State

Population (millions)

Key Towns/
Cities

Literacy Rate
(% of adults)

Bihar

83.0

Patna

47.0

Muzaffarpur

Jharkhand

26.9

Jamshedpur

53.6

Dhanbad

West Bengal

80.2

Calcutta

68.6

Darjeeling

This region has three distinct borders.
1. A long border with Nepal in agricultural Bihar.
2. The eastern portion of the middle Ganga (bordering UP in Northern India) which extends from the Yamuna River in the west to the state of West Bengal and
3. The western portion of the Ganga Delta. Although fertile, the middle Ganga region is not as lush and verdant as the alluvial plains of the lower Ganga and delta.

Calcutta in West Bengal is often referred to as the cultural capital and has a finance and services sector of a developed major city. Darjeeling is a popular tourist destination and Jamshedpur will be familiar to cricket lovers.