The Sunderbans National Park is a favorite destination for the nature lovers as well as tourists from India and abroad. In 1997, this tourist attraction of India has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage site. Due to the extensive mangrove forest area in this region, it has received the present name of Sunderban; meaning forest land of Sundari trees.

The Sunderbans area is known the world over for the Tiger Reserve, which stretches for an area of 2585 sq km. It was in 1973 that the Tiger Project was implemented in Sunderbans. It is considered to be the largest among the other tiger reserves of the world. According to the csensus of tigers in 1995, the number of tigers at this Tiger Reserve was 242. The Sunderbans National Park extends for about 1330 sq km, which is actually the interior area of the entire Tiger Reserve.

The Sunderbans is located in the southern parts of the state of West Bengal. The Sunderbans is the riverine delta formed from the deposition of 2 rivers - Ganga and Brahmaputra. The rivers have formed 54 islands of alluvium, which together form the Sunderbans.

To the north of Sunderbans lie the islands of Basanti and Sandeshkali. On the east, Sunderbans National Park shares the boundary with that of Bangladesh. The Bay of Bengal is to the south of the Sunderbans islands. River Bidya and river Matla flow on the western side of the Sunderbans National Park.

The primary attraction and pride of Sunderbans National Park is the specie of Royal Bengal Tiger. There are a number other wildlife species in this national park. Tourists can see the crocodiles, Ridley Sea Turtles, Rhesus Monkey, Chital Deer, Fiddle Crabs, Hermit Crabs and reptiles at Sunderbans National Park, West Bengal. About 90 different species of fishes are found at the creeks of Sunderbans.

Besides the famous Tiger Reserve, the Sunderbans National Park has a conservation program for the Ridley Sea Turtles. There are a varied species of birds as well. Some of the oft seen birds in this area are the white-collared kingfishers, white ibis, swamp francolin, brown winged kingfisher and many others.

The vegetation of the Sunderbans is mainly dense mangrove. Among the mangrove trees, Sundari grows in abundance in this region. It is due to this popular tree that this place came to be known as the Sunderbans. A wide extent of bio-diversity is found in the Sunderbans islands.