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West Bengal (; (:pɔʃtʃimbɔŋɡɔ)) is a state in eastern India and is the nation's fourth-most populous state, with over 91 million inhabitants. Spread over , it is bordered by the countries of Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, and the Indian states of Odisha, Jharkhand, Bihar, Sikkim, and Assam. The state capital is Kolkata. Together with the neighboring nation of Bangladesh, it makes up the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. Ancient Bengal was the site of several major janapadas (kingdoms). It was also part of large empires such as the Maurya Empire (second century BC) and Gupta Empire (fourth century AD); and part of the regional Pala Empire (eighth to 11th century) and Sena dynasty (11th–12th century). From the 13th century onward, the region was controlled by the Bengal Sultanate, Hindu kings and Baro-Bhuyan landlords under the suzerainty of the Mughal Empire, until the British East India company took control of the region from the Mughals in the late 18th century. The company consolidated their hold on the region following the Battle of Plassey in 1757 and Battle of Buxar in 1764 and by 1793 took complete control of the region. Kolkata (or Calcutta) served for many years as the capital of British controlled territories in India. The early and prolonged exposure to British administration resulted in the expansion of Western education, culminating in development of science, institutional education, and social reforms in the region, including what became known as the Bengali renaissance. A hotbed of the Indian independence movement through the early 20th century, Bengal was divided during India's independence in 1947 along religious lines into two separate entities: West Bengal—a state of India—and East Bengal—a part of the newly created Dominion of Pakistan that later became the independent nation of Bangladesh in 1971. A major agricultural producer, West Bengal is the sixth-largest contributor to India's net domestic product.〔 Noted for its political activism, the state was ruled by democratically elected communist governments for 34 years from 1977. It is noted for its cultural activities and the presence of cultural and educational institutions; the state capital Kolkata is known as the "cultural capital of India". The state's 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 Association football besides cricket, the national favourite sport. ==Etymology== The origin of the name Bengal (known as ''Bangla'' and ''Bongo'' in Bengali language) 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 been derived from the ancient kingdom of ''Vanga'' (or ''Banga''). Although some early Sanskrit literature mentions the name, the region's 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 remained as an Indian state. In 2011, the Government of West Bengal proposed a change in the official name for the state to ''Poschimbongo'' ((ベンガル語:পশ্চিমবঙ্গ) ''Pôshchimbônggô'') which reflects the native name of the state, literally meaning western Bengal in the native Bengali language. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「West Bengal」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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