Bengaala
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Republic of Bengala প্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলা | |
|---|---|
 Flag | |
| Capital and largest city | Kolkata |
| Official languages | |
| Ethnic groups |
|
| Demonym(s) | Bengali |
| Government | Republic |
• President | Naba Kumar Ghosh |
• Prime Minister | Pratap Chandra Mukherjee |
| Legislature | National Assembly |
| Independence from India | |
• Declared | 7 June 1970 |
| Population | |
• October 2021 estimate | 10,629,214 |
• 2017 census | 9,541,873 |
| GDP (PPP) | 2018 estimate |
• Total | $900.854 billion |
| GDP (nominal) | 2018 estimate |
• Total | $78.652 billion |
| Gini (2018) |  13.5low |
| HDI (2018) |  0.951very high · 2nd |
| Currency | Bengali Taka |
| Time zone | IST |
| Driving side | left |
| Calling code | +92 |
| Internet TLD | .bn |
The Republic of Bengal (Bengali: প্রজাতন্ত্রী বাংলা), also Bengaala (বাংলা), is an independent Republic in southern part of the continent of Asia . It is a regional power in the region, with the status of the fifth largest country in the Indian subcontinent. The capital and largest city is Kolkata. It has a population of 9.5 million, with 30% of the population residing in Kolkata and surrounding regions.
Bengal, then known as Gangaridai, was a leading power in ancient South Asia, with extensive trade networks forming connections to as far away as Roman Egypt. The Bengali Pala Empire was the last major Buddhist power in the subcontinent, founded in 750 CE and becoming the dominant power in the northern Indian subcontinent by the 9th century CE. It was replaced by the Hindu Sena dynasty in the 12th century. Islam had been introduced during the Pala Empire, through trade with the Abbasid Caliphate; it spread across Bengal following the formation of the Delhi Sultanate. The region reached its highest prosperity under the Bengal Sultanate, founded in 1352, which became one of the world's richest trading nations.
Absorbed into the Mughal Empire in 1576, the Bengal Subah was the empire's wealthiest province, and became a major global exporter, and center of industries such as cotton textiles, silk, and shipbuilding. Its economy was worth 12% of the world's GDP, a value bigger than the entirety of Western Europe, and its citizens' living standards were among the world's highest. Bengal's economy underwent a period of proto-industrialization during this period. The region was conquered by the British East India Company after the Battle of Plassey in 1757, and became a part of the Bengal Presidency of British India. Bengal made significant contributions to the world's first Industrial Revolution, but later suffered its own deindustrialisation. East India Company policies, such as increasing agriculture tax rates from 10% to up to 50%, alongside drought and epidemics, contributed to famines such as the Great Bengal famine of 1770, which resulted in the deaths of 1 million to 10 million Bengalis.
After World War Two, it faced a threat of invasions from Japan. the subsequent famine of 1943 took a heavy toll on life in Bengal. Bengal hosted the Indian Independence Movement then, with a significant part of it being led by revolutionaries and communist partisans. The region was divided into two states during the partition- the western part being the Indian state of West Bengal, and the eastern part being incorporated into Pakistan as East Pakistan. The Bengali independence movement grew especially stronger in the 1950s and 60s, as the communists spearheaded the popular revolts, culminating in the overthrow of the military jurisdiction set up by the Indian government in 1970, and the proclamation of an independent republic in 1971.
Bengal is a regional power and a developing country in South Asia, with leading infrastructure, healthcare and economy in the area. The country has the highest HDI rate in the Asian continent, particularly due to investments in development by the government since late 1990s, before which the country was known for instability and poverty.