The State of West Bengal lies on the eastern bottom neck of India. It stretches from the Himalayas in the north to the Bay of Bengal in the south. Sikkim and Bhutan are its northern boundaries and to its east it has Assam and Bangladesh. On the south it has the Bay of Bengal and in the west it has Bihar, Orissa and Nepal.

Bengal has two natural divisions i.e. the Himalayan north and the alluvial plains. The Darjeeling Himalayan hill region to the extreme north of the state has Sandakfu, the highest peak of the state. The rest of Bengal is essentially a flat, featureless alluvial plain and a large portion is a part of delta of river Ganga, known as the Hooghly River in its lowermost reaches. The narrow Terai region separates the mountainous region from the plains, which in turn moves into the Ganga delta towards the south.

The land is flat; shade and shelter are plentiful. The state comes under high rainfall and receives about 100-200 cm/year. About 65% of the net irrigated area in West Bengal comes under canal irrigation. The Ganges is the main river, which divides West Bengal. One branch enters Bangladesh as the Padma, while the other flows through West Bengal as the Bhagirathi and Hooghly River. The Teesta, Torsa, Jaldhaka and Mahananda rivers are in the northern hilly region. The western plateau region has rivers such as the Damodar, Ajay and Kangsabati. The Ganges delta and the Sundarbans area have numerous rivers and creeks.