Jalpaiguri district জলপাইগুড়ি জেলা |
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District of West Bengal | |
Location of Jalpaiguri district in West Bengal |
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Country | India |
State | West Bengal |
Administrative division | Jalpaiguri |
Headquarters | Jalpaiguri |
Government | |
• Lok Sabha constituencies | Jalpaiguri |
• Assembly seats | Nagrakata, Dhupguri, Mekhliganj, Maynaguri, Mal, Dabgram-Phulbari, Jalpaiguri, Rajganj |
Area | |
• Total | 3,044 km2 (1,175 sq mi) |
Population (2011) | |
• Total | 3,869,675 |
• Density | 1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi) |
• Urban | 11,03,847 |
Demographics | |
• Literacy | 84.79 per cent |
• Sex ratio | 954 |
Major highways | NH 31, NH 31A, NH 31C, NH 31D |
Average annual precipitation | 3160 mm |
Website | Official website |
Jalpaiguri district (Pron: dʒɔlpaːiːguɽiː) (Bengali: জলপাইগুড়ি জেলা) is a district of the Indian state of West Bengal,2. It is situated between 26° 16' and 27° 0' North latitudes and 88° 4' and 89° 53' East longitudes. The district was established in 1869 in British India.
The headquarters of the district are in the Indian city of Jalpaiguri, which is also the divisional headquarters of North Bengal and has its special importance in respect of tourism, forest, hills, tea gardens, scenic beauty and commercialisation and business.
The name Jalpaiguri comes from the Bengali word jalpai meaning "olive" because of the olives which grew in the district and were seen even in the 1900s. The suffix guri means a place. The name can also be associated with Jalpesh (Shiva), the presiding deity of the entire region.
Jalpaiguri district comprises western Dooars and the major part of the eastern Morang; and this area, according to Sailen Debnath, in the ancient time was a part of the kingdom of Kamrup, and since the middle of the seventh century it became a part of the Kingdom of Kamatapur. Sailen writes that three of the five ancient capitals of Kamatapur were geographically in the district of Jalpaiguri; and the three capitals were at Chilapata, Mainaguri and Panchagarh in sequence. According to him, Hingulavas, the first capital of the next Koch kingdom as well was in Jalpaiguri district. Hingulavas has well been identified with Mahakalguri in Alipurduar Sub-Division.
Jalpaiguri is a part of West Bengal which is situated in North Bengal.
The district situated in the northern part of West Bengal has international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh in the north and south respectively and district borders with Darjeeling hills in the west and northwest and Alipurduar district and Cooch Behar district on the east.