Kolkata|trams]], [[rickshaws]], and buses. The suburban rail network reaches the city's distant suburbs.

According to a 2013 survey conducted by the [[International Association of Public Transport]], in terms of a public transport system, Kolkata ranks among the top of the six Indian cities surveyed.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hemalata|first=Karthikeyan|title=Kolkata tops Indian cities in public transport: Study|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-18/india/45336739_1_public-transport-urban-mobility-private-vehicles|archive-url=https://archive.today/20131220084404/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-12-18/india/45336739_1_public-transport-urban-mobility-private-vehicles|url-status=dead|archive-date=20 December 2013|accessdate=20 December 2013|newspaper=Times of India|date=18 December 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=The future of urban mobility 2.0|url=http://www.adlittle.com/downloads/tx_adlreports/Arthur_D._Little___UITP_Future_of_Urban_Mobility_2_0.pdf|publisher=International Association of Public Transport|accessdate=20 December 2013|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104210935/http://www.adlittle.com/downloads/tx_adlreports/Arthur_D._Little___UITP_Future_of_Urban_Mobility_2_0.pdf|archivedate=4 January 2014}}</ref> The [[Kolkata Metro]], in operation since 1984, is the oldest underground mass transit system in India.<ref>{{cite web
 |publisher=[[Kolkata Metro]] 
 |url=http://www.kolmetro.com/ 
 |title=About Kolkata Metro 
 |accessdate=1 September 2007 
 |url-status=dead 
 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070820234733/http://www.kolmetro.com/ 
 |archivedate=20 August 2007 
}}</ref> It spans the north–south length of the city and covers a distance of {{Convert|27|km|mi|0|abbr=on}}. {{As of|2009}}, five Metro rail lines were under construction.<ref>{{cite news |title=Circle of Metro commute surveys propose changes to plan |last=Mandal |first=Sanjay |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090729/jsp/calcutta/story_11295327.jsp |newspaper=The Telegraph |date=29 July 2010 |accessdate=3 December 2011 |location=Kolkata |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118104122/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090729/jsp/calcutta/story_11295327.jsp |archivedate=18 January 2012  }}</ref> Kolkata has four long-distance railway stations, located at [[Howrah station|Howrah]] (the largest railway complex in India), [[Sealdah railway station|Sealdah]], [[Kolkata Railway Station|Chitpur]] and [[Shalimar railway station|Shalimar]], which connect Kolkata by rail to most cities in West Bengal and to other major cities in India.<ref>{{Cite news | url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060220/asp/calcutta/story_5868502.asp | title=New station flag-off: amenities added | newspaper=The Telegraph | date=20 February 2006 | accessdate=2 September 2007 | location=Kolkata | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930033326/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060220/asp/calcutta/story_5868502.asp | archivedate=30 September 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> The city serves as the headquarters of three railway Zone out of Seventeen of the [[Indian Railways]] regional divisions—the [[Kolkata Metro|Kolkata Metro Railways]], [[Eastern Railway Zone (India)|Eastern Railway]] and the [[South Eastern Railway Zone (India)|South-Eastern Railway]].<ref name="railzones">{{cite web|title=Indian Railway's zones and their divisions with headquarters |url=http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ir_zones.pdf |accessdate=25 February 2012 |publisher=Centre For Railway Information Systems, Indian Railways |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417132128/http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ir_zones.pdf |archivedate=17 April 2012 }}</ref> Kolkata has rail and road connectivity with [[Dhaka]], the capital of [[Bangladesh]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Kolkata-Dhaka bus service resumes |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Kolkata-Dhaka-bus-service-resumes/Article1-314159.aspx |newspaper=Hindustan Times |location=New Delhi |agency=IANS |accessdate=7 December 2011 |date=30 May 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104212342/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Kolkata-Dhaka-bus-service-resumes/Article1-314159.aspx |archivedate=4 January 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=International bus service|url=http://www.brtc.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126&Itemid=102|publisher=Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation|accessdate=7 December 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213195335/http://www.brtc.gov.bd/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=126&Itemid=102|archivedate=13 February 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Maitree Express|url=http://www.hcidhaka.org/pdf/Maitree%20Express%20Facts.pdf|publisher=High Commission of India, Dhaka|accessdate=7 December 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226021808/http://www.hcidhaka.org/pdf/Maitree%20Express%20Facts.pdf|archivedate=26 December 2011}}</ref>
[[File:20181128 122914000 iOS.jpg|thumb|300x300px|The yellow taxi remains a favourite despite the foray of [[Ridesharing company|rideshare companies]] in the transport market]]
[[Bus]]es, which are the most commonly used mode of transport, are run by government agencies and private operators.<ref>{{cite book |title=Geography of transport development in India |last= Vaidya|first=Balkrishna |year=2003 |publisher=Concept Publishing Company |location= New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7022-957-5 |pages=142–55, 465 }}</ref> Kolkata is the only Indian city with a tram network, which is operated by the [[Calcutta Tramways Company]].<ref name="onlytram">{{Cite news|title=Reaching India |url=http://timesfoundation.indiatimes.com/articleshow/657741.cms |accessdate=27 February 2012 |publisher=Times Internet Limited |location=New Delhi |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016221039/http://timesfoundation.indiatimes.com/articleshow/657741.cms |archivedate=16 October 2007 }}</ref> The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city. Water-logging, caused by heavy rains that fall during the [[Monsoon of South Asia|summer monsoon]], can interrupt transportation networks.<ref>{{Cite news|title = Heavy rainfall throws city out of gear|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-07/kolkata/29861203_1_water-logging-drainage-heavy-rainfall |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708035054/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-08-07/kolkata/29861203_1_water-logging-drainage-heavy-rainfall |url-status=dead |archive-date=8 July 2012 |newspaper=Times of India|agency=TNN|date=7 August 2011 |accessdate=26 February 2012|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Heavy rains paralyse normal life in Kolkata|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/heavy-rains-paralyse-normal-life-in-kolkata/article2330768.ece|accessdate=26 February 2012|newspaper=The Hindu|agency=Press Trust of India|date=6 August 2011|location=Chennai|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502233216/http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/other-states/heavy-rains-paralyse-normal-life-in-kolkata/article2330768.ece|archivedate=2 May 2014}}</ref> Hired public conveyances include [[auto rickshaw]]s, which often ply specific routes, and yellow metered taxis. Almost all of Kolkata's taxis are antiquated [[Hindustan Ambassador]]s by make; newer air-conditioned [[Taxicab#Dispatching|radio taxis]] are in service as well.<ref>{{cite news|title=Cruise in a cool cab|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081130/jsp/calcutta/story_10111183.jsp|accessdate=7 December 2011|newspaper=The Telegraph|date=30 November 2008|location=Kolkata|first=Samhita L.|last=Chakraborty|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118182025/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081130/jsp/calcutta/story_10111183.jsp|archivedate=18 January 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Getting around in Kolkata|url=http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/kolkata-calcutta/transport/getting-around|publisher=Lonely Planet|accessdate=7 December 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121204170242/http://www.lonelyplanet.com/india/kolkata-calcutta/transport/getting-around|archivedate=4 December 2012}}</ref> In parts of the city, [[cycle rickshaw]]s and [[Pulled rickshaw|hand-pulled rickshaws]] are patronised by the public for short trips.<ref>{{cite web|first=Calvin|last=Trillin|title=India's rickshaws|url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/kolkata-rickshaws/calvin-trillin-text|work=National Geographic|accessdate=11 February 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120130071745/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/04/kolkata-rickshaws/calvin-trillin-text|archivedate=30 January 2012}}</ref>

Due to its diverse and abundant public transportation, privately owned vehicles are not as common in Kolkata as in other major Indian cities.<ref name="niua">{{cite web|publisher = [[National Institute of Urban Affairs]] | url=http://www.niua.org/newniuaorg/table_e2.htm | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050219033026/http://www.niua.org/newniuaorg/table_e2.htm | archivedate=19 February 2005 | title=Table E2 registered motor vehicles in million-plus cities, 1991 to 1996 (As on 31 March)| accessdate=26 April 2006
}}</ref> The city has witnessed a steady increase in the number of registered vehicles; 2002 data showed an increase of 44% over a period of seven years.<ref name="SandipChakroborty">{{cite web|publisher=[[UNESCAP]] |url=http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publications/TPTS_pubs/bulletin74/bulletin74_ch5.pdf |title=Traffic accident characteristics of Kolkata |accessdate=5 July 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060723083755/http://www.unescap.org/ttdw/Publications/TPTS_pubs/bulletin74/bulletin74_ch5.pdf |archivedate=23 July 2006 }}</ref> {{As of|2004}}, after adjusting for population density, the city's "road space" was only 6% compared to 23% in Delhi and 17% in Mumbai.<ref name="hindubusiness">{{Cite news | url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/09/06/stories/2004090600791300.htm | title=Call to ensure traffic discipline in Kolkata | newspaper=The Hindu Business Line | location=Chennai | date=5 September 2004 | accessdate=26 April 2006 | url-status=live | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930222222/http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2004/09/06/stories/2004090600791300.htm | archivedate=30 September 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Kolkata Metro]] has somewhat eased traffic congestion, as has the addition of new roads and [[Overpass|flyovers]]. Agencies operating long-distance bus services include the [[Calcutta State Transport Corporation]], the [[South Bengal State Transport Corporation]], the [[North Bengal State Transport Corporation]], and various private operators. The city's main bus terminals are located at [[Esplanade, Kolkata|Esplanade]] and [[Babughat]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Bandyopadhyay|first=Krishnendu|title=Bus-stand shift still on paper|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-22/kolkata/30310637_1_terminus-bus-stand-bus-termini|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708020802/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-10-22/kolkata/30310637_1_terminus-bus-stand-bus-termini|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 July 2012|newspaper=Times of India|accessdate=7 December 2011|date=22 September 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref> The Kolkata–Delhi and Kolkata–Chennai prongs of the [[Golden Quadrilateral]], and [[National Highway 34 (India)|National Highway 34]] start from the city.<ref>{{cite web|title=Physical infrastructure|url=http://www.wbidc.com/about_wb/physical_infrastructure.htm|publisher=West Bengal Industrial Development Corporation|accessdate=7 December 2011|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111150948/http://www.wbidc.com/about_wb/physical_infrastructure.htm|archivedate=11 January 2012}}</ref>

[[Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport]], located in [[Dum Dum]] some {{Convert|16|km|abbr=on}} north-east of the city centre, operates domestic and international flights. In 2013, the airport was upgraded to handle increased air traffic.<ref>{{cite news|title=AAI to modernise Chennai, Kolkata airports by fiscal end|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-26/news/29931676_1_kolkata-airports-aai-terminal-buildings|accessdate=7 December 2011|newspaper=Economic Times|agency=Press Trust of India|date=26 August 2011|location=New Delhi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114000339/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2011-08-26/news/29931676_1_kolkata-airports-aai-terminal-buildings|archive-date=14 January 2012|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Gupta|first=Jayanta|title=From March 15, all flights from new terminal in Kolkata|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-05/kolkata/37469356_1_flights-city-airport-domestic-fliers|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130411033600/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-03-05/kolkata/37469356_1_flights-city-airport-domestic-fliers|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 April 2013|accessdate=11 March 2013|newspaper=Times of India|date=5 March 2013|location=New Delhi}}</ref>

The [[Port of Kolkata]], established in 1870, is India's oldest and the only major river port.<ref name="ibmport">{{cite web|title=Port facilities in India |url=http://ibm.nic.in/portfacilities.pdf |publisher=Indian Bureau of Mines, Government of India |pages=6–4 |accessdate=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111016144155/http://www.ibm.nic.in/portfacilities.pdf |archivedate=16 October 2011 }}</ref> The Kolkata Port Trust manages docks in Kolkata and [[Haldia]].<ref name="dockport">{{cite web|url=http://www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in/index_new.html |title=Salient physical features |accessdate=9 June 2007 |work=[[Kolkata Port Trust]] |publisher=Kolkata Port Trust, India |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070313003421/http://www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in/index_new.html |archivedate=13 March 2007 }}</ref> The port hosts passenger services to [[Port Blair]], capital of the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]]; freighter service to ports throughout India and around the world is operated by the [[Shipping Corporation of India]].<ref name="ibmport" /><ref>{{cite web|title=How to reach Andaman and Nicobar |url=http://www.and.nic.in/C_charter/IP_T/reach.htm |publisher=Andaman and Nicobar Administration |accessdate=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090410011938/http://www.and.nic.in/C_charter/IP_T/reach.htm |archivedate=10 April 2009 }}</ref> Ferry services connect Kolkata with its twin city of [[Howrah]], located across the Hooghly River.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fogged out: flights, train services hit|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-15/kolkata/28372730_1_flight-operations-incoming-flights-visibility|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707023108/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-15/kolkata/28372730_1_flight-operations-incoming-flights-visibility|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2012|accessdate=24 January 2012|newspaper=Times of India|date=15 January 2011|agency=TNN|quote=Ferry services between Howrah and Kolkata were also disrupted due to poor visibility.|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=No pollution scan on river ferries yet|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-02/kolkata/28200565_1_vessels-ferry-services-pollution-levels|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707055616/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2009-08-02/kolkata/28200565_1_vessels-ferry-services-pollution-levels|url-status=dead|archive-date=7 July 2012|accessdate=24 January 2012|agency=TNN|newspaper=Times of India|date= 2 August 2009|location=New Delhi}}</ref>

==Healthcare==
{{See also|Health care in Kolkata}}
[[File:Mchbuilding.JPG|thumb|left|[[Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata|Calcutta Medical College]], the second institution in Asia to teach modern medicine (after 'Ecole de Médicine de Pondichéry')|alt=A big building in cream colour with many columns and a portico]]
[[File:IPGMER SSKM Woodburn.jpg|thumb|left|[[IPGMER and SSKM Hospital]], Kolkata is the largest hospital in [[West Bengal]] and one of the oldest in Kolkata.]]
{{As of|2011}}, the health care system in Kolkata consists of 48&nbsp;government hospitals, mostly under the [[Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (West Bengal)|Department of Health & Family Welfare]], Government of West Bengal, and 366&nbsp;private medical establishments;<ref name="hospital2011">{{cite web|title=Medical institutions and sanctioned no. of beds in districts of West Bengal as on 30.11.2011|url=http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/Health_Stat/2010_2011/6/VI.2.pdf|publisher=Department of Health & Family Welfare, Government of West Bengal|accessdate=1 March 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121202040137/http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/Health_Stat/2010_2011/6/VI.2.pdf|archivedate=2 December 2012}}</ref> these establishments provide the city with 27,687 hospital beds.<ref name="hospital2011" /> For every 10,000&nbsp;people in the city, there are 61.7&nbsp;hospital beds,<ref name="hospital">The population (4,486,679) and hospital beds (27,687) have been used to derive this rate.</ref> which is higher than the national average of 9&nbsp;hospital beds per 10,000.<ref>{{cite web|title=Hospital beds |url=http://apps.who.int/ghodata/cache/global/xls/vid.1860.xls |publisher=World Health Organistation |accessdate=31 January 2012 |format=XLS |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120709021137/http://apps.who.int/ghodata/cache/global/xls/vid.1860.xls |archivedate=9 July 2012 }}</ref> Ten [[Education in Kolkata#Medical Colleges|medical and dental colleges]] are located in the Kolkata metropolitan area which act as [[tertiary referral hospital]]s in the state.<ref>{{cite web|last=Shah |first=Mansi |title=Waiting for health care: a survey of a public hospital in Kolkata |url=http://ccs.in/ccsindia/downloads/intern-papers-08/Waiting-for-Healthcare-A-survey-of-a-public-hospital-in-Kolkata-Mansi.pdf |publisher=[[Centre for Civil Society]] |accessdate=31 January 2012 |year=2007 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110813070438/http://ccs.in/ccsindia/downloads/intern-papers-08/Waiting-for-Healthcare-A-survey-of-a-public-hospital-in-Kolkata-Mansi.pdf |archivedate=13 August 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last1=Husain |first1=Zakir |last2=Ghosh |first2=Saswata |last3=Roy |first3=Bijoya |title=Socio economic profile of patients in Kolkata: a case study of RG Kar and AMRI |url=http://www.idsk.edu.in/annual-reports/OP-14.pdf |publisher=[[Institute of Development Studies, Kolkata]] |accessdate=31 January 2012 |pages=19–20 |date=July 2008 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130628145759/http://www.idsk.edu.in/annual-reports/OP-14.pdf |archivedate=28 June 2013 }}</ref> The [[Calcutta Medical College]], founded in 1835, was the first institution in Asia to teach modern medicine.<ref name="calmed">{{cite news |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050420/asp/careergraph/story_4638691.asp |title= Calcutta Medical College, Calcutta |accessdate= 20 October 2007 |last= Mitra |first= Dola |date= 20 April 2005 |newspaper= The Telegraph |location= Kolkata |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20071012014300/http://telegraphindia.com/1050420/asp/careergraph/story_4638691.asp |archivedate= 12 October 2007 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> However, These facilities are inadequate to meet the healthcare needs of the city.<ref>{{cite news|last=Mitra|first=Prithvijit|title=On hospital floor for 12 days|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-09/kolkata/29400041_1_bed-floor-bike|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120710232805/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-09/kolkata/29400041_1_bed-floor-bike|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 July 2012|accessdate=31 January 2012|newspaper=Times of India|date=9 April 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Mamata inducts two new ministers|url=http://www.sify.com/news/mamata-inducts-two-new-ministers-news-national-mbqrkkigffd.html|accessdate=31 January 2012|publisher=Sify|date=16 January 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509123211/http://www.sify.com/news/mamata-inducts-two-new-ministers-news-national-mbqrkkigffd.html|archivedate=9 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Kolkata woman gives birth on road, dies after no admission by hospitals |url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Kolkata-woman-gives-birth-on-road-dies-after-no-admission-by-hospitals/Article1-796738.aspx |accessdate=31 January 2012 |newspaper=Hindustan Times |location=New Delhi |date=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120118125557/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Kolkata/Kolkata-woman-gives-birth-on-road-dies-after-no-admission-by-hospitals/Article1-796738.aspx |archivedate=18 January 2012 }}</ref> More than 78% in Kolkata prefer the private medical sector over the public medical sector,<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|109}} due to the overburdening of the public health sector, the lack of a nearby facility, and excessive waiting times at government facilities.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|61}}

According to the Indian 2005 National Family Health Survey, only a small proportion of Kolkata households were covered under any health scheme or [[health insurance]].<ref name="healthsurvey">{{cite web|last1=Gupta|first1=Kamla|title=Health and living conditions in eight Indian cities|url=http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADQ634.pdf|work=National Family Health Survey (NFHS-3), India, 2005–06|publisher=International Institute for Population Sciences; Calverton, Maryland, US|accessdate=1 February 2012|last2=Arnold|first2=Fred|last3=Lhungdim|first3=H.|location=Mumbai|year=2009|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121212040205/http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADQ634.pdf|archivedate=12 December 2012}}</ref>{{rp|41}} The [[total fertility rate]] in Kolkata was 1.4, The lowest among the eight cities surveyed.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|45}} In Kolkata, 77% of the married women used [[contraceptive]]s, which was the highest among the cities surveyed, but use of modern contraceptive methods was the lowest (46%).<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|47}} The [[infant mortality rate]] in Kolkata was {{nowrap|41 per 1,000}} live births, and the mortality rate for children under five was {{nowrap|49 per 1,000}} live births.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|48}}

Among the surveyed cities, Kolkata stood second (5%) for children who had not had any vaccinations under the [[Universal Immunization Programme]] {{as of|2005|lc=on}}.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|48}} Kolkata ranked second with access to an ''[[anganwadi]]'' centre under the [[Integrated Child Development Services]] (ICDS) programme for 57% of the children between 0 and 71 months.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|51}} The proportion of [[malnutrition|malnourished]], [[anaemia|anaemic]] and [[underweight]] children in Kolkata was less in comparison to other surveyed cities.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|54–55}}

About 18% of the men and 30% of the women in Kolkata are [[obese]]—the majority of them belonging to the non-poor strata of society.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|105}} In 2005, Kolkata had the highest percentage (55%) among the surveyed cities of [[Anemia|anaemic]] women, while 20% of the men in Kolkata were [[Anemia|anaemic]].<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|56–57}} Diseases like [[diabetes]], [[asthma]], [[goitre]] and other [[Thyroid#Disorders|thyroid disorders]] were found in large numbers of people.<ref name="healthsurvey" />{{rp|57–59}} Tropical diseases like [[malaria]], [[dengue]] and ''[[chikungunya]]'' are prevalent in Kolkata, though their incidence is decreasing.<ref>{{cite web|title=Malaria, dengue down in Kolkata |url=http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/malaria-dengue-down-in-kolkata/950430.html |accessdate=26 February 2012 |publisher=IBNLive.in |date=13 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117062950/http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfeed/news/malaria-dengue-down-in-kolkata/950430.html |archivedate=17 January 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=KMC wins battle against malaria, dengue |url=http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&show=archive&id=385831&catid=73&year=2011&month=10&day=8 |accessdate=26 February 2012 |newspaper=The Statesman |date=7 October 2011 |location=Kolkata |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510201217/http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&show=archive&id=385831&catid=73&year=2011&month=10&day=8 |archivedate=10 May 2013 }}</ref> Kolkata is one of the districts in India with [[HIV/AIDS in India|a high number of people]] with [[HIV/AIDS|AIDS]]; it has been designated a district prone to high risk.<ref>{{cite web|title=Annual report 2009–10 |publisher=Department of AIDS Control, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India |url=http://nacoonline.org/upload/AR%202009-10/NACO_AR_English%20corrected.pdf |page=106 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111020144353/http://nacoonline.org/upload/AR%202009-10/NACO_AR_English%20corrected.pdf |archivedate=20 October 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Annual Report 2009–10|url=http://www.wbhealth.gov.in/wbsapcs/report/Annual%20Report09-10Final.pdf|publisher=West Bengal State AIDS Prevention & Control Society|accessdate=1 February 2012|page=10|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111201204531/http://wbhealth.gov.in/wbsapcs/report/Annual%20Report09-10Final.pdf|archivedate=1 December 2011}}</ref>

As of 2014, because of [[Air pollution in India|higher air pollution]], the [[life expectancy]] of a person born in the city is four years fewer than in the suburbs.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Act-today-to-curb-pollution-say-docs/articleshow/3995843.cms?referral=PM|title=Act today to curb pollution, say docs – The Times of India|work=indiatimes.com|accessdate=25 July 2016|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20170104213213/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata-/Act-today-to-curb-pollution-say-docs/articleshow/3995843.cms?referral=PM|archivedate=4 January 2017}}</ref>

==Education==
{{Main|Education in Kolkata}}[[File:IIMKolkata.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|[[Indian Institute of Management Calcutta]]]]
[[File:Nujsfront.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences]]]]
[[File:University of Calcutta cropped.JPG|thumb|upright=0.9|[[University of Calcutta]]|alt=Large white columned building, with palm trees in front]]
[[File:Amity University, Kolkata.jpg|thumb|Aerial view of the [[Amity University, Kolkata]]]]
[[File:Presidency University - Kolkata 7404.JPG|left|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Presidency University, Kolkata]]]]

Kolkata's schools are run by the state government or private organisations, many of which are religious. [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and English are the primary languages of instruction; [[Urdu]] and [[Hindi]] are also used, particularly in central Kolkata.<ref name="educationsystem">{{cite web |title= Annual Report 2007––2008 |url= http://www.wbsed.gov.in/wbsed/readwrite/AnnualReportSchoolEducation_07-08.pdf |publisher= Department of School Education, Government of West Bengal |accessdate= 10 December 2011 |page= 69 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120426042043/http://www.wbsed.gov.in/wbsed/readwrite/AnnualReportSchoolEducation_07-08.pdf |archivedate= 26 April 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= List of schools in Kolkata |url= http://wbbse.org/skolkata.htm |publisher= West Bengal Board of Secondary Education |accessdate= 10 December 2011 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20111125210807/http://wbbse.org/skolkata.htm |archivedate= 25 November 2011 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> Schools in Kolkata follow the [[Education in India|"10+2+3" plan]]. After completing their secondary education, students typically enroll in schools that have a higher secondary facility and are affiliated with the [[West Bengal Council of Higher Secondary Education]], the [[Indian Certificate of Secondary Education|ICSE]], or the [[Central Board of Secondary Education|CBSE]].<ref name="educationsystem" /> They usually choose a focus on liberal arts, business, or science. Vocational programs are also available.<ref name="educationsystem" /> Some Kolkata schools, for example [[La Martiniere Calcutta]], [[Calcutta Boys' School]], [[South Point School]], [[St. James' School (Kolkata)]], [[St. Xavier's Collegiate School]], and [[Loreto House]], have been ranked amongst the best schools in the country.<ref>{{cite web|title=India's Best Schools, 2014|url=http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/career-indias-best-schools-of-2014/20140922.htm|website=Rediff.com|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150722053415/http://www.rediff.com/getahead/report/career-indias-best-schools-of-2014/20140922.htm|archivedate=22 July 2015}}</ref> [[File:Indian Institute of Foreign Trade, Kolkata Campus.jpg|thumb|upright=0.9|[[Indian Institute of Foreign Trade]]]]{{As of|2010}}, the Kolkata urban agglomeration is home to 14&nbsp;universities run by the state government.<ref name=higheredu124127>{{cite web |title= Annual report of the Department of Higher Education 2009–2010 |url= http://higherednwb.net/documents/annual%20report/annual%20report%202010.pdf |publisher= Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal |year= 2010 |pages= 124–27 |accessdate= 10 December 2011 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120113055617/http://higherednwb.net/documents/annual%20report/annual%20report%202010.pdf |archivedate= 13 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> The colleges are each affiliated with a university or institution based either in Kolkata or elsewhere in India. [[Aliah University]] which was founded in 1780 as ''Mohammedan College of Calcutta'' is the oldest post-secondary educational institution of the city.<ref name=Home_page>{{cite web|url=http://www.aliah.ac.in/aboutuniv.php|title=ALIAH UNIVERSITY|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414224651/http://www.aliah.ac.in/aboutuniv.php|archivedate=14 April 2011}}</ref> The [[University of Calcutta]], founded in 1857, is the first modern university in [[South Asia]].<ref name=higheredu129>{{cite web |title= Annual report of the Department of Higher Education 2009–2010 |url= http://higherednwb.net/documents/annual%20report/annual%20report%202010.pdf |publisher= Department of Higher Education, Government of West Bengal |year= 2010 |page= 129 |accessdate= 26 January 2012 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120113055617/http://higherednwb.net/documents/annual%20report/annual%20report%202010.pdf |archivedate= 13 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> [[Presidency College, Kolkata]] (formerly Hindu College between 1817 and 1855), founded in 1855, was one of the oldest and most eminent colleges in India. It was affiliated with the [[University of Calcutta]] until 2010 when it was converted to [[Presidency University, Kolkata]] in 2010. [[Bengal Engineering and Science University, Shibpur|Bengal Engineering and Science University]] (BESU) is the second oldest engineering institution of the country located in [[Howrah]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Singh|first=Shiv Sahay|title=BESU's bid for upgrade gets catalyst in Didi|url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/besu-s-bid-for-upgrade-gets-catalyst-in-didi/656792/|accessdate=18 August 2013|newspaper=Indian Express|date=6 August 2010|location=New Delhi}}</ref> An [[Institute of National Importance]], BESU was converted to India's first [[Indian Institutes of Engineering Science and Technology|IIEST]]. [[Jadavpur University]] is known for its arts, science, and engineering faculties.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ugc.ac.in/financialsupport/guideline_29.html |title=Universities with potential for excellence |publisher=University Grants Commission, Government of India |accessdate=12 October 2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403225601/http://www.ugc.ac.in/financialsupport/guideline_29.html |archivedate=3 April 2010 }}</ref> The [[Indian Institute of Management Calcutta]], which was the first of the [[Indian Institutes of Management]], was established in 1961 at [[Joka, Kolkata|Joka]], a locality in the south-western suburbs. Kolkata also houses the prestigious [[Indian Institute of Foreign Trade]], which was started here in the year 2006.<ref>{{cite news| title = Q&A: Shekhar Chaudhury, director, IIM Calcutta| last = Garg| first = Swati| url = http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/qa-shekhar-chaudhury-director-iim-calcutta/435269/| newspaper = Business Standard| location = Kolkata| date = 12 May 2011| accessdate = 15 January 2011| url-status = live| archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20121012154515/http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/qa-shekhar-chaudhury-director-iim-calcutta/435269/| archivedate = 12 October 2012| df = dmy-all}}</ref> The [[West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences]] is one of India's [[Autonomous law schools in India|autonomous law schools]],<ref>{{cite news |title= NLUs, a preferred recruitment destination |url= http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/12/stories/2007031203030300.htm |accessdate= 17 January 2012 |newspaper= The Hindu |date= 12 March 2007 |location= Chennai |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20121110040950/http://www.hindu.com/2007/03/12/stories/2007031203030300.htm |archivedate= 10 November 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Ghosh |first=Shuvobroto |title=An eye on law |url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070118/asp/careergraph/story_7274373.asp |accessdate=17 January 2012 |newspaper=The Telegraph |location=Kolkata |date=18 January 2007 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605052609/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070118/asp/careergraph/story_7274373.asp |archivedate=5 June 2011  }}</ref> and the [[Indian Statistical Institute]] is a public research institute and university. State owned [[Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology|Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, West Bengal (MAKAUT, WB)]], formerly West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT) is the largest Technological University in terms of student enrollment and number of Institutions affiliated by it. Private institutions include the [[Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute]] and [[University of Engineering & Management (UEM), Kolkata|University of Engineering & Management (UEM)]].

Notable scholars who were born, worked or studied in Kolkata include physicists [[Satyendra Nath Bose]], [[Meghnad Saha]],<ref name=calunivalumni>{{cite web|url=http://www.caluniv.ac.in/About%20the%20university/Some%20of%20the%20Alumni.htm |title=Some of the distinguished alumni of the University of Calcutta |publisher=University of Calcutta |accessdate=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121002631/http://caluniv.ac.in/About%20the%20university/Some%20of%20the%20Alumni.htm |archivedate=21 November 2011 }}</ref> and [[Jagadish Chandra Bose]];<ref name=calunivteachers>{{cite web|url=http://www.caluniv.ac.in/About%20the%20university/Distinguished%20Teacher.htm |title=Some of our distinguished teachers |publisher=University of Calcutta |accessdate=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111121002802/http://caluniv.ac.in/About%20the%20university/Distinguished%20Teacher.htm |archivedate=21 November 2011 }}</ref> chemist [[Prafulla Chandra Roy]];<ref name=calunivalumni/> statisticians [[Prasanta Chandra Mahalanobis]] and [[Anil Kumar Gain]];<ref name=calunivalumni/> physician [[Upendranath Brahmachari]];<ref name=calunivalumni/> educator [[Ashutosh Mukherjee]];<ref>{{cite book|last1=Petitjean |first1= Patrick|title=Science and empires: historical studies about scientific development and European expansion|year=1992|publisher= Kluwer Academic Publishers| location= Dordrecht, The Netherlands| isbn=978-0-7923-1518-6|last2=Jami |first2= Cathérine |last3= Moulin |first3= Anne Marie|page=62}}</ref> and Nobel laureates [[Rabindranath Tagore]],<ref>{{cite book|title=Nobel Lectures, Literature 1901–1967|year=1999|publisher=World Scientific|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-981-02-3413-3|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1913/tagore.html|editor=Frenz, Horst|accessdate=3 February 2012|page=134|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202212053/http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1913/tagore.html|archivedate=2 February 2012}}</ref> [[C. V. Raman]],<ref name=calunivteachers/> and [[Amartya Sen]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~phildept/sen.html |title=Professor Amartya Sen |publisher=President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard University |accessdate=29 January 2012 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111120042/http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~phildept/sen.html |archivedate=11 January 2012 }}</ref>

Kolkata houses many premier research institutes like [[Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science]] (IACS), [[Indian Institute of Chemical Biology]] (IICB), [[Indian Institute of Science Education and Research]] (IISER), [[Bose Institute]], [[Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics]] (SINP), [[All India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health]], [[Central Glass and Ceramic Research Institute]] (CGCRI), [[S.N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences]] (SNBNCBS), [[Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management]] (IISWBM), [[National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Kolkata]], [[Variable Energy Cyclotron Centre]] (VECC) and [[Indian Centre for Space Physics]]. Nobel laureate [[Sir C. V. Raman]] did his groundbreaking work in [[Raman effect]] in IACS.

==Culture==
{{Main|Kolkata culture}}
[[File:Victoria Memorial at night.jpg|thumb|[[Victoria Memorial (India)|Victoria Memorial]] at night|right]]Kolkata is known for its literary, artistic, and revolutionary heritage; as the former capital of India, it was the birthplace of modern Indian literary and artistic thought.<ref name=niradchaudh>{{cite book|title= The autobiography of an unknown Indian|last= Chaudhuri|first= Nirad C.|authorlink= Nirad C. Chaudhuri|year= 2001|publisher= New York Review of Books|location= New York|isbn= 978-0-940322-82-0|page= [https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofu00chau/page/269 269]|url= https://archive.org/details/autobiographyofu00chau/page/269}}</ref> Kolkata has been called the "City of Furious, Creative Energy"<ref name=sinha>{{cite book |editor1-first=Surajit |editor1-last= Sinha|editor1-link= Surajit Chandra Sinha |title=Cultural profile of Calcutta |url=https://archive.org/details/dli.bengal.10689.13457 |year=1972 |publisher=Indian Anthropological Society |location=Kolkata |asin= B000GL2BEG |page=7}}</ref> as well as the "cultural [or literary] capital of India".<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9362769 |title=Calcutta: habitat of the Indian intellectual |last=Reeves |first=Philip |date=5 April 2007 |publisher=[[NPR]] |accessdate=29 January 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002074400/http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=9362769 |archivedate=2 October 2011  }}</ref><ref name=nobleliterary>{{cite book |editor1-first=Allen|editor1-last=Noble|editor2-last=Costa|editor2-first=Frank|editor3-last=Dutt|editor3-first=Ashok|editor4-last= Kent |editor4-first=Robert|title=Regional development and planning for the 21st century : new priorities, new philosophies  |year=1990 |publisher= Ashgate Publishing|location=Farnham, UK |isbn= 978-1-84014-800-8|pages=282, 396 }}</ref> The presence of ''[[para (Bengali)|paras]]'', which are neighbourhoods that possess a strong sense of community, is characteristic of the city.<ref name=parawbgov>{{cite web|url=http://www.westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/kolkata-para |title=Kolkata culture: Para |publisher=Department of Tourism, Government of West Bengal |accessdate=9 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111221052334/http://www.westbengaltourism.gov.in/web/guest/kolkata-para |archivedate=21 December 2011 }}</ref> Typically, each ''para'' has its own community club and, on occasion, a playing field.<ref name=parawbgov/> Residents engage in ''[[adda (Indian)|addas]]'', or leisurely chats, that often take the form of freestyle intellectual conversation.<ref name=Trachtenberg>{{cite news|last=Trachtenberg|first=P.|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/travel/tmagazine/the-chattering-masses.html?_r=0|title=The chattering masses|work=The New York Times|location=New York|date=15 May 2005|accessdate=26 April 2006|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160717222426/http://www.nytimes.com/2005/05/15/travel/tmagazine/the-chattering-masses.html?_r=0|archivedate=17 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Mukherjee Pandey|first= Jhimli |title= Presidency old-timers to relive days of canteen adda |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-11-01/kolkata/27941063_1_canteen-girl-students-presidency-college |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120707050322/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-11-01/kolkata/27941063_1_canteen-girl-students-presidency-college |url-status= dead |archive-date= 7 July 2012 |accessdate=23 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 1 November 2008 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> The city has a tradition of political [[graffiti]] depicting everything from outrageous slander to witty banter and limericks, caricatures, and propaganda.<ref>{{cite news |title= 'Nah. Didi can't hatch this egg |first= Premankur |last= Biswas |url= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nah.-didi-cant-hatch-this-egg/776292/0 |newspaper= Indian Express |location= New Delhi |date= 17 April 2011 |accessdate= 25 January 2012 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110424113243/http://www.indianexpress.com/news/nah.-didi-cant-hatch-this-egg/776292/0 |archivedate= 24 April 2011 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Chakraborty|first= Ajanta |title= Bite missing from graffiti, the fun's gone from the elections |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-11/kolkata/29406063_1_wall-defacement-graffiti-wall-writing |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120713192550/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-04-11/kolkata/29406063_1_wall-defacement-graffiti-wall-writing |url-status= dead |archive-date= 13 July 2012 |accessdate=23 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 11 April 2011 |location=New Delhi}}</ref>[[File:Indian Museum Interior View.jpg|thumb|The [[Indian Museum, Kolkata|Indian Museum]] is the oldest, and one of the largest museums in India.|alt=A white two storied building with arches and a courtyard in the foreground|left]]Kolkata has many buildings adorned with [[Indo-Islamic architecture|Indo-Islamic]] and [[Indo-Saracenic Revival architecture|Indo-Saracenic]] architectural motifs. Several well-maintained major buildings from the colonial period have been declared "heritage structures";<ref>{{cite web |title= Graded list of heritage buildings |url= https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/Graded_List_of_Heritage_Buildings_Grade_I_IIA_IIB.pdf |publisher= Kolkata Municipal Corporation |accessdate= 24 January 2012 |year= 2009 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20151222153859/https://www.kmcgov.in/KMCPortal/downloads/Graded_List_of_Heritage_Buildings_Grade_I_IIA_IIB.pdf |archivedate= 22 December 2015 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> others are in various stages of decay.<ref>{{cite news |last= Mukherjee Pandey, Jhimli |title= Heritage buildings need restoration, not mere repairs |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-04/kolkata/30112600_1_heritage-buildings-heritage-movement-g-m-kapur |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120717030639/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-04/kolkata/30112600_1_heritage-buildings-heritage-movement-g-m-kapur |url-status= dead |archive-date= 17 July 2012 |accessdate=24 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 4 September 2011 |location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Out of elite list, cradle of Bengal Renaissance falling apart |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-26/kolkata/29705730_1_house-movement-slab |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120716231328/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-06-26/kolkata/29705730_1_house-movement-slab |url-status= dead |archive-date= 16 July 2012 |accessdate=24 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |agency=TNN|date= 26 June 2011 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> Established in 1814 as the nation's oldest museum, the [[Indian Museum]] houses large collections that showcase [[Indian natural history]] and [[Indian art]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Mandal|first=Caesar |title= Gardeners to guard museum? |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-14/kolkata/28309037_1_security-gadgets-security-lapse-private-security-agency |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120707164431/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-08-14/kolkata/28309037_1_security-gadgets-security-lapse-private-security-agency |url-status= dead |archive-date= 7 July 2012 |accessdate=24 January 2012 |date= 14 August 2010 |newspaper= Times of India |location=New Delhi}}</ref> [[Marble Palace (Kolkata)|Marble Palace]] is a classic example of a European mansion that was built in the city. The [[Victoria Memorial (India)|Victoria Memorial]], a [[places of interest in Kolkata|place of interest in Kolkata]], has a museum documenting the city's history. The [[National Library of India]] is the leading public library in the country while [[Science City Kolkata|Science City]] is the largest science centre in the [[Indian subcontinent]].<ref>[http://sciencecitykolkata.org.in/ Welcome to Science City] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170126104522/http://sciencecitykolkata.org.in/ |date=26 January 2017 }}. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 November 2010.</ref>[[File:India Education .jpg|thumb|The National Library of India|alt=Large white rectangular building with tall arched windows]]The popularity of commercial theatres in the city has declined since the 1980s.<ref name=bhattawomen>{{cite book |last1=Bhattacharya |first1=Malini |editor1-first=Jasodhara |editor1-last=Bagchi |title=The changing status of women in West Bengal, 1970–2000: the challenge ahead |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1Xq8FARrFKUC |accessdate=10 February 2012 |year=2005 |publisher=Sage Publications |location=New Delhi |isbn=978-0-7619-3242-0 |chapter=Culture |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102024457/https://books.google.com/books?id=1Xq8FARrFKUC |archivedate=2 January 2016  }}</ref>{{rp|99}}<ref name=dett5312009>{{cite news|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090531/jsp/7days/story_11042452.jsp|title=Chowringhee revisited|last=De|first=Hemchhaya|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=Kolkata|date=31 May 2009|accessdate=9 March 2012|quote=...&nbsp;most people say that Bengali commercial theatre died in the 1980s&nbsp;...|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202095412/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090531/jsp/7days/story_11042452.jsp|archivedate=2 February 2014}}</ref> [[Group theatres of Kolkata]], a cultural movement that started in the 1940s contrasting with the then-popular commercial theatres, are theatres that are not professional or commercial, and are centres of various experiments in theme, content, and production;<ref name=heierstad39>{{Cite thesis |type=[[Cand.polit.]] |title=Nandikar: Staging Globalisation in Kolkata and Abroad |url=http://folk.uio.no/gheierst/nandikar.pdf |last=Geir |first=Heierstad |year=2003 |publisher=University of Oslo |accessdate=9 March 2012 |pages=39–48 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060512065317/http://folk.uio.no/gheierst/nandikar.pdf |archivedate=12 May 2006  }}</ref> group theatres use the [[proscenium]] stage to highlight socially relevant messages.<ref name=bhattawomen/>{{rp|99}}<ref>{{cite book|title=Theatre Histories: An Introduction|first1=Phillip|last1=Zarilli|first2=Bruce|last2=McConachie|first3=Gary Jay|last3=Williams|last4=Sorgenfrei|first4=Carol Fisher|editor-last=Williams|editor-first=Gary Jay|publisher=Routledge|year=2010|origyear=2006|location=Abingdon, UK|isbn=978-0-415-46223-5|pages=429–430|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z88LLjzoWqQC|accessdate=9 March 2012|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130617020740/http://books.google.com/books?id=Z88LLjzoWqQC|archivedate=17 June 2013}}</ref> [[Chitpur]] locality of the city houses multiple production companies of ''[[Jatra (Bengal)|jatra]]'', a tradition of folk drama popular in rural Bengal.<ref>{{cite news |last=Chakraborty|first= Ajanta |title= Meet the new Mamata Banerjee |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-05/kolkata/29738036_1_jatra-mamata-banerjee-bangladeshi |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120708093752/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-07-05/kolkata/29738036_1_jatra-mamata-banerjee-bangladeshi |url-status= dead |archive-date= 8 July 2012 |accessdate=23 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 5 July 2011 |quote= The jatra industry based out of Kolkata's Chitpur Road has gone through a severe blow with the growth of video parlours. |location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Niyogi|first= Subhro |title= Red alert For Jatra |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-10-26/kolkata/28219209_1_jatra-firms-script-success |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120707165658/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-10-26/kolkata/28219209_1_jatra-firms-script-success |url-status= dead |archive-date= 7 July 2012 |accessdate=23 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 26 October 2010 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> Kolkata is the home of the [[Cinema of West Bengal|Bengali cinema]] industry, dubbed "Tollywood" for [[Tollygunj]], where most of the state's film studios are located.<ref name=Sarkar>{{cite journal |first=Bhaskar|last=Sarkar|title= The melodramas of globalization |journal= Cultural Dynamics  |volume= 20 |issue= 1 |pages=31–51 [34] |date= March 2008 |doi=10.1177/0921374007088054}}</ref> [[Parallel Cinema|Its long tradition]] of [[art film]]s includes globally acclaimed film directors such as [[Academy Award]]-winning director [[Satyajit Ray]], [[Ritwik Ghatak]], [[Mrinal Sen]], [[Tapan Sinha]], and contemporary directors such as [[Aparna Sen]], [[Buddhadeb Dasgupta]], [[Goutam Ghose]] and [[Rituparno Ghosh]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Gooptu |first= Sharmistha |title= Bengali cinema: 'an other nation' |year= 2010 |publisher= Routledge |location= Abingdon, UK |isbn= 978-0-415-57006-0 |pages= 2, 172, 181, 187 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=pzEdHF5UYcMC&lpg=PP1 |accessdate= 24 January 2012 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20160102024457/https://books.google.com/books?id=pzEdHF5UYcMC&lpg=PP1 |archivedate= 2 January 2016 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

During the 19th and 20th centuries, [[Bengali literature]] was modernised through the works of authors such as [[Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar]], [[Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay]], [[Michael Madhusudan Dutt]], [[Rabindranath Tagore]], [[Kazi Nazrul Islam]], and [[Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Mittra|first=Sitansu Sekhar|title=Bengal's Renaissance|year=2001|publisher=Academic Publishers|location=Kolkata|isbn=978-81-87504-18-4|pages=80–100}}</ref> Coupled with social reforms led by [[Ram Mohan Roy]], [[Swami Vivekananda]], and others, this constituted a major part of the [[Bengal Renaissance]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Dutt|first= R.C. |title= Cultural heritage of Bengal |year= 1962 |publisher= Punthi Pustak |location= Kolkata}} cited in {{cite book |last=Sengupta|first=Nitish K.|title=History of the Bengali-speaking people|year=2001|publisher=UBS Publishers' Distributors|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-7476-355-6|pages=211–12}}</ref> The middle and latter parts of the 20th century witnessed the arrival of post-modernism, as well as literary movements such as those espoused by the ''[[Kallol]]'' movement, [[Hungry generation|hungryalists]] and the [[Little magazine movement#Bengali little magazine movement|little magazines]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=India: The hungry generation |url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830799,00.html |magazine=[[Time (magazine)|Time]] |location=New York |accessdate=24 January 2012 |date=20 November 1964 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202021701/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,830799,00.html |archivedate=2 February 2012  }}</ref> Large majority of publishers of the city is concentrated in and around [[College Street (Kolkata)|College Street]], "...&nbsp;a half-mile of bookshops and bookstalls spilling over onto the pavement", selling new and used books.<ref name="smithsonian July 91">{{cite journal |last= Hollick |first= Julian Crandall |date=July 1991 |title=Amid Calcutta's poverty, there's no dearth of cultural wealth |journal= Smithsonian|volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=32–41 |issn=0037-7333}}</ref>[[File:Making of Durga Idol in Kumartuli , kolkata.jpg|thumb|Making of [[Durga]] idol in [[Kumortuli|Kumartuli, Kolkata.]]|alt=|left]]

[[Kalighat painting]] originated in 19th century Kolkata as a local style that reflected a variety of themes including mythology and quotidian life.<ref name=kalighpaint1>{{cite book|title=A history of Indian painting: the modern period|last=Chaitanya|first=Krishna|publisher=Abhinav Publications|year=1994|location=New Delhi|pages=112–118|isbn=978-81-7017-310-6}}</ref> The [[Government College of Art & Craft|Government College of Art and Craft]], founded in 1864, has been the cradle as well as workplace of eminent artists including [[Abanindranath Tagore]], [[Jamini Roy]], and [[Nandalal Bose]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gcac.edu.in/history.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100507004336/http://gcac.edu.in/history.php |url-status=dead |archive-date= 7 May 2010 |title=A journey through 145 years |publisher=Government College of Art and Craft |accessdate=29 January 2012 }}</ref> The art college was the birthplace of the [[Bengal school of art]] that arose as an [[avant garde]] and nationalist movement reacting against the prevalent [[academic art]] styles in the early 20th century.<ref name=benartmitter>{{cite book |title=Art and nationalism in colonial India, 1850–1922: occidental orientations |last=Mitter |first=Partha |year=1994 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |location=Cambridge, UK |isbn=978-0-521-44354-8 |chapter=How the past was salvaged by Swadeshi artists |pages=267–306 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9mRTtkri8E0C |accessdate=8 March 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618223618/http://books.google.com/books?id=9mRTtkri8E0C |archivedate=18 June 2013  }}</ref><ref name=benartatlas>{{cite book |title=Atlas of world art |last=Onians |first=John |authorlink=John Onians |year=2004 |publisher=Laurence King Publishing |location=London |isbn=978-1-85669-377-6 |page=304 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O3h2KfXoOPYC |accessdate=8 March 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130618214137/http://books.google.com/books?id=O3h2KfXoOPYC |archivedate=18 June 2013  }}</ref> The [[Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta|Academy of Fine Arts]] and other art galleries hold regular art exhibitions. The city is recognised for its appreciation of ''[[Rabindra sangeet]]'' (songs written by Rabindranath Tagore) and [[Indian classical music]], with important concerts and recitals, such as [[Dover Lane Music Conference]], being held throughout the year; Bengali popular music, including [[Baul|''baul'' folk ballads]], ''[[kirtan]]s'', and ''[[Gajan (festival)|Gajan]]'' festival music; and modern music, including Bengali-language ''adhunik'' songs.<ref name=banglasong /><ref>{{cite book |last= Shepherd|first= John |title= Continuum encyclopedia of popular music of the world |volume=3–7 | year= 2005 |publisher= Continuum |location=London| isbn= 978-0-8264-7436-0 |pages= 70–71}}</ref> Since the early 1990s, [[Indian rock#Rock scenes|new genres]] have emerged, including one comprising alternative folk–rock [[Rock music of West Bengal|Bengali bands]].<ref name=banglasong>{{cite journal |last= Dorin |first= Stéphane |title= La globalisation du rock vue de Calcutta |journal= [[Volume!]] |year= 2005 |volume= 4 |issue= 1 |pages= 144–45 |trans-title= The globalization of rock to Calcutta |language= French |doi= 10.4000/volume.1714 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> Another new style, ''jibonmukhi gaan'' ("songs about life"), is based on [[realism (arts)|realism]].<ref name=bhattawomen/>{{rp|105}} Key elements of [[Bengali cuisine|Kolkata's cuisine]] include rice and a fish curry known as ''machher jhol'',<ref name=machhe>{{cite journal| last1 =de Graaf| first1 =G. J.| last2 =Latif| first2 =Abdul| date =April–June 2002| title =Development of freshwater fish farming and poverty alleviation: a case study from Bangladesh| journal =Aquaculture Asia| volume =7| issue =2| pages =5–7| accessdate =10 February 2012| url =http://www.nefisco.org/downloads/DevelopmentOfFreshwaterFishFarming.pdf| url-status =live| archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20120318040021/http://www.nefisco.org/downloads/DevelopmentOfFreshwaterFishFarming.pdf| archivedate =18 March 2012| df =dmy-all}}</ref> which can be accompanied by desserts such as ''[[Rasgulla|roshogolla]]'', ''[[Sandesh (confectionery)|sandesh]]'', and a sweet yoghurt known as ''[[Mitha Dahi|mishti dohi]]''. Bengal's large repertoire of seafood dishes includes various preparations of ''[[ilish]]'', a fish that is a favourite among Calcuttans. Street foods such as ''[[beguni]]'' (fried battered eggplant slices), [[kati roll|''kati'' roll]] (flatbread roll with vegetable or chicken, mutton, or egg stuffing), ''[[Panipuri|phuchka]]'' (a deep-fried crêpe with tamarind sauce) and [[Indian Chinese cuisine]] from [[Chinatown, Kolkata|Chinatown]] are popular.<ref name=kolkataimages>{{cite news |last1=Sen|first1=Elora|last2=Sen |first2=Sarbani|url= http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Some%20images%20are%20synonymous%20with%20Kolkata/1/24191.html |title= Some images are synonymous with Kolkata |work= India Today |location=Noida, India|date=2 January 2009 |accessdate=3 March 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120525180640/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/Some%20images%20are%20synonymous%20with%20Kolkata/1/24191.html |archivedate=25 May 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=rolltelegraph>{{Cite news |last= Saha |first= Subhro |title= Resurrected, the kathi roll: face-off resolved, Nizam's set to open with food court |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060118/asp/calcutta/story_5733258.asp |newspaper= The Telegraph |location= Kolkata |date= 18 January 2006 |accessdate= 26 October 2006 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20060228160826/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1060118/asp/calcutta/story_5733258.asp |archivedate= 28 February 2006 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Niyogi|first=Subhro|title=Kolkata's mind-boggling variety of street food|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-07/kolkata/29519710_1_street-food-fish-roll-exotic-dishes|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120708001706/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-05-07/kolkata/29519710_1_street-food-fish-roll-exotic-dishes|url-status=dead|archive-date=8 July 2012|accessdate=26 February 2012|newspaper=Times of India|date=7 May 2011|location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Roy|first=Anirban|title=Street food as yummy and cheap as it gets|url=http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/street-food-as-yummy-and-cheap-as-it-gets/1/122363.html|accessdate=26 February 2012|work=India Today|location=Noida, India|date=7 December 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120529223051/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/street-food-as-yummy-and-cheap-as-it-gets/1/122363.html |archivedate= 29 May 2012|url-status=live}}</ref>

Though Bengali women traditionally wear the ''[[sari]]'', the ''[[shalwar kameez]]'' and Western attire is gaining acceptance among younger women.<ref>{{cite news|last= Yengkhom|first= Sumati |title= This Puja, buzz over western clothes |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-23/kolkata/28267471_1_salwar-kameez-outfits-puja |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120711020813/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2010-09-23/kolkata/28267471_1_salwar-kameez-outfits-puja |url-status= dead |archive-date= 11 July 2012 |accessdate=23 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 23 September 2010 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> Western-style dress has greater acceptance among men, although the traditional ''[[dhoti]]'' and ''[[kurta]]'' are seen during festivals. [[Durga Puja]], held in September–October, is Kolkata's most important and largest festival; it is an occasion for glamorous celebrations and artistic decorations.<ref>{{cite book |last1= Foulston |first1= Lynn |last2= Abbott |first2= Stuart |title= Hindu goddesses: beliefs and practices |year= 2009 |publisher= Sussex Academic Press |location= Brighton, UK |isbn= 978-1-902210-43-8 |page= [https://archive.org/details/hindugoddessesbe0000foul/page/156 156] |url= https://archive.org/details/hindugoddessesbe0000foul/page/156 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Bhowmik |first=Dulal |year=2012 |chapter=Durga Puja |chapter-url=http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Durga_Puja |editor1-last=Islam |editor1-first=Sirajul |editor1-link=Sirajul Islam |editor2-last=Jamal |editor2-first=Ahmed A. |title=Banglapedia: National Encyclopedia of Bangladesh |edition=Second |publisher=[[Asiatic Society of Bangladesh]] |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20151005011949/http://en.banglapedia.org/index.php?title=Durga_Puja |archivedate=5 October 2015  }}</ref> The Bengali New Year, known as [[Pohela Boishakh|Poila Boishak]], as well as the harvest festival of Poush Parbon are among the city's other festivals; also celebrated are [[Kali Puja]], [[Diwali]], [[Holi]], [[Jagaddhatri|Jagaddhatri Puja]], [[Saraswati Puja]], [[Rathayatra]], [[Janmashtami]], [[Maha Shivratri]], [[Vishwakarma Puja]], [[Lakshmi Puja]], [[Ganesh Chathurthi]], [[Makar Sankranti]], [[Gajan (festival)|Gajan]], [[Kalpataru Day]], [[Bhai Phonta]], Maghotsab, [[Eid ul-Fitr|Eid]], [[Muharram]], [[Christmas]], [[Buddha Purnima]] and [[Mahavir Jayanti]]. Cultural events include the [[Rabindra Jayanti]], [[Independence Day (India)|Independence Day]](15 August), [[Republic Day]](26 January), [[Kolkata Book Fair]], the Dover Lane Music Festival, the [[Kolkata Film Festival]], [[Nandikar's National Theatre Festival]], [[Statesman Vintage & Classic Car Rally]] and [[Gandhi Jayanti]].

<gallery class="center" caption="" widths="220px" heights="160px">
File:Dance with Rabindra Sangeet - Kolkata 2011-11-05 6669.JPG|alt=Four women wearing saree in different dancing poses|Dance accompanied by [[Rabindra Sangeet]], a music genre started by Rabindranath Tagore
File:Sandesh_-_Oberoi_Grand_-_Kolkata_2013-05-23_8046.JPG|alt=Sandesh varieties|[[Sandesh (confectionery)|''Sandesh'']], a typical Bengali sweet made from [[chhena]]
File:Durga Puja DS.jpg|alt=Picture of a many-armed goddess with long black hair and a crown|A ''[[murti]]'', or representation, of the goddess [[Durga]] shown during the [[Durga Puja]] festival

File:Kolkatatemple.jpg|[[Dakshineswar Kali Temple]], a Hindu temple
</gallery>

==Media==
{{See also|Kolkata in the media|List of Bengali-language television channels}}

[[File:Akashvani Bhawan Kolkata 2.jpg|thumb|Akashvani Bhawan, the head office of state-owned [[All India Radio]], Kolkata|alt=A five-storied building in cream colour with multiple columns in front]]

The first newspaper in India, the ''[[Hicky's Bengal Gazette|Bengal Gazette]]'' started publishing from the city in 1780.<ref name="Eaman2009">{{cite book|last=Eaman|first=Ross|title=The A to Z of Journalism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e98aMyleL-cC&pg=PA86|accessdate=2 August 2013|date=12 October 2009|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=978-0-8108-7067-3|page=86|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140424194554/http://books.google.com/books?id=e98aMyleL-cC&pg=PA86|archivedate=24 April 2014}}</ref> Among Kolkata's widely circulated Bengali-language newspapers are ''[[Anandabazar Patrika]]'', ''[[Bartaman]]'', [[Ei Samay Sangbadpatra]], ''[[Sangbad Pratidin]]'',  ''[[Aajkaal]]'', ''[[Dainik Statesman]]'' and  ''[[Ganashakti]]''.<ref name=newspaper>{{cite web|title=Areawise analysis for the period July/December 2007 to January&nbsp;– June 2010 |url=http://www.auditbureau.org/trends-123.xls |publisher=Audit Bureau of Circulations |format=XLS |accessdate=17 June 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=August 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> ''[[The Statesman (India)|The Statesman]]'' and ''[[The Telegraph (Calcutta)|The Telegraph]]'' are two major English-language newspapers that are produced and published from Kolkata. Other popular English-language newspapers published and sold in Kolkata include ''[[The Times of India]]'', ''[[Hindustan Times]]'', ''[[The Hindu]]'', ''[[The Indian Express]]'', and the ''[[Asian Age]]''.<ref name=newspaper /> As the largest trading centre in East India, Kolkata has several high-circulation financial dailies, including ''[[The Economic Times]]'', ''[[The Financial Express (India)|The Financial Express]]'', ''[[Business Line]]'', and ''[[Business Standard]]''.<ref name=newspaper /><ref>{{cite web | publisher=International Trade Administration | url=http://trade.gov/press/press_releases/2006/india_mission_statement_112006.pdf | title=Business development mission to India 29 November&nbsp;– 5 December 2006 | accessdate=13 October 2007 | url-status=dead | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025143417/http://trade.gov/press/press_releases/2006/india_mission_statement_112006.pdf | archivedate=25 October 2007 | df=dmy-all }}</ref> Vernacular newspapers, such as those in the [[Hindi]], [[Urdu]], [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]], [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], and Chinese languages, are read by minorities.<ref name=newspaper /><ref name="BanerjeePage10">{{cite book|editor1-last=Banerjee|editor1-first=Himadri|editor2-last=Gupta|editor2-first=Nilanjana|editor3-last=Mukherjee|editor3-first=Sipra|title=Calcutta mosaic: essays and interviews on the minority communities of Calcutta|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cSTEOx_Lw9MC&dq|accessdate=29 January 2012|year=2009|publisher=Anthem Press|location=New Delhi|isbn=978-81-905835-5-8|pages=9–10|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130509233321/http://books.google.com/books?id=cSTEOx_Lw9MC&dq|archivedate=9 May 2013}}</ref> Major periodicals based in Kolkata include ''[[Desh (magazine)|Desh]]'', ''[[Sananda (magazine)|Sananda]]'', ''[[Saptahik Bartaman]]'', ''[[Unish-Kuri]]'', ''[[Anandalok]]'', and ''[[Anandamela]]''.<ref name=newspaper /> Historically, Kolkata has been the centre of the [[Little magazine movement#Bengali little magazine movement|Bengali little magazine movement]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Little magazines of Bengal|journal=Asiaweek|year=1984|volume=10|issue=27–39|page=42|ref=harv}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Nag |first=Dulali |year= 1997|title= Little magazines in Calcutta and a postsociology of India|journal=Contributions to Indian Sociology |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=109–11 |doi=10.1177/006996679703100106}}</ref>

[[All India Radio]], the national state-owned radio broadcaster, airs several [[AM broadcasting|AM]] radio stations in the city, like Gitanjali 657 KHZ AM(200 KW Transmitter), Sanchayita 1008 KHZ AM(100 KW Transmitter),Vivid Bharti 1323 KHZ(20 KW Transmitter),Broadcast from Kolkata Akashbani Bhaban and Maitri Channel(Indo-Bangladesh) 594 kHz (1000 KW Transmitter) During day time and 1134 kHz During night time, broadcast from Chinsurah,Hooghly, very near to Kolkata.The Digital Radio Module (DRM) Transmitter is available for the stations, Gitanjali,Sanchayita and Maitri Channels only.<ref>{{cite web|title=Radio stations |url=http://allindiaradio.org/address/addNew.html |publisher=All India Radio |accessdate=8 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111205171452/http://www.allindiaradio.org/address/addNew.html |archivedate=5 December 2011 }}</ref> Kolkata has [[List of FM radio stations in India#Kolkata|10 local radio stations]] broadcasting on [[frequency modulation|FM]], including three from AIR.Air Channels are FM Rainbow (107 MHZ)(20 KW Transmitter),FM Gold (100.1 MHZ)(20 KW Transmitter) and Vivid Bharti(101.8 MHZ).Private Channels are Radio Mirchi (98.3 MHZ),Red FM (93.5 MHZ),Big FM(92.7 MHZ),Fever FM(104 MHZ),Friends FM(91.9 MHZ),Ishq FM(104.8 MHZ) and Radio One(94.3 MHZ).3 FM Channels have been closed. Aamar 106.2 FM(Closed on 23.1.2020),Power 107.8 FM and Gyanvani Channel 105.4.<ref>{{cite web|title=Radio stations in West Bengal, India|url=http://www.asiawaves.net/india/west-bengal-radio.htm|publisher=Asiawaves|accessdate=8 December 2011|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120607020729/http://www.asiawaves.net/india/west-bengal-radio.htm|archivedate=7 June 2012}}</ref> India's state-owned television broadcaster, [[Doordarshan]], provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels,<ref>{{cite web|title=Doordarshan|url=http://mib.nic.in/ShowContent.aspx?uid1=2&uid2=94&uid3=0&uid4=0&uid5=0&uid6=0&uid7=0|publisher=Ministry of Broadcasting, Government of India|accessdate=24 January 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120117071129/http://mib.nic.in/ShowContent.aspx?uid1=2&uid2=94&uid3=0&uid4=0&uid5=0&uid6=0&uid7=0|archivedate=17 January 2012}}</ref> while a mix of Bengali, Hindi, English, and other regional channels are accessible via [[Cable television|cable subscription]], [[Direct-broadcast satellite|direct-broadcast satellite services]], or [[IPTV|internet-based television]].<ref>{{cite news|title=CalTel launches IPTV in Kolkata, invests Rs 700 cr in 07-08|url=http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=3663|accessdate=24 January 2012|agency=Press Trust of India|newspaper=Outlook India|location=New Delhi|date=1 February 2008|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502190254/http://news.outlookindia.com/items.aspx?artid=3663|archivedate=2 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=CAS on brink of blackout|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/CAS-on-brink-of-blackout/articleshow/9719460.cms|accessdate=24 January 2012|newspaper=Times of India|date=14 August 2011|agency=TNN|location=New Delhi|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510191503/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/CAS-on-brink-of-blackout/articleshow/9719460.cms|archivedate=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Direct-to-home comes home|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-10-09/kolkata/27198314_1_dish-tv-dth-subscribers-satellite-channels|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120701123319/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2003-10-09/kolkata/27198314_1_dish-tv-dth-subscribers-satellite-channels|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 July 2012|accessdate=24 January 2012|newspaper=Times of India|agency=TNN|date= 9 October 2003|location=New Delhi}}</ref> [[List of Bengali-language television channels#News channels|Bengali-language 24-hour television news channels]] include [[ABP Ananda]], [[Tara Newz]], [[Kolkata TV]], [[24 Ghanta]],[[News 18 Bangla]],[[Onkar News]],[[Kolkata TV]],[[Uttorer Khobor]],[[Sadhana News]],[[Bangla Time]],[[Artage News]],[[Calcutta News]], [[News Time]] and [[Channel 10 (India)|Channel 10]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Consolidated list of channels allowed to be carried by cable operators/ multi system operators/ DTH licensees in India|url=http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/tvchannels/channellist.pdf|publisher=Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Government of India|accessdate=24 January 2012|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905131430/http://mib.nic.in/writereaddata/html_en_files/tvchannels/channellist.pdf|archivedate=5 September 2012}}</ref>

==Sports==
{{See also|Football in Kolkata|Kolkata Marathon|Kolkata derby}}[[File:Salt Lake Stadium Indian Super League Opener.jpg|thumb|Salt Lake Stadium during [[Indian Super League]] opening ceremony]]The most popular sports in Kolkata are [[association football|football]] and [[cricket]]. Unlike most parts of India, the residents show significant passion for football.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-13/news/50564484_1_arsenal-soccer-schools-football-player-football-training|title=Forget cricket, football is catching fast in India|last1=Khosla|first1=Varuni|last2=Sharma|first2=Ravi Teja|newspaper=The Economic Times|date=13 June 2014|accessdate=20 September 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141102050751/http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2014-06-13/news/50564484_1_arsenal-soccer-schools-football-player-football-training|archive-date=2 November 2014|url-status=live}}</ref> The city is home to top national football clubs such as [[Mohun Bagan A.C.]], [[East Bengal F.C.]], and the [[Mohammedan Sporting Club (Kolkata)|Mohammedan Sporting Club]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal: India's all-consuming rivalry |url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/stories/classicderby/news/newsid=1414458.html |publisher=[[FIFA]] |accessdate=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122032920/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/stories/classicderby/news/newsid%3D1414458.html |archivedate=22 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Bhabani|first= Soudhriti|title=Argentine football superstar Messi charms Kolkata |url= http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/messi-charms-kolkata/1/149702.html |accessdate=7 December 2011 |newspaper=India Today|location=Noida, India|date=1 September 2011|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120606030106/http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/messi-charms-kolkata/1/149702.html |archivedate=6 June 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> [[Calcutta Football League]], which was started in 1898, is the oldest football league in Asia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Football in Bengal |url=http://the-ifa.org/archives.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111203053022/http://the-ifa.org/archives.php |url-status=dead |archive-date= 3 December 2011 |publisher=Indian Football Association |accessdate=7 December 2011 }}</ref> Mohun Bagan A.C., one of the oldest football clubs in Asia, is the only organisation to be dubbed a "National Club of India".<ref>{{cite book|title=Soccer in South Asia: empire, nation, diaspora |year=2001 |publisher= Frank Cass Publishers|location=London |isbn=978-0-7146-8170-2 |page=17 |last1=Dineo |first1= Paul |last2=Mills |first2= James}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=India strive for improvement |url=https://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=111779.html |publisher=[[FIFA]] |date=15 February 2007 |accessdate=7 December 2011 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111173233/http://www.fifa.com/worldfootball/news/newsid=111779.html |archivedate=11 January 2012  }}</ref> Football matches between Mohun Bagan and East Bengal, dubbed as the [[Kolkata derby]], witness large audience attendance and rivalry between patrons.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/clubs/rivalries/newsid=1414458/index.html |title=Mohun Bagan vs East Bengal: India's all-consuming rivalry |publisher=FIFA |accessdate=21 July 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130801091940/http://www.fifa.com/classicfootball/clubs/rivalries/newsid%3D1414458/index.html |archive-date= 1 August 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
[[File:KKR vs PUNE WARRIORS 5th May 2012.jpg|thumb|A [[Twenty20]] cricket match between [[Kolkata Knight Riders]] and [[Pune Warriors]] during [[Indian Premier League]] at the [[Eden Gardens]]|alt=|left]]
As in the rest of India, cricket is popular in Kolkata and is played on grounds and in streets throughout the city.<ref>{{cite news|title=What happened to para cricket?|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/calcutta-times/What-happened-to-para-cricket/articleshow/1734729571.cms|date=20 January 2002|agency=TNN|newspaper=Times of India|accessdate=7 December 2011|location=New Delhi|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130510172726/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/calcutta-times/What-happened-to-para-cricket/articleshow/1734729571.cms|archivedate=10 May 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Para cricket tourney gets off to a cracking start |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-22/kolkata/28361952_1_royal-fortune-group-semi-finals-saradindu-mukherjee |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120707171127/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-01-22/kolkata/28361952_1_royal-fortune-group-semi-finals-saradindu-mukherjee |url-status= dead |archive-date= 7 July 2012 |accessdate=7 December 2011 |agency=TNN|newspaper= Times of India |date= 22 January 2011 |location=New Delhi}}</ref> Kolkata has the [[Indian Premier League]] franchise [[Kolkata Knight Riders]]; the [[Cricket Association of Bengal]], which regulates cricket in West Bengal, is also based in the city. Kolkata also has an [[Indian Super League]] franchise known as [[Atlético de Kolkata]]. Tournaments, especially those involving cricket, football, [[badminton]], and [[carrom]], are regularly organised on an inter-locality or inter-club basis.<ref name=parawbgov/> The [[Maidan (Kolkata)|Maidan]], a vast field that serves as the city's largest park, hosts several minor football and cricket clubs and coaching institutes.<ref>{{cite news|title=FIFA president visits big three of Kolkata maidan |url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/007200704160340.htm |date=16 April 2007 |newspaper=The Hindu |accessdate=7 December 2011 |location=Chennai |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130729123104/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/007200704160340.htm |archivedate=29 July 2013 }}</ref>

[[Eden Gardens]], which has a capacity of 68,000 {{As of|2017|lc=y}},<ref name=edenstats>{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.iplt20.com/venues/2/eden-gardens
 |title       = Eden Gardens
 |accessdate  = 22 August 2017
 |publisher   = Indian Premier League
 |url-status     = live
 |archiveurl  = https://web.archive.org/web/20170620002434/http://www.iplt20.com/venues/2/eden-gardens
 |archivedate = 20 June 2017
 |df          = dmy-all
}}</ref> hosted the final match of the [[1987 Cricket World Cup]]. It is home to the [[Bengal cricket team]] and the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The multi-use [[Salt Lake Stadium]], also known as Yuva Bharati Krirangan, is India's largest stadium by [[seating capacity]]. Most matches of the [[2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup]] were played in the [[Salt Lake Stadium]] including both Semi-final matches and the Final match. Kolkata also accounted for 45% of total attendance in [[2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup]] with an average of 55,345 spectators.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football-fifa-u17-world-cup/kolkata-accounted-for-45-of-total-attendance-in-fifa-u-17-world-cup-west-bengal-chief-minister-mamata-banerjee-4914390/ |title=Kolkata accounted for 45% of total attendance in FIFA U-17 World Cup: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee |newspaper=Indian Express |accessdate=30 October 2017 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171102011647/http://indianexpress.com/article/sports/football-fifa-u17-world-cup/kolkata-accounted-for-45-of-total-attendance-in-fifa-u-17-world-cup-west-bengal-chief-minister-mamata-banerjee-4914390/ |archivedate=2 November 2017  |date=30 October 2017 }}</ref> The [[Calcutta Cricket and Football Club]] is the second-oldest cricket club in the world.<ref>{{cite book|last=Desai | first=Ashwin |title= Blacks in whites: a century of cricket struggles in KwaZulu-Natal |year=2000 |publisher= University of Natal Press|location=Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |isbn= 978-1-86914-025-0 |page= 38}}</ref><ref name=ccfcdate>{{Cite news |last= Mukherji |first= Raju |title= Seven years? Head start |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050314/asp/opinion/story_4428341.asp |work= The Telegraph |date= 14 March 2005 |accessdate= 26 October 2006 |location= Kolkata |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20070930014559/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1050314/asp/opinion/story_4428341.asp |archivedate= 30 September 2007 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

Kolkata's [[Netaji Indoor Stadium]] served as host of the [[1981 Asian Basketball Championship]], where [[India's national basketball team]] finished 5th, ahead of teams that belong to Asia's basketball elite, such as [[Iran national basketball team|Iran]]. The city has three 18-hole golf courses. The oldest is at the [[Royal Calcutta Golf Club]], the first golf club built outside the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite book |last=Bohn |first= Michael K. |title= Money golf: 600 Years of bettin' on birdies |year=2008 |publisher= Potomac Books |location=Dulles, Virginia, US|isbn= 978-1-59797-032-7 |page= 34}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Uschan |first= Michael V. |title= Golf |publisher= Lucent Books |location= San Diego, US |isbn= 978-1-56006-744-3 |page= [https://archive.org/details/golf0000usch/page/16 16] |year= 2000 |url= https://archive.org/details/golf0000usch/page/16 }}</ref> The other two are located at the [[Tollygunge Club]] and at [[Fort William (India)|Fort William]]. The [[Royal Calcutta Turf Club]] hosts horse racing and polo matches.<ref>{{cite news |last= Himatsingka |first= Anuradha |title= Royal Calcutta Turf Club in revival mode |url= http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/people-places/royal-calcutta-turf-club-in-revival-mode/articleshow/7244861.cms |accessdate= 7 December 2011 |newspaper= Economic Times |date= 9 January 2011 |location= New Delhi |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120125014621/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/features/people-places/royal-calcutta-turf-club-in-revival-mode/articleshow/7244861.cms |archivedate= 25 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref> The [[Calcutta Polo Club]] is considered the oldest extant polo club in the world.<ref>{{cite book|last=Singh |first= Jaisal |title= Polo in India |year=2007 |publisher= New Holland Publishers |location=London|isbn= 978-1-84537-913-1 |page= 12}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first= Joanna |title= A Year in the life of Windsor and Eton |year= 2011 |publisher= Frances Lincoln |location=London|isbn= 978-0-7112-2936-5 |page= 80}}</ref><ref name=Kolpolo>{{cite web|url=http://www.hpa-polo.co.uk/about/history_polo.asp |title=History of polo |accessdate=30 August 2007 |publisher=Hurlingham Polo Association |url-status=dead |archiveurl=http://web.archive.bibalex.org/web/20060427081128/http://www.hpa-polo.co.uk/about/history_polo.asp |archivedate=27 April 2006 }}</ref> The [[Calcutta Racket Club]] is a [[squash (sport)|squash]] and [[racquet]] club in Kolkata. It was founded in 1793, making it one of the oldest rackets clubs in the world, and the first in the Indian subcontinent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.srilankasquash.lk/slsf_index.php?more=history |title=Sri Lanka Squash Federation history |work=srilankasquash.lk |accessdate=25 July 2016 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120321205257/http://www.srilankasquash.lk/slsf_index.php?more=history |archivedate=21 March 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianlink.com.au/travel/the-city-of-wonders/|title=The City of Wonders – Indian Link|date=10 September 2010|work=indianlink.com.au|accessdate=25 July 2016|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130404061736/http://www.indianlink.com.au/travel/the-city-of-wonders/|archivedate=4 April 2013}}</ref> The [[Calcutta South Club]] is a venue for national and international tennis tournaments; it held the first grass-court national championship in 1946.<ref>{{cite web|title=About AITA |url=http://www.aitatennis.com/New%20AITA/about.html |publisher=All India Tennis Association |accessdate=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20111122071350/http://www.aitatennis.com/New%20AITA/about.html |archivedate=22 November 2011 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Das Sharma |first=Amitabha |title=Young turks rule the roost |date=7 April 2011 |volume=34 |issue=14 |url=http://www.hindu.com/tss/tss3414/stories/20110407505703200.htm |accessdate=27 February 2012 |journal=Sportstar Weekly (The Hindu) |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718025802/http://www.hindu.com/tss/tss3414/stories/20110407505703200.htm |archivedate=18 July 2011 }}</ref> In the period 2005–2007, [[Sunfeast Open]], a tier-III tournament on the [[Women's Tennis Association]] circuit, was held in the [[Netaji Indoor Stadium]]; it has since been discontinued.<ref>{{cite news |last= Das Gupta |first= Amitava |title= Sunfeast Open seeks date shift |url= http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-02-15/top-stories/27780876_1_sunfeast-open-globosport-kolkata-event |archive-url= https://archive.today/20120709164613/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2008-02-15/top-stories/27780876_1_sunfeast-open-globosport-kolkata-event |url-status= dead |archive-date= 9 July 2012 |accessdate=25 January 2012 |newspaper= Times of India |date= 15 February 2008 |location=New Delhi}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= AITA's no to private players |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080902/jsp/sports/story_9776243.jsp |accessdate= 25 January 2012 |newspaper= The Telegraph |location= Kolkata |date= 2 September 2008 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20131103211949/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080902/jsp/sports/story_9776243.jsp |archivedate= 3 November 2013 |df= dmy-all }}</ref>

The [[Calcutta Rowing Club]] hosts [[Sport rowing|rowing]] heats and training events. Kolkata, considered the leading centre of [[rugby union in India]], gives its name to the oldest international tournament in rugby union, the [[Calcutta Cup]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Rugby thrives in India |url=http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid=2028326,printer.htmx |date=30 December 2008 |publisher=International Rugby Board |accessdate=7 December 2011 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140605050912/http://www.rugbyworldcup.com/qualifying/news/newsid%3D2028326%2Cprinter.htmx |archivedate= 5 June 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= About CCFC |url= http://www.ccfc1792.com/aboutus.php |publisher= Calcutta Cricket & Football Club |accessdate= 7 December 2011 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120205032240/http://www.ccfc1792.com/aboutus.php |archivedate= 5 February 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Nag |first= Shivani |title= Kolkata watches as rugby legacy vanishes year after year |url= http://www.indianexpress.com/news/kolkata-watches-as-rugby-legacy-vanishes-year-after-year/522643/0 |date= 29 September 2010 |newspaper= Indian Express|location=New Delhi|accessdate=7 December 2011}}</ref> The Automobile Association of Eastern India, established in 1904,<ref>{{cite web |title= About AAEI |url= http://www.uraaei.org/about.htm |publisher= Automobile Association of Eastern India |accessdate= 7 December 2011 |url-status= dead |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20111219034834/http://www.uraaei.org/about.htm |archivedate= 19 December 2011 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |date=July–December 1904 |title=The automobile movement in India |journal=The Horseless Age |volume=14 |issue=9 |page=202 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0x7mAAAAMAAJ |accessdate=7 February 2012 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20160102024457/https://books.google.com/books?id=0x7mAAAAMAAJ |archivedate=2 January 2016  }}</ref> and the Bengal Motor Sports Club are involved in promoting motor sports and car rallies in Kolkata and West Bengal.<ref name=bmscaaei>{{cite news |title= India, Bhutan in car rally |url= http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070206/asp/siliguri/story_7354800.asp |newspaper= The Telegraph |location= Kolkata |accessdate= 7 December 2011 |date= 6 February 2007 |url-status= live |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118155246/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1070206/asp/siliguri/story_7354800.asp |archivedate= 18 January 2012 |df= dmy-all }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title= About Bengal Motor Sports Club |url= http://bmsc.in/The-Club.php |archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20120426031837/http://bmsc.in/The-Club.php |archivedate= 26 April 2012 |publisher= Bengal Motor Sports Club |accessdate=7 December 2011}}</ref> The [[Beighton Cup]], an event organised by the Bengal Hockey Association and first played in 1895, is India's oldest [[field hockey]] tournament; it is usually held on the [[Mohun Bagan Ground]] of the Maidan.<ref name=beightontelegraph>{{cite news|last=O'Brien|first=Barry|url=http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041204/asp/calcutta/story_4080762.asp|title=All hail hockey on history high|accessdate=25 February 2012|newspaper=The Telegraph|location=Kolkata|date=4 December 2004|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120325011424/http://www.telegraphindia.com/1041204/asp/calcutta/story_4080762.asp|archivedate=25 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url = http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/11/stories/2007041103051900.htm|title = Indian Airlines lift Beighton Cup|accessdate = 2 April 2012|department = Sport|work = The Hindu|location = Chennai, India|date = 11 April 2007|url-status = live|archiveurl = https://web.archive.org/web/20121023073227/http://www.hindu.com/2007/04/11/stories/2007041103051900.htm|archivedate = 23 October 2012|df = dmy-all}}</ref> Athletes from Kolkata include [[Sourav Ganguly]], [[Pankaj Roy]] and [[Jhulan Goswami]], who are former [[List of India national cricket captains|captains]] of the [[India national cricket team|Indian national cricket team]]; [[India at the Olympics|Olympic]] tennis bronze medalist [[Leander Paes]], golfer [[Arjun Atwal]], and former footballers [[Sailen Manna]], [[Chuni Goswami]], [[Pradip Kumar Banerjee|P. K. Banerjee]], and [[Subrata Bhattacharya (footballer)|Subrata Bhattacharya]].

==Sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in India}}
*{{flagicon|Bangladesh}} [[Dhaka]], [[Bangladesh]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings">{{cite news|last=Mazumdar|first=Jaideep|title=A tale of two cities: Will Kolkata learn from her sister?|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/A-tale-of-two-cities-Will-Kolkata-learn-from-her-sister/articleshow/25916888.cms|accessdate=17 November 2013|newspaper=Times of India|date=17 November 2013|location=New Delhi|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140723040319/http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolkata/A-tale-of-two-cities-Will-Kolkata-learn-from-her-sister/articleshow/25916888.cms|archive-date=23 July 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|China}} [[Kunming]], [[China]] (October 2013)<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/><ref>{{cite news|title=Agreement on the establishment of Sister City Relations between Kolkata, Republic of India and Kunming, People's Republic of China|url=http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl/22378/Agreement+on+the+establishment+of+Sister+City+Relations+between+Kolkata+Republic+of+India+and+Kunming+Peoples+Republic+of+China|date=23 October 2013|access-date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318054555/http://www.mea.gov.in/bilateral-documents.htm?dtl%2F22378%2FAgreement+on+the+establishment+of+Sister+City+Relations+between+Kolkata+Republic+of+India+and+Kunming+Peoples+Republic+of+China|archive-date=18 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Greece}} [[Thessaloniki]] (21 January 2005)<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/><ref>{{cite news|url=http://elinepa.org/2005/page/3/?lang=en|title=The Twinning of Thessaloniki and Calcutta|date=21 January 2005|access-date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318054528/http://elinepa.org/2005/page/3/?lang=en|archive-date=18 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Naples]], [[Italy]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/>
*{{flagicon|Pakistan}} [[Karachi]], [[Pakistan]]<ref>{{cite news|title=Islamabad to get new sister city|url=https://www.dawn.com/news/1230842|access-date=17 March 2018|newspaper=Dawn|date=5 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318182531/https://www.dawn.com/news/1230842|archive-date=18 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|South Korea}} [[Incheon]], [[South Korea]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/><ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.incheon.go.kr/en/intro/sub9.jsp |title=Incheon Metropolitan City – Incheon City – Sister Cities |publisher=Incheon Metropolitan City |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170225185307/http://m.incheon.go.kr/en/intro/sub9.jsp |archive-date=25 February 2017 |url-status=live  }}</ref>
*{{flagicon|Ukraine}} [[Odessa]], [[Ukraine]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Sister Cities|publisher=Official site of Odessa|url=http://omr.gov.ua/en/cooperation/twin_cities/|access-date=17 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180318054727/http://omr.gov.ua/en/cooperation/twin_cities/|archive-date=18 March 2018|url-status=live}}</ref>
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Jersey City]], [[United States]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/>
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Long Beach]], [[United States]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/>
*{{flagicon|USA}} [[Dallas]], [[United States]]<ref name="Kolkata twinnings"/>

==See also==
*[[List of children's museums in India]]
*[[List of people from Kolkata]]
*[[West Bengal]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|35em}}
* {{cite book| last = Chaudhuri| given = S| year = 1990| title = Calcutta: the living City| volume = I and II| publisher = Oxford University Press|location=Kolkata| isbn = 978-0-19-562585-1}}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Dutta
  | given1 = Krishna
  | year = 2003
  | title = Calcutta: a cultural and literary history
  | isbn = 978-1-902669-59-5
  | publisher = Signal Books
  |location=Oxford, UK
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=UKfoHi5412UC
  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Mitra
  | given1 = A
  | year = 1976
  | title = Calcutta diary
  | publisher = Frank Cass
  |location=London
  | isbn = 978-0-7146-3082-3
 }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Mukherjee
  | given1 = SC
  | year = 1991
  | title = The changing face of Calcutta: an architectural approach
  |location= Kolkata
  | publisher = Government of West Bengal
  | asin = B0000D6TXX  }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Roy
  | given1 = A
  | year = 2002
  | title = City requiem, Calcutta: gender and the politics of poverty
  | publisher = [[University of Minnesota Press]]
  |location=Minneapolis, US
  | isbn = 978-0-8166-3932-8
   }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Thomas
  | given1 = Frederic C.
  | year = 1997
  | title = Calcutta poor: elegies on a city above pretense
  | publisher = M.E. Sharpe
  |location=Armonk, New York City
  | isbn = 978-1-56324-981-5
  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=shPmSQBGKRwC
   }}
* {{cite book
  | last1 = Lapierre
  | given1 = Dominique
  | year = 1985
  | title = La cité de la joie (The City of Joy)
  | publisher = Arrow
  |location=Kolkata
  | isbn = 978-0-09-914091-7
  | url = https://books.google.com/books/about/City_Of_Joy.html?id=VbURK16m5ysC
}}
* {{cite book |last=Singh |first=Malvika |date=2011 |title=Kolkata: A Soul City (Historic and Famed Cities of India) |publisher=Academic Foundation |page=110 |isbn=978-81-7188-886-3}} 
* {{cite book |last=Hazra |first= Indrajit |date=1 December 2013 |title=Grand Delusions: A Short Biography of Kolkata |publisher=Aleph Book Company |page=156 |isbn=978-93-82277-28-6}} 
* {{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Amitav |date=22 April 2009 |title=Calcutta Chromosome: A Novel of Fevers, Delirium and Discovery |publisher=Penguin India |page=200 |isbn=978-0-14-306655-2}} 
* {{cite book |last=Deb |first=Binaya Krishna |date=1905 |title=The Early History and Growth of Calcutta |url=https://books.google.com/?id=Om8oAAAAYAAJ&dq=calcutta |location=Harvard University |publisher= Romesh Chandra Ghose|page=278 }}
* {{cite book |last=Chaudhuri |first=Sukanta |date= 1990|title= Calcutta, the Living City: The past|location=the University of Michigan |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=292 |isbn=978-0-19-562718-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Roy |first=Ananya |date=1 October 2002 |title=City Requiem, Calcutta: Gender and Politics of Poverty |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |page=352 |isbn=978-0-8166-3933-5}}
* {{cite book |last1= Chatterjee|first1=Jayabrato |last2=Khullar |first2=Rupinder |date=1 January 2004 |title=Kolkata: the dream city |location= the University of Michigan|publisher=UBS Publishers' Distributors |page=93 |isbn=978-81-7476-471-3}} 
* {{cite book |last=Moorhouse |first=Geoffrey |date=1971 |title=Calcutta |url= https://books.google.com/?id=3ALLbrilUQUC&dq=calcutta|publisher=Penguin Books India |page=393 |isbn=978-0-14-009557-9}}
* {{cite book |last= Chatterjee|first=Partha |date=2012 |title=The Black Hole of Empire: History of a Global Practice of Power |publisher=Princeton University Press |page=425 |isbn=978-0-691-15201-1}}
* {{cite book |last=Chattopadhyay |first=Swati |date=2005 |title=Representing Calcutta: Modernity, Nationalism, and the Colonial Uncanny |publisher=Psychology Press |page=314 |isbn=978-0-415-34359-6}}
* {{cite book |last1= Dey |first1=Ishita  |last2=Samaddar |first2= Ranabir |date=2016 |title=Beyond Kolkata: Rajarhat and the Dystopia of Urban Imagination |publisher=Routledge |page=304 |isbn= 9781134931378}} 
* {{cite book |last1=Husain |first1=Zakir |last2=Dutta |first2= Mousumi |date=2013 |title=Women in Kolkata's IT Sector: Satisficing Between Work and Household |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |page=133 |isbn=9788132215936 }}
* {{cite book |last=Bose |first= Pablo Shiladitya|date=2015 |title=Urban Development in India: Global Indians in the Remaking of Kolkata |publisher=Routledge |page=178 |isbn= 9781317596738 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Ray |first1= Raka|last2= Qayum|first2= Seemin |date=2009 |title=Cultures of Servitude: Modernity, Domesticity, and Class in India |publisher=Stanford University Press |page=255 |isbn=9780804760713 }}
* {{cite book |last=Ghosh |first=Anindita |title= Claiming the City: Protest, Crime, and Scandals in Colonial Calcutta, c. 1860-1920|publisher=Oxford University Press |page=340 |isbn=978-0199464791 |year=2016 }}
* {{cite book |last=Sanyal |first=Shukla |date=2014 |title=Revolutionary Pamphlets, Propaganda and Political Culture in Colonial Bengal |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=219 |isbn=9781107065468 }}
* {{cite book |last=Busteed |first=Henry Elmsley |date=1888 |title=Echoes from Old Calcutta: Being Chiefly Reminiscences of the Days of Warren Hastings, Francis, and Impey |publisher=Asian Educational Services |page=359 |isbn=9788120612952 }}
* {{cite book |last1= Fruzzetti|first1=Lina |last2=Östör |first2= Ákos |date=2003 |title=Calcutta Conversations |publisher=Orient Blackswan |page=242 |isbn=9788180280092 }}
* {{cite book |last=Richards |first=E. P.|date=2014 |title=The Condition, Improvement and Town Planning of the City of Calcutta and Contiguous Areas: The Richards Report |publisher=Routledge |page=492 |isbn=9781317617006 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Chatterjee |first1=Arnab |last2=Yarlagadda |first2=Sudhakar |date=2007 |title=Econophysics of Wealth Distributions: Econophys-Kolkata I |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media |page=248 |isbn=9788847003897 }} 
* {{cite book |last=Sarkar |first= Tanika |title=Calcutta: The Stormy Decades |publisher=Social Science Press |page=486 |isbn=978-9383166077 |year= 2015 }}
* {{cite book |last=Choudhury |first=Ranabir Ray |title=A City in the Making: Aspects of Calcutta's Early Growth |publisher=Niyogi Books |page=564 |isbn=978-9385285288 |year=2016 }} 
* {{cite book |last=Banerjee |first= Sumanta |date=2016 |title=Memoirs of Roads: Calcutta from Colonial Urbanization to Global Modernization |publisher=Oxford University Press |page=192 |isbn=978-0199468102 }}
{{Refend}}

==External links==
{{Refbegin}}
* [https://www.kmcgov.in/ Kolkata Municipal Corporation]
* {{dmoz|Regional/Asia/India/West_Bengal/Localities/Kolkata/}}
* {{Wikivoyage-inline}}
* [http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/89203/Kolkata Kolkata] ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' entry
{{Refend}}

{{Geographic location
 |Centre = Kolkata 
 |North = [[Sikkim]]
 |East = [[Assam]]<br />[[Bangladesh]]
 |South = ''[[Bay of Bengal]]''
 |West = [[Bihar]]<br />[[Jharkhand]]
}}
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[[Category:Kolkata| ]]<!--eponymous cat 1st-->
[[Category:Cities and towns in Kolkata district]]
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