Port of Kolkata

The Port of Kolkata, formerly known as Port of Calcutta officially now as Syama Prasad Mookerjee Port (SPMP, Kolkata), is the only riverine major port in India, in the city of Kolkata, West Bengal, erstwhile Calcutta, around 203 kilometres (126 mi) from the sea. It is the oldest operating port in India and was constructed by the British East India Company. Kolkata is a freshwater port with no variation in salinity. The port has two distinct dock systems – Kolkata Dock System and Haldia Dock Complex. As an important riverine port, it provides both domestic and international freight and passenger services, being the terminus of India's longest National Waterway. In the 19th century, the Kolkata Port was the premier port in British India. From 1838 to 1917, the British used this port to ship off over half a million Indians from all over India – mostly from the Bhojpur and Awadh — and take them to places across the world, such as Latin America and Africa as indentured labourers. After independence, the port's importance decreased because of factors including the Partition of Bengal (1947), reduction in the size of the port hinterland, and economic stagnation in eastern India. It has a vast hinterland comprising the entire North East of India including West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, North East Hill States and two landlocked neighbouring countrie

Port data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).