Birpara

Birpara is a small commercial town in the centre of the Dooars region of Jalpaiguri district. It is a hub for transportation and trade for the tea garden region of the area.

Its co-ordinates are:

(1) 26 degree 42 min North(2) 89 degree 8 min East

Birpara got its name from the conjunction of two words. " Bir" stands for Veer (means brave) and "para" meaning place in Bengali.Initially there was no place called Birpara, and the place known as Birpara today was a part of another village called Dalgaon. This part was often visited by outlaws so people used to stay away from this place. However, gradually more and more people, who were initially mostly tea garden employees started to live here. They were called "Bir" people or brave people for daring to live in such place. Later on, it was given a separate identity.

Birpara is today predominantly inhabited by various ethnic groups such as Bengalis, Gorkhas, Marwaris, Adivasis, and Biharis. Other small ethnic groups are also represented such as Sikhs, Mizos and Anglo-Indians. Many languages are spoken in Birpara, with the main languages being Bengali, Hindi, Gorkhali, Marwari and English.

Birpara, being surrounded by several tea gardens, developed a strong economy during the nineties, but now with the failure of the tea gardens, there has been a rapid and a severe setback in the economy of the place. It is now much more dependent on trade with Bhutan.

Birpara has several private schools and a college. Birpara college is affiliated with North Bengal University. BHAGAT RAM VIDYAPITH is newly recognised school by the West Bengal Board of Secondary school along with St. James High School which is situated just 10Km away from Birpara and is one of the best School of North Bengal. It has school a for Gorkhali speaking people called Nepali High School which has strenght of 2000 students run by state government.

As is the case with many small Indian towns, Birpara is not very clean, and there is a lot of local corruption, which prevents the town from being developed more progressively. One example is a former mayor, who was jailed for stealing teak lumber. Many of the government officers or employees will take bribes as if it was the most normal thing to do. Most of the people however, are friendly and hospitable. There is very little entertainment available for the people here. The only cinema-hall in town is Om cinema hall which is paralised and sick.

The town has an adequate network of roads. National highway NH-31 passes through it. The nearest larger cities are Siliguri and Jalpaiguri on which the trade and commerce of the town is heavily dependent. NH-31 also is the main route to Bhutan capital Thimphu. It has also a train station, called Dalgaon station, connecting the town with the rest of the country.Ghotu Roy the only one football player at Birpara

People from surrounding areas like Ethelbari visit this place for shopping and other purpose. Ethelbari is famous for bricks manufacturing.