North Bengal or Uttar Banga (Bengali: উত্তরবঙ্গ/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Generally, it is the area lying west of Jamuna River and north of Padma River and includes the Barind Tract. The West Bengal part denotes Jalpaiguri Division (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong) and the Malda division (Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, and Malda) together. The Bihar parts include the Kishanganj district. It also includes parts of Darjeeling Hills. Traditionally, the Ganga River divides Bengal into South Bengal and North Bengal, divided again into Terai and Dooars regions. Jalpesh and jatileswar are some of the most popular sacred places.

Dancing Ganesha sculpture from North Bengal, 11th century CE, Museum of Asian Art, Berlin (Dahlem).

Administrative regions

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In Bangladesh

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Map of Bangladesh showing North Bengal in green and South Bengal in red
Rajshahi Division Rangpur Division

In West Bengal (India)

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Map of West Bengal showing North Bengal in green and South Bengal in red
Jalpaiguri division Malda division

Demographics

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Religions in North Bengal, Bangladesh (2011)

  Islam (89.60%)
  Hinduism (9.57%)
  Others (0.83%)

Religions in North Bengal, India (2011)

  Hinduism (65.32%)
  Islam (30.39%)
  Christianity (2.25%)
  Buddhism (1.52%)
  Others (0.52%)

In Bangladesh

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The population of the region is 30,201,873 (3 crore) as per the 2011 census. Majority of the population follow Islam, followed by Hinduism, the largest minority.

In West Bengal (India)

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The population of the region is 18,702,060 (1.87 crore) as per the 2011 census. Majority of the population follow Hinduism, followed by Islam. Small but significant population follow Christianity and Buddhism.[1]

Language:

Bengali is the predominant language spoken by 75% of North Bengal's population, followed by Kamtapuri (Rajbanshi), Nepali, Hindi, Sadri, Kurukh, and other languages.[2]

In sports

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The North Zone cricket team in Bangladesh is a first-class cricket team that represents northern Bangladesh (Rajshahi and Rangpur) in the Bangladesh Cricket League.

Cities and towns (North Bengal)

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Bangladesh

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West Bengal

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://censusindia.gov.in/census.website/
  2. ^ "C-16 Population By Mother Tongue - West Bengal". Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. Retrieved 7 September 2024.
  3. ^ "University of North Bengal". www.nbu.ac.in.
  • Sujit Ghosh, Colonial Economy in North Bengal: 1833–1933, Kolkata: Paschimbanga Anchalik Itihas O Loksanskriti Charcha Kendra, 2016, ISBN 978-81-926316-6-0.
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