1.
Country
–
A country is a region that is identified as a distinct national entity in political geography. Sometimes the word countries is used to both to sovereign states and to other political entities, while other times it refers only to states. The word country comes from Old French contrée, itself derived from Vulgar Latin contrata and it most likely entered the English language after the Franco-Norman invasion during the 11th century. Areas much smaller than a state may be called by names such as the West Country in England, the Black Country, Constable Country. In many European countries the words are used for sub-divisions of the territory, as in the German Bundesländer. The modern Italian contrada is a word with its meaning varying locally, the term country is frequently used to refer to sovereign states. There is no agreement on the number of countries in the world. There are 206 sovereign states, of which 193 states are members of the United Nations, all are defined as states by declarative theory of statehood and constitutive theory of statehood. The latest proclaimed state is South Sudan in 2011, the Kingdom of Denmark, a sovereign state, comprises Metropolitan Denmark and two nominally separate countries—the Faroe Islands, and Greenland—which are almost fully internally self-governing. The Kingdom of the Netherlands, a state, comprises four separate countries, Netherlands, Aruba, Curaçao. The degree of autonomy of non-sovereign countries varies widely, some are possessions of sovereign states, as several states have overseas territories, with citizenry at times identical and at times distinct from their own
2.
India
–
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
3.
States and union territories of India
–
India is a federal union comprising twenty-nine states and seven union territories. The states and union territories are further subdivided into districts and further into smaller administrative divisions, the Constitution of India distributes the sovereign executive and legislative powers exercisable with respect to the territory of any State between the Union and that State. The Indian subcontinent has been ruled by different ethnic groups throughout its history. Between 1947 and 1950, the territories of the states were politically integrated into the Indian Union. The new Constitution of India, which came into force on 26 January 1950, the new republic was also declared to be a Union of States. The nine Part A states were Assam, Bihar, Bombay, Madhya Pradesh, Madras, Orissa, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, and West Bengal. The eight Part B states were former princely states or groups of states, governed by a rajpramukh, who was usually the ruler of a constituent state. The rajpramukh was appointed by the President of India, the Part B states were Hyderabad, Jammu and Kashmir, Madhya Bharat, Mysore, Patiala and East Punjab States Union, Rajasthan, Saurashtra, and Travancore-Cochin. The ten Part C states included both the former chief commissioners provinces and some states, and each was governed by a chief commissioner appointed by the President of India. The Part C states were Ajmer, Bhopal, Bilaspur, Coorg, Delhi, Himachal Pradesh, Cutch, Manipur, Tripura, the only Part D state was the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which were administered by a lieutenant governor appointed by the central government. The Union Territory of Puducherry was created in 1954 comprising the previous French enclaves of Pondichéry, Karaikal, Yanam, Andhra State was created on 1 October 1953 from the Telugu-speaking northern districts of Madras State. The States Reorganisation Act of 1956 reorganised the states based on linguistic lines resulting in the creation of the new states, as a result of this act, Madras State retained its name with Kanyakumari district added to from Travancore-Cochin. Andhra Pradesh was created with the merger of Andhra State with the Telugu-speaking districts of Hyderabad State in 1956, kerala was created with the merger of Malabar district and the Kasaragod taluk of South Canara districts of Madras State with Travancore-Cochin. The Laccadive Islands which were divided between South Canara and Malabar districts of Madras State were united and organised into the territory of Lakshadweep. Bombay State was enlarged by the addition of Saurashtra State and Kutch State, Rajasthan and Punjab gained territories from Ajmer and Patiala and East Punjab States Union respectively and certain territories of Bihar was transferred to West Bengal. Bombay State was split into the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra on 1 May 1960 by the Bombay Reorganisation Act. Nagaland was formed on 1 December 1963, the Punjab Reorganisation Act of 1966 resulted in the creation of Haryana on 1 November and the transfer of the northern districts of Punjab to Himachal Pradesh. The act also designated Chandigarh as a territory and the shared capital of Punjab
4.
West Bengal
–
West Bengal is an Indian state, located in East India on the Bay of Bengal. It is Indias fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants and it has a total area of 34,267 sq mi, making it similar in size to Serbia. A part of the ethno-linguistic Bengal region, it borders Bangladesh in the east and Nepal and it also has borders five Indian states, Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata, the seventh-largest city in India, the geography of West Bengal includes the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region in its extreme north, the Ganges delta, the Rarh region and the coastal Sundarbans. The main ethnic group are the Bengali people, with Bengali Hindus forming the demographic majority, Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas, including Vanga, Radha, Pundra and Suhma. In the 2nd century BC, the region was conquered by the emperor Ashoka, in the 4th century AD, it was absorbed into the Gupta Empire. From the 13th century onward, the region was ruled by sultans, powerful Hindu states and Baro-Bhuyan landlords. The British East India Company cemented their hold on the following the Battle of Plassey in 1757. Between 1977 and 2011, the state was administered by the worlds longest elected Communist government, a major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to Indias net domestic product. It is noted for its activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions. The states cultural heritage, besides varied folk traditions, ranges from stalwarts in literature including Nobel-laureate Rabindranath Tagore to scores of musicians, film-makers and artists. West Bengal is also distinct from most other Indian states in its appreciation and practice of playing football besides cricket. The origin of the name Bengal is unknown, one theory suggests that the word derives from Bang, a Dravidian tribe that settled the region around 1000 BC. The word might have derived from the ancient kingdom of Vanga. Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the early history is obscure. At the end of British Rule over the Indian subcontinent, the Bengal region was partitioned in 1947 along religious lines into east and west, the east came to be known as East Bengal and the west came to known as West Bengal, which continued as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the name of the state to Poschimbongo. This is the name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language
5.
Kolkata district
–
Kolkata district is an administrative district of the Indian state of West Bengal. It contains the part of the city of Kolkata. As regards civic infrastructure, the area of Kolkata District is under the administration of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation. But other parts of the area, and of the citys suburban areas, belong to the districts of North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas, Howrah, Hooghly. Kolkata District is bordered by Howrah District, North 24 Parganas District, the office of the Kolkata Collector is in B. B. D. Bag, north of the General Post Office, none of the constituencies is reserved for Scheduled Castes candidates. Kolkata Uttar consists Chowringhee, Entally, Beliaghata, Jorasanko, Shyampukur, Maniktala, cossipur, Shyampukur, Jorabagan, Barabazar, Bowbazar and Taltola constituencies formed the Calcutta North West. Entally, Beliaghata, Sealdah, Vidyasagar, Burtola, Manicktola, along with four assembly constituencies from South 24 Parganas district, Chowringhee, Rashbehari Avenue and Ballygunje constituencies formed the Calcutta South. According to the 2011 census Kolkata district has a population of 4,486,679 and this gives it a ranking of 35th in India. The district has a density of 24,252 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001-2011 was -1. 88%, Kolkata has a sex ratio of 899 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 87. 14%. Kolkata metropolitan area Map of Kolkata district
6.
City
–
A city is a large and permanent human settlement. Cities generally have complex systems for sanitation, utilities, land usage, housing, a big city or metropolis usually has associated suburbs and exurbs. Such cities are associated with metropolitan areas and urban areas. Once a city expands far enough to another city, this region can be deemed a conurbation or megalopolis. Damascus is arguably the oldest city in the world, in terms of population, the largest city proper is Shanghai, while the fastest-growing is Dubai. There is not enough evidence to assert what conditions gave rise to the first cities, some theorists have speculated on what they consider suitable pre-conditions and basic mechanisms that might have been important driving forces. The conventional view holds that cities first formed after the Neolithic revolution, the Neolithic revolution brought agriculture, which made denser human populations possible, thereby supporting city development. The advent of farming encouraged hunter-gatherers to abandon nomadic lifestyles and to settle near others who lived by agricultural production, the increased population density encouraged by farming and the increased output of food per unit of land created conditions that seem more suitable for city-like activities. In his book, Cities and Economic Development, Paul Bairoch takes up position in his argument that agricultural activity appears necessary before true cities can form. According to Vere Gordon Childe, for a settlement to qualify as a city, it must have enough surplus of raw materials to support trade and a relatively large population. To illustrate this point, Bairoch offers an example, Western Europe during the pre-Neolithic, when the cost of transport is taken into account, the figure rises to 200,000 square kilometres. Bairoch noted that this is roughly the size of Great Britain, the urban theorist Jane Jacobs suggests that city formation preceded the birth of agriculture, but this view is not widely accepted. In his book City Economics, Brendan OFlaherty asserts Cities could persist—as they have for thousands of years—only if their advantages offset the disadvantages, OFlaherty illustrates two similar attracting advantages known as increasing returns to scale and economies of scale, which are concepts usually associated with businesses. Their applications are seen in more basic economic systems as well, increasing returns to scale occurs when doubling all inputs more than doubles the output an activity has economies of scale if doubling output less than doubles cost. To offer an example of these concepts, OFlaherty makes use of one of the oldest reasons why cities were built, in this example, the inputs are anything that would be used for protection and the output is the area protected and everything of value contained in it. OFlaherty then asks that we suppose the protected area is square, the advantage is expressed as, O = s 2, where O is the output and s stands for the length of a side. This equation shows that output is proportional to the square of the length of a side, the inputs depend on the length of the perimeter, I =4 s, where I stands for the quantity of inputs. So there are increasing returns to scale, O = I2 /16 and this equation shows that with twice the inputs, you produce quadruple the output
7.
Kolkata
–
Kolkata /koʊlˈkɑːtɑː/ is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. In 2011, the city had a population of 4.5 million, while the population of the city and its suburbs was 14.1 million, making it the third-most populous metropolitan area in India. Recent estimates of Kolkata Metropolitan Areas economy have ranged from $60 to $150 billion making it third most-productive metropolitan area in India, after Mumbai, in the late 17th century, the three villages that predated Calcutta were ruled by the Nawab of Bengal under Mughal suzerainty. After the Nawab granted the East India Company a trading licence in 1690, 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 enough to abolish Nizamat. Calcutta was the centre for the Indian independence movement, it remains a hotbed of 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. Many people from Kolkata—among them several Nobel laureates—have contributed to the arts, the sciences, Kolkata culture features idiosyncrasies that include distinctively close-knit neighbourhoods and freestyle intellectual exchanges. Though home to major cricketing venues and franchises, Kolkata differs from other Indian cities by giving importance to association football, there are several explanations about the etymology of this name, The term Kolikata is thought to be a variation of Kalikkhetrô, meaning Field of Kali. Similarly, it can be a variation of Kalikshetra, alternatively, the name may have been derived from the Bengali term kilkila, or flat area. The name may have its origin in the words khal meaning canal, followed by kaṭa, according to another theory, the area specialised in the production of quicklime or koli chun and coir or kata, hence, it was called Kolikata. The discovery and archaeological study of Chandraketugarh,35 kilometres north of Kolkata, Kolkatas recorded history began in 1690 with the arrival of the English East India Company, which was consolidating its trade business in Bengal. The area occupied by the city encompassed three villages, Kalikata, Gobindapur, and Sutanuti. Kalikata was a village, Sutanuti was a riverside weavers village. They were part of an estate belonging to the Mughal emperor and these rights were transferred to the East India Company in 1698. In 1712, the British completed the construction of Fort William, facing frequent skirmishes with French forces, the British began to upgrade their fortifications in 1756. The Nawab of Bengal, Siraj ud-Daulah, condemned the militarisation and 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. A force of Company soldiers and British troops led by Robert Clive recaptured the city the following year, declared a presidency city, Calcutta became the headquarters of the East India Company by 1772. In 1793, ruling power of the Nawabs were abolished and East India company took control of the city
8.
Garia
–
Garia is a neighbourhood in south Kolkata, India and home to Netaji Subhash Engineering College. It is bounded by Jadavpur to the north, Bansdroni/Tollygunge to the north-west, Santoshpur to the north-east, Narendrapur/Sonarpur to the south, the southern part of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass runs through the heart of the region. Garia is one of the oldest settlements around the region, and is located on the Tollys Nullah connecting Kolkata to the Vidhyadhari River to the east and it was primarily a peaceful residential neighbourhood before. The partition of India changed the fabric of the area. Overnight refugees came and settled down in the lands and country houses of the rich landowners of Kolkata in Garia. Garia became another refugee settlement along with Jadavpur and Tollygunge in the fringes of the city. Slowly, after the initial upheaval, development of the area started, but again another change was coming to the region. With the expansion of Kolkata to the east and the south during the 1990s, Garia was the southern end of the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, the next Chowringhee of Kolkata. Already home to two bus terminus, Garia became the transport and commercial hub for the region. First settlements were on the north of the point of N. S. C. Bose road, Garia main road & Raja Subodh Chandra Mullick road. This locality is now home to some of the finest upcoming apartment complexes in the city, Hiland Park, Avanis Victoria Greens, Westwind, Orbit City, Sugam Park, Sherwood Estate and Bengal Ambujas Upohar are the most famous apartment complexes in Garia. Metro railway has added a new feather in terms of communication which connects Central & North Kolkata to save time & have a comfortable journey, New Garia is a fast-growing neighbourhood in the eastern part of Garia. The terminal metro station of Kolkata metro in the south is located here, chak Garia, also known as Chakgaria, is a posh neighbourhood in the eastern part of Garia. It is dotted with highrises like Hiland Park and Bengal Ambuja Upohar, baishnabghata-Patuli Township is a township located in the northern part of Garia. Baishnabghata-Patuli Township is a World Bank–funded project on the EM Bypass, currently, it is one of the most promising parts of south Kolkata. Mahamayatala is a known place in Garia. Even one of the most renowned posh localities in Garia, there are many residential apartments or complex, diagnostic centers, shops, bars etc. all required stuffs for living. Mahamayatala is known for its famous Maa Mahamaya Temple and this is a residential place between Mahamayatala and Hindustan More
9.
Line 1, Kolkata Metro
–
The Line 1, also known as North–South Metro of the Kolkata Metro is a rapid transit system serving Kolkata, South 24 Parganas and North 24 Parganas in Indian state of West Bengal. It consists of 23 stations from Kavi Subhash to Dum Dum, of which 6 are elevated,2 are at grade, the line connects Dum Dum and New Garia and uses 5 ft 6 in Broad gauge rolling stock. Noapara is opened on 10 July 2013 and it is elevated and is located 2.09 km. north of Dum Dum. So now, Metro runs a total of 27.39 Kilometers from Noapara to Kavi Subhash where there are total 24 nos. of Stations. It was the first underground railway to be built in India, with the first operations commencing in October,1984, on 28 December 2010, it became the 17th zone of the Indian Railways. As a result, it took nearly 23 years to construct around 15 km underground railway from Birpara up to just before of Tollygunj Metro Station. The laying of the stone was done in 1972. Line 1 is 17 km. long with 17 stations, running of the first metro car on the line by 1984 was considered a great engineering challenge. Former railways minister A. B. A. Ghani Khan Chowdhury took a massive effort to perform it. The first section opened between Esplanade & Bhowanipore, first day Metro Railway Kolkata were started by Sri Tapan Kumar Nath and Sri Sanjay Sil. There were no connections of this stretch with the two depots at Dum Dum & Tollygunge, so metro cars had to be put down on the track near Esplanade by crane, by directly digging the road surface. Initially, only four car trains were run until 1986, there were no magnetic gates or escalators at that time and ordinary revolving gates served as exits. The Metro too operated on only a single line, two years later, line 1 extended up to Tollygunge, at the southern end. At the same time, the service was extended to the double line. Magnetic tickets and more entry gates were introduced at that time. The number of compartments in each train was increased to eight, Metro service was also started from Dum Dum, at the northern end, to Belgachhia in parallel with the extension of the line to the south. But this short portion was not popular and the service was closed down to be restarted when the stretch along the north–south corridor was completed. After 1986 many political incidents hampered the construction, and work almost stopped for six years. After restarting work, the Dum Dum to Shyambazar metro service was started in 1994 and this portion was served by four car trains
India
Kolkata/East travel guide from Wikivoyage