It lies on the bank of Hooghly River, 35 km north of Kolkata, the state capital.

[2] Chinsurah is the home to the new state-of-the-art 1000 KW DRM transmitter of Prasar Bharti which enables 'Akashvaani Maitree' to be broadcast across Bangladesh.

It continued till April 2010 but was discontinued thereafter due to decommissioning of the Super Power Transmitter at Chinsurah.

The names are spelled in other ways including Hooghly, Hugli, Hughli, Ugulim (in Portuguese), Chinsura, Chunchura, Chuchro and Chinsurah.

Chuchura and Hooghly are historic stations on the Howrah-Bardhaman main line of the Eastern Railway.

Ferry services across the Hooghly River serves as a link with the district of North 24 Parganas.

The Portuguese founded the town of Ugulim in 1579, but the district has thousands of years of heritage in the form of the great kingdom of Bhurshut.

In 1629, political disorder struck the city and the Mughal governor of Bengal expelled the Portuguese.

When the emperor Shah Jahan heard this he ordered the priests released and granted a piece of land on the bank of the river Hooghly, where the statue of Mary was reestablished.

[citation needed] After the Portuguese expulsion, the town was made the royal port of Bengal, and all the public offices and records were established there.

In 1640 the East India Company established a factory at Hugli, their first settlement in Lower Bengal.

[4] In 1759 the Dutch garrison of Chinsura, on its march to Chandernagore, attacked a British force under Colonel Forde.

The Battle of Chinsurah lasted less than half an hour and ended with the rout of the Dutch attackers.

[1] Both Chinsurah and Hooghly played a role in the Bengal renaissance and the Indian independence movement.

"Vande Mataram", India's national song, was composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay at Joraghat in Chinsurah, who had been an alumnus of the Hooghly Collegiate School.

The area is composed of flat alluvial plains that forms part of the Gangetic Delta.

[9] Keota, Manushpur, Naldanga, Kodalia, Kulihanda, Dharampur and Simla form a cluster of census towns on the eastern side of Hugli-Chuchura.

With foreigners dominating the area's industry, trade and commerce for over two centuries, it is amongst the leading industrialised districts in the state.

The Hooghly Ghat station is beside the Sampreeti Bridge which is a connector between the eastern and the western side of the Ganges.

Formerly bus to Arambagh, Bandar, Bardhaman, Barakar, Digha, Laugram, Kumarganj was available but due to insufficient passengers many of them are completely closed while some are short terminated and originated at Tarakeswar.

The famous Gajan Festival is also celebrated at Sandeswartala Temple in Chinsurah near the bank of river Hooghly.