kolkata-vacation.com Home

Kolkata facts

Kolkata General Information:
Area : 1,380 sq km.
Altitude : 17 feet from sea level
Temperature
Summer : Max 41.7 °C, Min 38.1 °C.
Winter : Max 36.3 °C, Min 9.6 °C.
Rainfall : 160 cm
Languages : Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English.

Kolkata city, one of the four metropolitan cities in India has a history of no more than 300 years. The city, formerly known by the name of Calcutta has undergone a sea change in a very short span of time. Kolkata as it stands today is the largest metropolitan city of India. The city has the distinction of being the procurer of many important movements encompassing politics, arts, literature, theatre, cinema, science and technology, in India.

There are more than one accounts of how the city got its name. According to some the name of the city has been derived from the Bengali word Kalikshetra, meaning the ground of goddess Kali. Yet others are of the opinion that the name has been derived from the term Kilkila, meaning flat surface in Bengali. The city was named Calcutta by the British Power and the place continued to be called so till 2001 A.D. when the city was officially renamed as Kolkata.

For your good information, there are restaurants and eating out centers in the city where you can dine out with your nearer and dearer ones and taste the olden days golden Bengali dishes. Here are the names and contact information of few restaurants where you can taste the Bengali Food.

Bengalis comprise the majority of Kolkata's population, with Marwaris and Bihari communities forming a large portion of the minorities. Some of Kolkata's notable communities include Chinese, Tamils, Marwaris, Anglo-Indians, Armenians, Tibetans, Maharashtrians and Parsis. Major languages spoken in Kolkata are Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, English, Maithili, and Bhojpuri. According to the 2001 census, 77.68% of the population in Kolkata is Hindu, 20.27% Muslim and 0.88% Christian. Other minorities such as Sikhs, Buddhist, Jews and Zoroastrian constitute the rest of the city's population. 1.5 million people, who constitute about a third of the city's population, live in 2,011 registered and 3,500 unregistered (occupied by squatters) slums.