Vidyasagar Setu

Located in Eastern India at 22°33′N 88°30′E, Kolkata lies parallel to the Hooghly river. Kolkata is not only one of the busiest metros in the country, it is also one of the largest cities.

{mosimage}Kolkata is the 7^th biggest city in India with an area of 187 sq.km and a housing population of more than 4.6 million.

The city can be divided into 3 distinct areas:

Old Kolkata:
Sutanuti: Chitpur, Baghbazar, Sobhabazar, Hatkhola.
Kolkata: Dharmatala, Bowbazar, Simla, Janbazar.
Gobindapur: Hastings, Maidan, Bhowanipur

New Kolkata:
North: Sinthi, Cossipore, Gughudanga
South: Tollygunge, Khidderpore & Behala
East: Salt Lake, Beliaghata & Topsia.
West: Hooghly river.

Greater Kolkata:
Baruipur to Bansberia
Kalyani to Budge Budge

Kolkata is a multicultural, cosmopolitan city with a sizeable Bengali community. There are also large communities of Marwaris, Biharis, Gujratis, Punjabis, Parsis, Anglo-Indians and South Indians in the city. Foreigners like Chinese, Tibetans, Armenians, and Jews also settle here at times.

Kolkata is a mixture of low rise residential buildings, newly built apartments and the old world charm of colonial architecture. In the recent past, Kolkatans have seen ten to twenty storey-high apartments, convention centers, shopping malls, multiplexes and private healthcare centers spring up in and around the city.

There has been a spurt of construction activities along the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass that is changing the city's profile rapidly. The city is also expanding in the east with the much hyped New Town coming up in Rajarhat, next to Salt Lake. The state government has also signed an agreement with an Indonesian company to construct a mammoth residential township in the west.

Despite all developments, Kolkata's prime localities are still dotted by slums which are home to over 25% of the city's population, according to the last Census conducted in 2001.

According to the last Census conducted in 2001:

• The population of the city: 45,80,544.
• The population density of Kolkata: 24.760/ sq. km
• The population ratio: Male/Female is 1000/956
• Time Zone: IST (UTC + 5:30)
• Postal Code: 700 0xx
• Telephone: +033
• Vehicle Registration Code: WB-
• Major Spoken Languages: Bengali, Hindi, English, Bhojpuri.

Climate of the City:

Kolkata has a subtropical savanna climate, with summer monsoons. Early morning mists and evening smog are common in the city.

Although the average annual temperature is 26.8°C, the maximum temperatures in Kolkata often exceed 40°C in summers. The monthly mean temperatures in Kolkata ranges from 20°C to 31°C.

Moderate north-westerly to north-easterly winds prevail mostly throughout the year with a high frequency of calms. Summer is dominated by strong south-westerly monsoon winds.

Winter in the city is short-lived, lasting about 2 and half months. The lowest temperature hovers around 12 - 14°C in the winter months of December and January.

The main seasonal influence upon the climate of the city is the monsoon. Maximum rainfall occurs during the monsoon in August (306 mm) and the average annual rainfall is about 1,582 mm.