The Geography of West Bengal, a state in eastern India, is primarily defined by plains and plateaus, with the high peaks of the Himalayas in the north and the Bay of Bengal to the south. Location and extent West Bengal is on the eastern neck of India, stretching from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. It lies between 85 degree 50 minutes and 89 degree 50 minutes east longitude, and 21 degrees 25 minutes and 27 degrees 13 minutes north latitude. The state has a total area of . With Bangladesh on its eastern border, the state forms the ethno-linguistic region of Bengal. To its northeast lie the states of Assam and Sikkim and the country of Bhutan. To its southwest is the state of Odisha. To the west, it borders the states of Jharkhand and Bihar, and to the northwest, Nepal. The capital of the state is Kolkata, the third-largest urban agglomeration and the seventh-largest city in India. Political geography There are 30 districts and 5 divisions in West Bengal. The Burdwan Division consists of Paschim Bardhaman, Purba Bardhaman, Birbhum, and Hooghly; Medinipur division consists of Purba Medinipur, Paschim Medinipur, Jhargram, Bankura and Purulia; the Jalpaiguri Division consists of Alipurduar, Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, Jalpaiguri, and Kalimpong; the Malda division consists of Uttar Dinajpur, Dakshin Dinajpur, Murshidabad and Malda, and the Presidency Division consists of Kolkata, Nadia, North 24 Parganas, South 24 Parganas and Howrah. The newly added 7 districts are Ranaghat, Jangipur, Berhampur, Bishnupur, Sundarban, Icchemati and Bashirhat. Each district is governed by a district collector or district magistrate, appointed either by the Indian Administrative Service or the West Bengal Civil Service. Each district is subdivided into Sub-Divisions, governed by a sub-divisional magistrate, and again into Blocks. Blocks consists of panchayats (village councils) and town municipalities. Often, the districts north of the Ganges (i.e., Cooch Behar, Darjeeling, kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar, North Dinajpur, South Dinajpur, and Malda) are together called North Bengal. The capital of the state is Kolkata – the third-largest urban agglomeration and the seventh-largest city in India. Asansol is the second largest city and urban agglomeration in West Bengal after Kolkata. Siliguri is an economically important city, strategically located in the northeastern Siliguri Corridor (Chicken's Neck) of India. Other major cities and towns in West Bengal are Howrah, Durgapur, Raniganj, Haldia, Jalpaiguri, Kharagpur, Burdwan, Darjeeling, Midnapore, and Malda. Landforms Darjeeling