North Bengal or Uttar Banga (/উত্তর বাংলা) is a term used for the north-western part of Bangladesh and northern part of West Bengal. The Bangladesh part denotes the Rajshahi Division and Rangpur Division. Generally, it is the area lying west of Jamuna River and north of Padma River and includes the Barind Tract. The West Bengal part denotes Jalpaiguri Division (Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong) and the Malda division (Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, and Malda) together. The Bihar parts include the Kishanganj district. It also includes parts of Darjeeling Hills. Traditionally, the Ganga River divides Bengal into South Bengal and North Bengal, divided again into Terai and Dooars regions.

Administrative regions

In Bangladesh

In West Bengal (India)

Demographics

In Bangladesh

The population of the region is 30,201,873 (3 crore) as per the 2011 census. Majority of the population follow Islam, followed by Hinduism, the largest minority.

In West Bengal (India)

The population of the region is 18,702,060 (1.87 crore) as per the 2011 census. Majority of the population follow Hinduism, followed by Islam. Small but significant population follow Christianity and Buddhism. Language: Bengali is the predominant language spoken by 75% of North Bengal's population, followed by Kamtapuri (Rajbanshi), Nepali, Hindi, Sadri, Kurukh, and other languages.

In sports

The North Zone cricket team in Bangladesh is a first-class cricket team that represents northern Bangladesh (Rajshahi and Rangpur) in the Bangladesh Cricket League.

Cities and towns (North Bengal)

Bangladesh

West Bengal