Kolkata (Calcutta) is an ancient city which is located just above the Bay of Bengal, where India and Bangladesh meet at the many mouths of the holy Ganges on India's east coast. Kolkata is capital city of West Bengal and was the former capital of British India. Today Kolkata forms the commercial and industrial hub of eastern India. A major port, Kolkata is situated on the right bank of the river Hooghly (about 150 kms upstream from the Bay of Bengal). The core city is sandwiched between the river on the west, the salt lakes to the east and the marshes and the swamps to the south. The region is part of the world's largest deltaic zone at the mouths of the river Ganges. The famous Sunderban mangrove forests are to the south of the city.