Cities and towns in West Bengal the eastern region formed East Pakistan—which became Bangladesh in 1971 — and the western part joined India as the state of West Bengal. Scores of refugees from the eastern part came to West Bengal, leading to the start of new urban areas, and contributing to the congestion of already established cities like Kolkata. India census, 375 cities and towns in West Bengal can be classified in the following categories: Now, number of municipalities has been increased to 117 as four new municipalities have been established: Nalhati (2000), Dhupguri (2001), Panskura (2001) and Dalkhola (2003). So, the number of census towns
Tourism in West Bengal which is 13.38% of the state's geographical area, compared to the national average of 21.02%. Part of the world's largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans, is located in southern West Bengal. The southern part of West Bengal can be divided into two regions: the Gangetic plain and the littoral mangrove forests of the Sundarbans. The coastal region of Purba Medinipur exhibits coastal vegetation. A notable tree from the Sundarbans is the ubiquitous "sundari" ("Heritiera fomes"), from which the forest gets its name. The distribution of vegetation in northern West Bengal is dictated by elevation and precipitation. For example, the foothills of