A Geographical Study of the Concentration Pattern of Rural Periodic Market Centres (RPMC) in the Jalpaiguri District, West Bengal, India

A periodic market is a temporal market where farmers, vendors, and consumers gather to exchange their goods within a predetermined period. The rural periodic markets play a crucial role in fulfilling the demand of market participants in rural areas. These are the focal points for socio-economic and cultural activities in rural society. This paper explores the frequency and distribution pattern of rural periodic market centres in the rural regions of Jalpaiguri District. The work is fully based on both primary field surveys and secondary data sources. The study area bounds with nine blocks in the study area. This study has modified Gibb’s method (2015) to find out the pattern of concentration among nine blocks of the study area. The chi-square test was also applied to find out the role of the distribution of market meeting days in the study area.