West Bengal

American

noun

a state in E India: formerly part of the province of Bengal. 33,805 sq. mi. (87,555 sq. km). Calcutta.

West Bengal British

noun

a state of E India, on the Bay of Bengal: formed in 1947 from the Hindu area of Bengal; additional territories added in 1950 (Cooch Behar), 1954 (Chandernagor), and 1956 (part of Bihar); mostly low-lying and crossed by the Hooghly River. Capital: Kolkata (Calcutta). Pop: 80 221 171 (2001). Area: 88 752 sq km (34 260 sq miles)

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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West Bengal

West Bengal and Bangladesh share linguistic, cultural and ethnic ties.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

In May, the Hindu nationalist BJP ousted the regional Trinamool Congress in West Bengal, ending its nearly 16-year rule in the Bangladesh-bordering state.

From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026

Bengal was divided along religious lines into predominantly Hindu West Bengal, which became part of India, and Muslim-majority East Pakistan, later becoming Bangladesh.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

She is among the hundreds of Bangladeshis who have gathered over two days at Hakimpur in India's West Bengal state, police said, hoping to cross back as authorities tighten enforcement under a new state government.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Even Chacko had no really complete explanation for why the Communist Party was so much more successful in Kerala than it had been almost anywhere else in India, except perhaps in West Bengal.

From "The God of Small Things" by Arundhati Roy

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023