Small but beautiful. Sikkim is situated in the eastern Himalayas . Spread below the Mount Khanchendzonga (8534 mts), the third highest mountain in the world, and revered by the Sikkimese as their protective deity. With an area of 7,300 sq kms and measuring approx. 114 kms from the north to south and 64 kms from east to west, the elevation ranges from 300 mts to over 8540 mts above sea level.
Amidst the grandeur of the mountain peaks, lush valleys, fast flowing rivers, hills, Sikkim offers her visitors a rare and singular experience. Within a matter of hours one can move from the sub tropical heat of the lower valleys to the cold of the rugged mountain slopes that reach up to the area of perpetual snow .
Darjeeling Himalaya is famous for its richness of flora and fauna. There are two national parks (Neora Valley NP and Singalila NP) and one wild life sanctuary (Mahananda WLS) in the area. Singalila national park is famous for red panda, a very rare and endangered species. Neora valley - a beautiful tropical forest, large part of which is still virgin - offers great attraction to the tourists.
When the British first arrived in Darjeeling it was almost completely forested and virtually uninhabited, though it had once been a sizeable village. Rapid development work by the British resulted in construction of a road in 1840, numerous houses and a sanatorium was built and a hotel opened.
By 1857 Darjeeling had a population of some 10,000. The population increase was due mainly to the recruitment of Nepalese laborers to work in the tea plantations established in the early 1840s by the British.
Even today, the vast majority of people speak Nepali as a first language.
