For detailed travel information on Kolkata, visit :
www.calcuttaweb.com or www.kolkata.net/

For visitors to India, great sites on Kolkata include :
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/worldguide/destinations/asia/india/kolkata
http://pages.cthome.net/india2/

A very good book to read up on Kolkata is Calcutta by Simon Winchester. :
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Simon-Winchesters-Calcutta-Lonely-
Planet/dp/1740595874

It's a compelling city, a city with a soul, and a visit there is one of the richest experiences on Earth. Your first impressions might be overwhelming; India's third-largest city is defined not by its poverty but by the energy, imagination and zest for life of its people.

Calcutta is compelling, effervescent, teeming with life and traditionally a medley of moods, styles, cultures, politics, industry and commerce.

Kolkata is located in eastern India and is spread linearly along the banks of the River Hooghly in a north-south direction. Much of the city was originally a vast wetland, reclaimed over the decades to accommodate the city's burgeoning population. The massive Howrah Bridge swarms around the Hooghly river, flocks along the busy avenues through its narrow lanes. Then there is the great expanse of the Maidan, the heart of Kolkata.

Fort William, Victoria Memorial, Raj Bhavan, Palladian villas and the Botanical Gardens, the busy streets of Shyambazar, College Street and Kalighat, bookshops, art galleries, coffee houses all are part of the varied and vibrant shades of Kolkata, the birthplace of Rabindranath Tagore and cradle of the Indian Renaissance.

The Sundarbans National Park separates the city from the Bay of Bengal, which is located about 154 km to the south.

Kolkata has a tropical climate. Summers are hot and humid and maximum temperatures often exceed 40 °C (104 °F) during May and June. Winter tends to last for only about two and a half months, with seasonal lows dipping to the 12 °C - 14 °C between December and January. The highest recorded temperature is 43 °C (111 °F) and the lowest is 5 °C (41 °F). Often during early summer, dusty squalls followed by spells of thunderstorm and heavy rains lash the city, bringing relief from the humid heat. These thunderstorms are locally known as Kal baisakhi (Nor'westers).

The southeast monsoon rains lash the city between June and September and supplies the city with most of its annual rainfall of 1,582 mm. The highest rainfall occurs during the monsoon in August (306mm). The city receives 2,528 hours of sunshine per annum, with the maximum sunlight occurring in March.

Kolkata city, under the jurisdiction of the Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC), is not very large and has an area of 185 km². The Kolkata urban agglomeration, however, has continuously expanded and as of 2006 the urban agglomeration (Kolkata Metropolitan Area) is spread over 1750 km² and comprises of 157 postal areas.

Several local governments including 38 local municipalities formally administer the urban agglomeration which comprises of 72 cities and 527 towns and villages.

The east-to-west dimension of the proper city is narrow, stretching from the Hooghly River in the west to roughly the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass in the east, a span of roughly 5-6 km. The north-south expansion is roughly divided into North, Central and South Kolkata.

North Kolkata locality is the oldest part of the city, with 19th century architecture and narrow alleyways. The ambience in this area is reminiscent of the old Kolkata. South Kolkata grew mostly after independence and consists of elite localities. The Salt Lake City (Bidhan Nagar) area to the northeast of the city is a planned section of Kolkata. Rajarhat, also called New Town, is the newest township being developed on the north- eastern fringes of Kolkata city.

Central Kolkata houses the central business district around the B.B.D.Bagh area. The Government Secretariat, General Post Office, High Court and several other government and private offices are located here. The Maidan is a large open field in the heart of the city where several sporting events and public meetings are held. Several companies have set up their offices around the area south of Park Street, which has become a secondary Central Business District.

Kolkata is the main business, commercial and financial hub of eastern India and the northern states. It is home to the Calcutta Stock Exchange - India's second-largest bourse. It is also a major commercial and military port, and the only city in the region to have an international airport.

TheKolkata Municipal Corporation, established in 1876, is responsible for the civic maintenance and infrastructure of Kolkata. The city is divided into 141 administrative wards that are grouped into 15 boroughs. Each of these wards elects a councillor to the KMC. Each borough has a committee consisting of the councillors elected from the respective wards of the borough.

The Corporation, through the borough committees, maintains government-aided schools, hospitals and municipal markets and partakes in urban planning and road maintenance. The corporation as the apex body discharges its function through the Mayor-in-Council, consisting of a mayor, assisted by a deputy mayor, and ten other elected members of the KMC. The mayor is responsible for the overall functioning of the KMC and has tenure of five-years. The KMC supplies potable water to the city, sourced from the River Hooghly.

The city also has an apolitical titular post, that of the Sheriff of Kolkata. The Sheriff presides over various city-related functions and conferences.

As the capital of the state and the seat of the Government of West Bengal, Kolkata houses the State Legislative Assembly, the Secretariat (Writers' Building) and the Calcutta High Court.

The city elects 3 representatives to the Lok Sabha (India's lower house) and 21 representatives to the state Legislative Assembly.

Trains run by the Kolkata suburban railway and the Kolkata Metro as well as trams and buses provide transport services. The suburban network is extensive and extends into the distant suburbs.

The Kolkata Metro, run by the Indian Railways, is the oldest underground system in India. It runs parallel to the Hooghly and spans the north-south length of the city covering a distance of 16.45km.

Buses are the preferred mode of transport and are run by both government agencies and private operators. Kolkata is India's only remaining city to have a tram network. The slow-moving tram services are restricted to certain areas of the city.

Hired forms of mechanized transport include the all-yellow metered taxis, while auto rickshaws ply in specific routes. In some areas of the city, for short distances the public patronizes cycle rickshaws and hand-pulled rickshaws also. Private owned vehicles are less in number and usage compared to other major cities.

Kolkata has two major long distance railway stations at Howrah and Sealdah. A third station named Kolkata has been inaugurated in early 2006. The city is the headquarters of two divisions of the Indian Railways -Eastern Railway and South Eastern Railway.

The city's sole airport, the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport at Dum Dum to the north of the city, operates both domestic and international flights.

Kolkata is also a major riverport in eastern India. There are passenger services to Port Blair in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and cargo ship service to various ports in India and abroad, operated by the Shipping Corporation of India. Also there are ferry services connecting Kolkata with its twin city of Howrah.

As of 2001, Kolkata city had a population of 4,580,544, while the urban agglomeration had a population of 13,216,546.

The sex ratio is 828 females per 1000 males - which is lower than the national average.

Kolkata's literacy rate of 80.86% exceeds the all-India average of 59.8%.

Kolkata has nine universities; numerous colleges are affiliated to these nine or to other universities located outside of Kolkata. Bengal Engineering &Science University and Jadavpur University have notable engineering institutions. Other notable institutions are Presidency College and St.Xavier's College. Some institutions of national importance are the Asiatic Society, the Indian Statistical Institute, the Indian Institute of Management, the Saha Institute of Nuclear physics, and the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Kolkata.

Football is the most popular sport in the city and it is one of the major centres of football activity in India. Kolkata is home to top national clubs such as East Bengal, Mohammedan Sporting Club and Mohan Bagan. Kolkata is known for its large stadia. The Eden Gardens is, at present, one of the only two 100,000-seat cricket amphitheatres in the world. Salt Lake Stadium - a multi-use stadium - is the world's third highest -capacity football stadium.

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