The region was ruled by the Nawabs of Bengal. Then it came under the British and was called the Bengal Province. Then it was divided as West and East Bengal (later to become East Pakistan and Bangladesh). The West Bengal province was retained as such and became West Bengal after independence. After the State Reorganisation process, by which, the French region of Chander Nagore was added and declared as West Bengal from 1.11.1956. From 19.8.2011, the name has been officially changed as "Paschim Banga".

Kolkatta, Burdwan, Kharagpur, Chittaranjan, Burnpur, Darjeeling.

1.  ALIPURDUAR:  Tourist Centre and agricultural district.
2.  BANKURA: Famous for handicrafts, terracotta products and Baluchari Sarees.
3.  BARDHAMAN: An industrial district. Asansol where coal mining, Durgapur with steel plant, and Chittaranjan Locomotive Works are in this district. Vishnupur in this district is famous for terracotta products. The district has a NIT and other educational institutions.
4.  BIRBHUM: Agricultural district. The famous Vishwa Bharati University of Rabindranath Tagore lies here. Cottage industries are widespread. Santhal tribals are spread across this district.
5.  COOCH BEHAR : Formerly a princely state, ruled by Narayan dynasty.Joined West Bengal in 1950. Few places of interests are around.
6.  DARJEELING: Hill Station and a world famous one. Lies on the Shiwalik Hills. The name means "Land of the Thunder Bolts". Famous for its tea world over. Darjeeling Himalayan Railway is a world Heritage Site. Kalimpong in this district is another hill station with a famous flower market and Buddhist monasteries. Kurseong is another Hill Station with a few attractions. Siliguri, a hilly place with a sizeable military presence.
7.  SOUTH DINAJPUR.
8.  HOOGHLY: Jute industry dominates - Chandan Nagar, formerly Chander Nagore, a French territory, lies in this district. Few temples and places of interest are there.
9.  HOWRAH : A twin city with Kolkatta on the banks of river Hooghly. Howrah Station designed by British Engineer Halsey Ricardo and opened in 1905. Howrah Bridge, Vidya Sagar Bridge and Vivekananda Bridges (see under bridges and tunnels) across Hooghly river are located in this district.
10.JALPAIGURI: A hilly and forest covered district with wild life sanctuary and National Parks. Shares its borders with two countries - Bhutan and Bangladesh. Tribal population is more.
11. KOLKATTA: a) Earlier known as Calcutta.
b) Lies on the banks of river Hooghly with its twin city Howrah.
c) The most populated city.
d) Second largest city after Mumbai.
e) It was the capital of "British India" until 1911 - when the capital was shifted to Delhi.
f) Lord Richard Wellesley was the architect of the development of the city of Kolkatta, in terms of industry, education etc.,
g) It is also called the "City of Joy", " City of Processions" and "Cultural Capital of India".
h) The city has reputed educational institutions in all fields of education.
i) The city houses a number of central government organizations,leading private sector companies' headquarters like ITC, Bata, Birla, Berger Paints etc., and has a number of IT companies. The city also has the Headquarters of two zonal Railways- South Eastern and Eastern Railways, Garden Reach Workshops etc.,
j) The city has a number of places of interest:
i)Howrah Bridge: A cantilever Bridge, an engineering marvel built between 1937-1943.
ii)Fort William: Built in 1780 by Robert Clive - lying on the banks of Ganges, now houses the Eastern Command of the Indian Army.
iii)Writers Building: An architectural beauty designed by Thomas Lyon in 1706. Now houses the State Secretariate.
iv)Victoria Memorial: Built between 1906-1921. A white marble building and an architectural beauty.
v)Shahid Minar: Martyr's Tomb of the Gorkha War of 1816. Political activities of all parties begin from here.
vi)Raj Bhavan: Built around 1799-1803 - an architectural marvel.
vii)Marble Palace: Beautiful palace built in 1835 by Raja Rajendra Mullick which houses a zoo also perhaps the first in India.
ix)Indian Museum: Built in 1814. One of the oldest and Asia's first.
x) Botannical Garden.
xi) Dakshineswar Kali Temple, Kalighat, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tipu Sultan Mosque, Belur Ramakrishna Mutt, Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity are the other places of interest.
12. MALDA: An agricultural district. Oil Refinery is located here.
13. EAST MEDINAPUR: A coastal and agricultural district. Haldia in this District is a port and an industrial town. Digha is a coastal town and Beach Resort.
14. WEST MEDINAPUR : Midnapore is the major town, with educational Institutions and industries. Kharagpur is another important town and a railway junction, division and has workshops. Kharagpur Railway Station Platform is the longest in the world and the first IIT was started here in 1951. "Hijli" a town was once a kingdom called "Hijli Kingdom" and has a few places of interest.
15. MURSHIDABAD : The town was the first capital of Bengal Nawabs and also for the British. Famous for silk industry.
16. NADIA:
17. NORTH 24 PARGANAS : Agricultural district. Dum Dum International Airport, Barrackpore Rifle Factory are in this district.
18. SOUTH 24 PARGANAS : The famous " Sunderbans" lies in this district.
19. PURULIA :
20. UTTAR DINAJPUR

Ship building, Ready Made Textiles, Handloom goods, Leather, Jwellery, Wagons and Coaches, Steel, Electrial, Electronic, Jute and Chemical industries.

Kolkatta, Darjeeling and Sunderbans.

Durga Puja, Saraswati Puja, Kali Puja and Poila Boishak (New Year) and other community festivals.

Rabindra Sangeet.

Prafulla Chandra Ghosh - 1947-1948.

1.Rabindranath Tagore: A cultural icon, writer, poet, novelist, philosopher, composer, first Nobel laureate of India (literature - 1913),. He is the only poet, whose two poems are national anthems of two countries - India and Bangladesh. Freedom fighter and close to Gandhiji.
2. Sarat Chandra Chatterji, Bankim Chandra Chatterji - literature.
3. Aparna Sen, Sushmita Sen, Mithun Chakraborty, Uttam Kumar, Victor Banerji, Kishore, Ashok Kumar Brothers, Bipasha Basu, Moon Moon Sen, Rani Mukherji, Sharmila Tagore and a whole lot of cine actors.
4. Anil Biswas, Gautam Ghose, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Satyajit Ray (Lifetime Oscar Award winner) - famous cinema directors.
5. Hemant Kumar, Manna Dey, Salil Chowdhury, Abhijeet, Shaan, Shreya Ghosal, Alka Yagnik and host of famous cinema play back singers.
6. Uday Shankar - dancer.
7. P.C.Sen, Jyoti Basu, Mamata Banerji, Gani Khan Chowdhury, Budda Deb Bhattarcharjee and other political leaders.
8. NSC Bose, Khudiram Bose, Aurobindo Ghosh, Bipin Chadra Pal, B.C.Roy, Sarojini Naidu - and other freedom fighters.
9. Meghnad Saha - famous scientist (physics)
10.Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Sarada Devi, Vivekananda, A.C.Bhakti Vedanta Swami Prabhudeva - are all religious and spiritual leaders.
11.Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar are all social reformers.
12.Mihir Sen - first Indian to swim across English Channel.
13.Aarti Saha - First Indian woman to swim across English Channel.
14.Arjun Atwal - Golfer.
15.Bula Chowdhry - First Indian woman to swim English Channel twice.
16.Dibyendu Barua, Surya Sekhar Ganguly - Chess grand masters.
17.Pankaj Roy, Arun Lal, Dilip Doshi, Saba Karim, Sourav Ganguly are all famous cricketers.
18.Chuni Goswami, P K Banerji, Subrata Bhattacharji, Krishanu Dey are all famous footballers.
19.Amartya Sen - Economist and Nobel Laureate.
20. Jyotirmayee Sikdar - famous athlete.
21. Pranab Mukherjee - politicians and Central Minister. Congress Leader.