Ethnicity

Ethnicity can be described as the population of human beings who have either common genealogy or descent, or recognized as a distinct group by community. People who share common traits in terms of culture, language, religion, or territory. The Ethnicity of West Bengal has a strong influence on the cultural heritage of the state.

West Bengal is inhabited by people from several Ethnic backgrounds who influence each other and enrich the culture of the state. Nearly three quarters of the people of West Bengal reside in the villages. Hinduism is one of the major religion followed by the people, apart from it people of different ethnic groups stay here. About 40 tribes constitute one-tenth of the total population of West Bengal. Some of the tribes are Santals, Oraons, Munas, Lepchas, and Bhutias.

The people of various ethnic tribes follow different religion, custom and traditions. They even use different languages to communicate among themselves. Apart from the tribal languages other Indian languages like Hindi, Urdu and Punjabi are also spoken by the people of different ethnic groups. The cultural and ethnic diversity of West Bengal is one of its unique characteristics among all the states of India. The diverse ethnicity, culture, religion, and languages has unified its people and made it culturally rich landscape instead of dividing them. Different tribes have their distinct festivals, handicrafts, dance, music and culture adding to the rich heritage of the state.