BALURGHAT

town, northern West Bengal state, northeastern India, just east of the Atrai River. Connected by road with English Bazar (India) and Dinajpur and Rajshahi (Bangladesh), it is a regional distributing centre, trading mainly in rice, jute, sugarcane, and oilseeds. It was declared a municipality in 1951. Pop. (1981) town, 104,646; (1991) town, 119,796; metropolitan area, 126,225.