West Bengal’s Sundarbans is the world’s largest mangrove forest. It’s also the only place where tigers regularly swim between islands to hunt.
MCQ Questions
West Bengal
1987
The Sundarbans, the world’s largest mangrove forest, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Capital: Kolkata. Formed 15 August 1947, at the Partition of Bengal.
CM since May 2026
Suvendu Adhikari
Current Chief Minister, as of 2026; first BJP-led WB government.
Governor since Mar 2026
R.N. Ravi
Current Governor, as of 2026; previously Governor of Tamil Nadu.
Formed 1947
88,752 km²
Formed at Partition, from British India’s Bengal Province.
Must Know
- West Bengal's capital is Kolkata.
- West Bengal was formed on 15 August 1947, when British India's Bengal Province was partitioned between India and Pakistan.
- As of 2026, the Chief Minister is Suvendu Adhikari of the BJP. He was sworn in on 9 May 2026, after the BJP's first-ever election win in the state.
- The Governor is R.N. Ravi, in office since 12 March 2026. He previously served as Governor of Tamil Nadu.
Good to Know
- West Bengal lies in East India, covering about 88,752 square kilometres.
- It stretches from the Himalayan foothills near Darjeeling in the north to the Bay of Bengal coast in the south.
- The Sundarbans, in southern West Bengal, is the world's largest mangrove forest. It was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987.
- The Sundarbans is home to the Royal Bengal Tiger.
- Durga Puja in Kolkata was inscribed on UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2021.
- Prafulla Chandra Ghosh was West Bengal's first Chief Minister, sworn in on Independence Day itself, 15 August 1947. See ModHist0235 — Prafulla Chandra Ghosh.
Test Yourself
Great to Know
- Kolkata, then called Calcutta, served as the capital of British India until 1911. The British then moved the capital to Delhi.
- The city's colonial-era architecture and institutions still carry that legacy today.
- Bengal's cultural weight, in literature, cinema, and the arts, has long outpaced its shifting political fortunes. Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore remains its best-known literary figure.
- That gap, between Bengal's cultural stature and its changing political fortunes, runs right through the state's history, from losing its status as imperial capital to its 2026 change of ruling party.
Current Affairs
- As of 2026, West Bengal has its first-ever BJP-led government. The party won 208 of 294 assembly seats, in results declared on 4 May 2026. This ended three-term Trinamool Congress (TMC) rule under Mamata Banerjee.
- Suvendu Adhikari (BJP) was sworn in as Chief Minister on 9 May 2026. He had defeated Banerjee in the Bhabanipur constituency, and also won a second seat, Nandigram.
- Turnout was about 94%, a historic high for the state.
- For the full 2026 West Bengal election results and analysis, see the dedicated 2026 State Assembly Elections article.
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IndGeo0103 — Sundarbans National ParkGovernors-General and Viceroys of India (1773-1947)Polity0357 — The Governor: Office, Powers and ImmunitiesUPSC CSP 2025 — General Studies Paper I (Full Question Paper)Lord Curzon: The Partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi Movement❓ Practice this topic
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