Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: West Bengal: Female data was reported at 12,014,733.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 9,770,137.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: West Bengal: Female data is updated decadal, averaging 10,892,435.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12,014,733.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 9,770,137.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim: West Bengal: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE003: Census: Population: by Religion: Muslim.

Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: West Bengal data was reported at 658,618.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 515,150.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: West Bengal data is updated decadal, averaging 586,884.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 658,618.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 515,150.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Christian: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE004: Census: Population: by Religion: Christian.

Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh: West Bengal data was reported at 63,523.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 66,391.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh: West Bengal data is updated decadal, averaging 64,957.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 66,391.000 Person in 03-01-2001 and a record low of 63,523.000 Person in 03-01-2011. Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE005: Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh.

Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions: West Bengal data was reported at 942,297.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 895,796.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions: West Bengal data is updated decadal, averaging 919,046.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 942,297.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 895,796.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE008: Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions.

Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist: West Bengal data was reported at 282,898.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 243,364.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist: West Bengal data is updated decadal, averaging 263,131.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 282,898.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 243,364.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE006: Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist.

Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated: West Bengal: Male data was reported at 120,253.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 29,159.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated: West Bengal: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 74,706.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 120,253.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 29,159.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated: West Bengal: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE009: Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated.

Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal: Male data was reported at 30,718.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 28,631.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 29,674.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 30,718.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 28,631.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE007: Census: Population: by Religion: Jain.

In 1800, the population of the area of modern-day Bangladesh was estimated to be just over 19 million, a figure which would rise steadily throughout the 19th century, reaching over 26 million by 1900. At the time, Bangladesh was the eastern part of the Bengal region in the British Raj, and had the most-concentrated Muslim population in the subcontinent's east. At the turn of the 20th century, the British colonial administration believed that east Bengal was economically lagging behind the west, and Bengal was partitioned in 1905 as a means of improving the region's development. East Bengal then became the only Muslim-majority state in the eastern Raj, which led to socioeconomic tensions between the Hindu upper classes and the general population. Bengal Famine During the Second World War, over 2.5 million men from across the British Raj enlisted in the British Army and their involvement was fundamental to the war effort. The war, however, had devastating consequences for the Bengal region, as the famine of 1943-1944 resulted in the deaths of up to three million people (with over two thirds thought to have been in the east) due to starvation and malnutrition-related disease. As the population boomed in the 1930s, East Bengal's mismanaged and underdeveloped agricultural sector could not sustain this growth; by 1942, food shortages spread across the region, millions began migrating in search of food and work, and colonial mismanagement exacerbated this further. On the brink of famine in early-1943, authorities in India called for aid and permission to redirect their own resources from the war effort to combat the famine, however these were mostly rejected by authorities in London. While the exact extent of each of these factors on causing the famine remains a topic of debate, the general consensus is that the British War Cabinet's refusal to send food or aid was the most decisive. Food shortages did not dissipate until late 1943, however famine deaths persisted for another year. Partition to independence Following the war, the movement for Indian independence reached its final stages as the process of British decolonization began. Unrest between the Raj's Muslim and Hindu populations led to the creation of two separate states in1947; the Muslim-majority regions became East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan (now Pakistan), separated by the Hindu-majority India. Although East Pakistan's population was larger, power lay with the military in the west, and authorities grew increasingly suppressive and neglectful of the eastern province in the following years. This reached a tipping point when authorities failed to respond adequately to the Bhola cyclone in 1970, which claimed over half a million lives in the Bengal region, and again when they failed to respect the results of the 1970 election, in which the Bengal party Awami League won the majority of seats. Bangladeshi independence was claimed the following March, leading to a brutal war between East and West Pakistan that claimed between 1.5 and three million deaths in just nine months. The war also saw over half of the country displaced, widespread atrocities, and the systematic rape of hundreds of thousands of women. As the war spilled over into India, their forces joined on the side of Bangladesh, and Pakistan was defeated two weeks later. An additional famine in 1974 claimed the lives of several hundred thousand people, meaning that the early 1970s was one of the most devastating periods in the country's history. Independent Bangladesh In the first decades of independence, Bangladesh's political hierarchy was particularly unstable and two of its presidents were assassinated in military coups. Since transitioning to parliamentary democracy in the 1990s, things have become comparatively stable, although political turmoil, violence, and corruption are persistent challenges. As Bangladesh continues to modernize and industrialize, living standards have increased and individual wealth has risen. Service industries have emerged to facilitate the demands of Bangladesh's developing economy, while manufacturing industries, particularly textiles, remain strong. Declining fertility rates have seen natural population growth fall in recent years, although the influx of Myanmar's Rohingya population due to the displacement crisis has seen upwards of one million refugees arrive in the country since 2017. In 2020, it is estimated that Bangladesh has a population of approximately 165 million people.

Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions: West Bengal: Female data was reported at 472,432.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 444,462.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions: West Bengal: Female data is updated decadal, averaging 458,447.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 472,432.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 444,462.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions: West Bengal: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE008: Census: Population: by Religion: Other Religion and Persuasions.

This data set contains experimental data collected as part of the field experiments conducted in West Bengal. These experiments study the effect of religious identity and religious fragmentation on cooperation, rent-seeking and income distribution among Hindu and Muslim groups.

We study the effect of religious identity among Hindu and Muslim groups by varying the way our subjects are matched with each other. We implement in-group/in-group treatments where Muslim subjects play with fellow Muslim subjects and Hindu subjects play with fellow Hindu subjects; we also implement in-group/out-group treatments where Hindu subjects play with Muslim subjects. Finally, we have a control treatment where the identity of a subject's match is uncertain. To study the effect of fragmentation, we resort to a quasi-experimental approach. We take religious composition of villages as fixed, based on the village-level survey on religious fragmentation by Das et al. (2011). We select villages in two districts in West Bengal which conform to one of three categories: Muslim-dominated, where over 90% of the population is Muslim; Hindu-dominated, where over 90% of the population is Hindu; and fragmented, where the Muslim and Hindu communities are roughly equal. Our experimental design combines identity treatments with village types to understand how social identity interacts with fragmentation.

For more details on the analysis of the data, please see the link to the first working paper to have come out of this project, which can be found in the "Related Resources" section.

Tackling increasing resource scarcity is one of the major challenges to policy-makers in developing countries. An important aspect of resource scarcity involves public goods. Lack of public goods, like health and education, can significantly reduce the welfare of individuals and households and often this affects the poorest the most. In India, these issues are amplified by the existence of a long-standing social structure based around caste and religion. Such social fragmentation can result in social exclusion and/or lower public good provision.

This project investigates the behavioural foundations of inter-group discrimination on economic performance in rural West Bengal, India. It builds on existing household survey work on religious- and caste-based social exclusion in villages in West Bengal by conducting a series of field experiments.

Field experiments study the decisions of agents who in their daily lives are affected by poverty, and help determine the extent to which their preferences regarding caste, ethnicity and religion determine their willingness to socially exclude others or themselves to be excluded.

This project‘s findings will help policy-makers to the extent that they facilitate the identification of the right policy response to social exclusion and lower economic performance, which in turn are key determinants of poverty.

Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated: West Bengal data was reported at 228,267.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 54,895.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated: West Bengal data is updated decadal, averaging 141,581.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 228,267.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 54,895.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE009: Census: Population: by Religion: Not Stated.

Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist: West Bengal: Male data was reported at 141,388.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 122,877.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist: West Bengal: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 132,132.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 141,388.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 122,877.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist: West Bengal: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE006: Census: Population: by Religion: Buddhist.

Census: Population: by Religion: Hindu: West Bengal: Male data was reported at 33,046,557.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 30,069,503.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Hindu: West Bengal: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 31,558,030.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 33,046,557.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 30,069,503.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Hindu: West Bengal: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE002: Census: Population: by Religion: Hindu.

Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh: West Bengal: Male data was reported at 34,168.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records a decrease from the previous number of 36,738.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh: West Bengal: Male data is updated decadal, averaging 35,453.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 36,738.000 Person in 03-01-2001 and a record low of 34,168.000 Person in 03-01-2011. Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh: West Bengal: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE005: Census: Population: by Religion: Sikh.

Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal data was reported at 60,141.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 55,223.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal data is updated decadal, averaging 57,682.000 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 60,141.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 55,223.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE007: Census: Population: by Religion: Jain.

Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal: Female data was reported at 29,423.000 Person in 03-01-2011. This records an increase from the previous number of 26,592.000 Person for 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal: Female data is updated decadal, averaging 28,007.500 Person from Mar 2001 (Median) to 03-01-2011, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 29,423.000 Person in 03-01-2011 and a record low of 26,592.000 Person in 03-01-2001. Census: Population: by Religion: Jain: West Bengal: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Office of the Registrar General & Census Commissioner, India. The data is categorized under India Premium Database’s Demographic – Table IN.GAE007: Census: Population: by Religion: Jain.