Subdivisions
The following is a list of nineteen districts of by rank in India.
| Rank | District | Population | Growth rate | Sex ratio | Literacy | Density per Kilometer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | North 24 Parganas | 10,082,852 | 12.86 | 949 | 84.95 | 2463 |
| 6 | South 24 Parganas | 8,153,176 | 18.05 | 949 | 78.57 | 819 |
| 7 | Bardhaman | 7,723,663 | 12.01 | 943 | 77.15 | 1100 |
| 9 | Murshidabad | 7,102,430 | 21.07 | 957 | 67.53 | 1334 |
| 14 | West Midnapore | 5,943,300 | 14.44 | 960 | 79.04 | 636 |
| 16 | Hooghly | 5,520,389 | 9.49 | 958 | 82.55 | 1753 |
| 18 | Nadia | 5,168,488 | 12.24 | 947 | 75.58 | 1316 |
| 20 | East Midnapore | 5,094,238 | 15.32 | 936 | 87.66 | 1076 |
| 23 | Howrah | 4,841,638 | 13.31 | 935 | 83.85 | 3300 |
| 35 | Kolkata | 4,486,679 | -1.88 | 899 | 87.14 | 24252 |
| 58 | Maldah | 3,997,970 | 21.50 | 939 | 62.71 | 1071 |
| 66 | Jalpaiguri | 3,869,675 | 13.77 | 954 | 73.79 | 621 |
| 80 | Bankura | 3,596,292 | 12.64 | 954 | 70.95 | 523 |
| 84 | Birbhum | 3,502,387 | 16.15 | 956 | 70.90 | 771 |
| 124 | North Dinajpur | 3,000,849 | 22.90 | 936 | 60.13 | 956 |
| 129 | Purulia | 2,927,965 | 15.43 | 955 | 65.38 | 468 |
| 136 | Cooch Behar | 2,822,780 | 13.86 | 942 | 75.49 | 833 |
| 257 | Darjeeling | 1,842,034 | 14.47 | 971 | 79.92 | 585 |
| 295 | South Dinajpur | 1,670,931 | 11.16 | 954 | 73.86 | 753 |
Each district is governed by a district collector or district magistrate, appointed either by the Indian Administrative Service or the West Bengal Civil Service. Each district is subdivided into Sub-Divisions, governed by a sub-divisional magistrate, and again into Blocks. Blocks consists of panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities.
The capital and largest city of the state is Kolkata – the third-largest urban agglomeration and the seventh-largest city in India. Asansol is the second largest city & urban agglomeration in West Bengal after Kolkata. Siliguri is an economically important city, strategically located in the northeastern Siliguri Corridor (Chicken's Neck) of India. Other major cities and towns in West Bengal are Howrah, Durgapur, Raniganj, Haldia, Jalpaiguri, Kharagpur, Burdwan, Darjeeling, Midnapore, and Malda.
Read more about this topic: West Bengal