加尔各答(Kolkata)

旧作Calcutta

印度东北部城市（2001年人口约13,216,546）。是西孟加拉邦的首府，前英属印度的首都（1772～1912），现在是印度第二大都会区。位於胡格利河畔，距河口145公里。1690年设为英国的贸易中心，1707年成为孟加拉管辖区。孟加拉的讷瓦布占领了加尔各答，1756年把英国人投入那里的监狱（後来称为加尔各答黑洞）；在克莱武领导下英国人重新夺回了这个城市。19世纪它是个极端繁忙的商业中心，1912年首都迁往德里後便开始逐渐没落。由於1947年印度和巴基斯坦的省份割及1971年孟加拉国的建立，使得加尔各答的没落更形加剧。这些政治动乱造成的大量难民涌入加尔各答，严重地加剧了它的贫困，而这正是泰瑞莎修女以及其他一些人试图要改变的情况。但尽管有许多问题，加尔各答还是印度东部的一个重要的城市，也是主要的教育和文化中心。

English version：

Kolkata

City (metro. area pop., 2001 prelim.: 13,216,546), northeastern India. Capital of West Bengal state, former capital (1772-1912) of British India, and India's second-largest metropolitan area, it is located on the Hugli River, about 90 miles (145 km) from the river's mouth. Established as an English trading center in 1690, it became the seat of the Bengal presidency in 1707. It was captured by the nawab of Bengal, who in 1756 imprisoned the English there (in a prison later known as the Black Hole); the city was retaken by the British under Robert Clive. It was an extremely busy 19th-century commercial center, then began a decline with the removal of the capital to Delhi in 1912. The decline was furthered by the province's partition between India and Pakistan in 1947 and the creation of Bangladesh in 1971. The flood of refugees from these political upheavals significantly added to widespread poverty, which Mother Teresa, among others, tried to combat. Despite its problems, Kolkata is a dominant urban area of eastern India and a major educational and cultural center.