West Bengal - Атлас этнических региональных автономий - Сеть по исследованию идентичности

Description of the autonomy

One of the 29 states of India, West Bengal is located in the north-east of the country. Bengal was one of the largest provinces of British India. Historically, this territory was characterized by a high degree of religious heterogeneity, which gave rise to an acute conflict in the process of obtaining India's independence. Bengal was divided into Muslim (East Pakistan) and Hindu parts (Indian state of West Bengal). The division was accompanied by bloody clashes and mass resettlement of people, as the Hindu and Muslim communities were never localized.

The titular group of West Bengal - Bengalis (86% of the total population) - is identified by their language. At the same time, religion is of great importance since the Bengalis of West Bengal separate themselves from the Bengali Muslims of neighbouring Bangladesh (formerly East Pakistan). However, not all Muslims left the territory of West Bengal. So far, they constitute 25% of the state's population, and after Jammu and Kashmir and Assam, West Bengal is the most Muslim-populated among the Indian states. This feature causes problems in interconfessional relations.

Also, there are numerous ethnic minorities in the province, among which the ideas of national self-determination are strong. In a number of cases, this breeds armed conflicts. For example, despite the granting of the subregional autonomy for Darjeeling, activists of the titular Gorka group in this area struggle for their secession into separate Gorkaland state.

Autonomy's characteristics

Year of the creation of the autonomy:

Geographic

Where is the autonomy situated:
Autonomy area: km²
Share of the autonomy in the area of the country: %
Autonomy population:the latest census thousands of people
Share of the autonomy in the population of the country: %

Country's characteristics

Level of economic development of the country:GDP per capita in 2015 in current price in $ in $
Political regime in the country:It is based on the Freedom House Index, 2015. All countries of the world are located on a scale from 1 (most free) to 7 (least free). Countries whose ratings fall between 1.0 and 2.5 are “Free”, between 3.0 and 5.0 are "Partly Free," and those between 5.5 and 7.0 are "Not Free."

Economic

Share of the autonomy in the economy of the country:GRP of the autonomy divided to GDP of the country (%) %
Level of economic development of the autonomy:relative to the country (%): GRP per capita of the autonomy divided to GDP per capita of the country %

Ethnic

Share of the dominant in the country ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the dominant in the country ethnic group divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Share of the titular ethnic group in the population of the autonomy:in %: population size of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy divided to overal population size of the autonomy (the latest census; expert estimations) %
Ethnic peculiarity:It indicates a key characteristic of autonomy's ethnic identity - language or religion or both
Diversity of ethnic composition:The presence of other (in addition to the titular group in the autonomy and the dominant group in the country) significant ethnic groups in the population of the autonomy

Political

Degree of self-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_selfrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of self-rule: institutional depth; policy scope; fiscal autonomy; borrowing autonomy; and the extent to which a region has an independent legislature and executive. The index takes value from 0 to 18
Degree of shared-rule of the autonomy:It is based on the Regional Authority Index project that aims at measuring the powers of all the regions in 81 countries. Here the index "tier_sharedrule" (2010) is used. It summarizes five dimensions of shared-rule: participation of a region in national law-making; intergovernmental meetings; the distribution of national tax revenues; borrowing; and constitutional change. The index takes value from 0 to 12
The presence of the "kin-state":"Kin-state" is a state whose main population shares the ethnic characteristics of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy
Linguistic preferences:It indicates how the language of the titular ethnic group of the autonomy is learned in secondary schools in the autonomy
Ethnic conflicts:It indicates whether the serious conflicts between the autonomy and the central government as well as between ethnic groups within the authority take place in 2001-2015. The level of conflict is determined on the basis of the annual reports of Conflict Barometer