The name Jalpaiguri comes from the word "jalpai" means "olive" which grew in the town and were seen even in 1900. The suffix "guri" means a place. The name as well be associated with Jalpesh, the presiding deity (Shiva) of the entire region .The district situated in the northern part of West Bengal has international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh in the North and South respectively and borders with Assam and Darjeeling hills in the East, West and Northwest. Jalpaiguri is also the divisional headquarter of North Bengal and has its special importance in respect of tourism, Forest, Hills, Tea gardens, scenic beauty and commercialization and business.

Jalpaiguri district earlier had three sub-division-Jalpaiguri Sadar Sub-division, Malbazar Sub-division and Alipurduar Sub-division. Alipurduar district was created in June 2014 and Jalpaiguri district was left with two sub-divisions- Jalpaiguri Sadar and Malbazar. On 18th January,2024 , Dhupguri Sub-Division was created with Dhupguri CD Block and Banarhat CD Block after bifurcation of Jalpaiguri Sadar Sub-Division.

According to the 2011 census, Jalpaiguri district has a population of 3,869,675 Jalpaiguri has a sex ratio of 954 females for every one thousand mails and a literacy rate of 73.79%.

Having high percentage of migrated population different cultural groups (Ranjbanshi, Ravas, Totos, Metch, Santhals, Madasia and Oraons) have created a unique cultural harmony which is rarely seen in other districts of West Bengal.

There are 10(ten) police staions and 06(six) out-post in the district.