City (pop., 2001: city, 4,580,546; metro. area, 13,205,697), northeastern India. Capital of West Bengal state, former capital (1772–1911) of British India, and India's second largest metropolitan area, it is located on the Hugli (Hooghly) River, about 96 mi (154 km) from the river's mouth. The English East India Company established a trading centre at the site in 1690, which grew and became the seat of the British province called the Bengal Presidency. It was captured by the nawab (local ruler) of Bengal, who in 1756 imprisoned a number of British there (in a prison known as the Black Hole of Calcutta); the city was retaken by the British under Robert Clive. It was an extremely busy 19th-century commercial centre, but it began to decline with the removal of the colonial capital to Delhi in 1911. The decline continued when Bengal was partitioned between India and Pakistan in 1947 and when Bangladesh was created in 1971. The flood of refugees from those political upheavals boosted the city's population but also significantly added to its widespread poverty. Despite its problems, Kolkata remains the dominant urban area of eastern India and a major educational and cultural centre.
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According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.8 square miles (30.5 km²), of which, 11.8 square miles (30.4 km²) of it is land and 0.04 square miles (0.1 km²) of it (0.17%) is water.
There were 1,417 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.2% were married couples living together, 7.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.6% were non-families. 25.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.84.
In the CDP the population was spread out with 20.6% under the age of 18, 5.7% from 18 to 24, 23.7% from 25 to 44, 27.4% from 45 to 64, and 22.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 86.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.6 males.
The median income for a household in the CDP was $36,194, and the median income for a family was $45,750. Males had a median income of $41,077 versus $21,352 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $19,536. About 3.0% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.1% of those under age 18 and 9.7% of those age 65 or over.