NORTH BENGAL

North Bengal is the northern part of the Indian state of West Bengal. River Ganges splits West Bengal into two parts- North and South. North Bengal consists of the eight northern most districts of West Bengal. Covering an area of about 21750 sq. km, North Bengal has very significant as well as vulnerable geostrategic location as it shares international border with three neighbouring countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Characteristically, North Bengal lags behind rest of West Bengal in terms of development, urbanization, society, culture and infrastructure. With the exception of some scattered urbanization, the territory is largely rural and agrarian in nature. North Bengal can be considered mini India in many ways as it is the home to a large number of people of different races, ethnicities, religion and languages having different cultures. Level of development of various communities is also varying in character. Despite this, the social life of North Bengal is generally calm and intact. The present book is an honest initiative, depicting people, society and culture from different corners of North Bengal and also portraying the socio-cultural transformation over time.