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Sikkim ( ; ) is a state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siliguri Corridor, which borders Bangladesh. Sikkim is the least populous and second-smallest among the Indian states. Situated in the Eastern Himalaya, Sikkim is notable for its biodiversity, including Alpine climate and subtropical climates, as well as being a host to Kangchenjunga, the highest peak in India and third-highest on Earth. Sikkim's capital and largest city is Gangtok. Almost 35% of the state is covered by Khangchendzonga National Park – a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Kingdom of Sikkim was founded by the Chogyal in the 17th century. It was ruled by Buddhist priest-kings known as the Chogyal. It became a princely state of the British Indian Empire in 1890. Following Indian independence, Sikkim continued its protectorate status with the Union of India after 1947 and the Republic of India after 1950. It enjoyed the highest literacy rate and per capita income among Himalayan states. In 1973, anti-royalist riots took place in front of the Chogyal's palace. In 1975, after the Indian Army took over the city of Gangtok, a referendum was held that led to the dissolution of the monarchy and Sikkim's joining India as its 22nd state.
Modern Sikkim is a multiethnic and multilingual Indian state. The predominant religion is Hinduism, with a significant Vajrayana Buddhist minority. Sikkim's economy is largely dependent on agriculture and tourism. , the state had the fifth-smallest GDP among Indian states, although it is also among the fastest-growing. Indian Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation . Retrieved 24 September 2011.
Sikkim became a British protectorate in the later decades of the 19th century, formalised by a convention signed with China in 1890. Sikkim was gradually granted more sovereignty over the next three decades, and became a member of the Chamber of Princes, the assembly representing the rulers of the Indian princely states, in 1922.
Meanwhile, Indian independence and its move to democracy spurred a fledgling political movement in Sikkim, giving rise to the formation of Sikkim State Congress (SSC), a pro-accession political party. The party sent a plate of demands to the palace, including a demand for accession to India. The palace attempted to defuse the movement by appointing three secretaries from the SSC to the government and sponsoring a counter-movement in the name of Sikkim National Party, which opposed accession to India.
The demand for responsible government continued, and the SSC launched a civil disobedience movement. The Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal asked India for help in quelling the movement, which was offered in the form of a small military police force and an Indian Dewan. In 1950, a treaty was agreed between India and Sikkim which gave Sikkim the status of an Indian protectorate. Sikkim came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications. In other respects, Sikkim retained administrative autonomy.
A state council was established in 1953 to allow for constitutional government under the Chogyal. Chogyal Palden Thondup Namgyal was able to preserve autonomy and shape a "model Asian state" where the literacy rate and per capita income were twice as high as neighbouring Nepal, Bhutan and India. and page 2 Meanwhile, the Sikkim National Congress demanded fresh elections and greater representation for Nepalis in Sikkim. People marched on the palace against the monarchy. In 1973, anti-royalist agitations took place, which needed to be quelled using Indian security forces.
On 18 September 2011, a magnitude 6.9Mw earthquake struck Sikkim, killing at least 116 people in the state and in Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and Tibet. "Himalayan quake toll climbs to 116, 40 stranded foreign tourists rescued" . DNA. 21 September 2011. More than 60 people died in Sikkim alone, and the city of Gangtok suffered significant damage. "Earthquake toll over 80; India 68; as rescue teams reach quake epicentre" . NDTV. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2012.
Numerous snow-fed streams have carved out river valleys in the west and south of the state. These streams combine into the major Teesta River and its tributary, the Rangeet, which flow through the state from north to south. "Rivers in Sikkim" . Sikkim.nic.in. Retrieved 13 October 2011. About a third of the state is heavily forested. The Himalayan mountains surround the northern, eastern and western borders of Sikkim. The Lower Himalayas, lying in the southern reaches of the state, are the most densely populated.
The state has 28 mountain peaks, more than 80 glaciers, 227 high-altitude lakes (including the Tsongmo Lake, Gurudongmar and Khecheopalri Lakes), five major hot springs, and more than 100 rivers and streams. Eight connect the state to Tibet, Bhutan and Nepal.
Sikkim's hot springs are renowned for their medicinal and therapeutic value. Among the state's most notable hot springs are those at Phurchachu, Yumthang Valley, Borang, Ralang, Taram-chu and Yumey Samdong. The springs, which have a high sulphur content, are located near river banks; some are known to emit hydrogen. The average temperature of the water in these hot springs is .
The rock consists of and schists, and is highly susceptible to weathering and erosion. This, combined with the state's heavy rainfall, causes extensive soil erosion and the loss of soil nutrients through leaching. As a result, landslides are frequent, often isolating rural towns and villages from the major urban centres.
Sikkim is one of the few states in India to receive regular snowfall. The snow line ranges from in the south of the state to in the north. The tundra-type region in the north is snowbound for four months every year, and the temperature drops below almost every night. In north-western Sikkim, the peaks are frozen year-round; because of the high altitude, temperatures in the mountains can drop to as low as in winter.
During the monsoon, heavy rains increase the risk of . The record for the longest period of continuous rain in Sikkim is 11 days. Fog affects many parts of the state during winter and the monsoons, making transportation perilous.Hooker p. 409
Sikkim is home to around 5,000 species of flowering plants, 515 rare orchidaceae, 60 primula species, 36 rhododendron species, 11 oak varieties, 23 bamboo varieties, 16 pinophyta species, 362 types of and ferns allies, 8 , and over 900 medicinal plants. A relative of the Poinsettia, locally known as "Christmas Flower", can be found in abundance in the mountainous state. The Noble Dendrobium is the official flower of Sikkim, while the rhododendron is the state tree.
Orchids, ficus, Lauraceae, , Shorea robusta trees and bamboo grow in the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests of the lower altitudes of Sikkim. In the temperate elevations above there are Eastern Himalayan broadleaf forests, where oaks, , , , , and grow in large numbers, as well as Himalayan subtropical pine forests, dominated by Chir pine. Alpine climate vegetation is typically found between an altitude of . In lower elevations are found juniper, pine, , Cupressus and rhododendrons from the Eastern Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. Higher up are Eastern Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows and high-altitude wetlands, which are home to a wide variety of rhododendrons and wildflowers.
The fauna of Sikkim include the snow leopard,Wilson DE, Mittermeier RA (eds) (2009) Handbook of the Mammals of the World. Vol. 1. Carnivores. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona musk deer, Himalayan tahr, red panda, Himalayan marmot, Himalayan serow, Himalayan goral, muntjac, common langur, Asian black bear, clouded leopard, marbled cat, leopard cat, dhole, Tibetan wolf, hog badger, binturong, and Himalayan jungle cat. Among the animals more commonly found in the alpine zone are , mainly reared for their milk, meat, and as a beast of burden.
The Bird of Sikkim include the impeyan pheasant, Satyr tragopan, snow partridge, Tibetan snowcock, bearded vulture and griffon vulture, as well as , , , , , , Old World flycatchers, babblers and robins. Sikkim has more than 550 species of birds, some of which have been declared endangered.
Sikkim also has a rich diversity of arthropods, many of which remain unstudied. Some of the most understudied species are Sikkimese arthropods, specifically butterfly. Of the approximately 1,438 butterfly species found in the Indian subcontinent, 695 have been recorded in Sikkim. These include the endangered Kaiser-i-hind, the Meandrusa payeni and the Bhutan Glory.
In 1975, after the abrogation of Sikkim's monarchy, the Indian National Congress gained a majority in the 1977 elections. In 1979, after a period of instability, a popular ministry headed by Nar Bahadur Bhandari, leader of the Sikkim Sangram Parishad Party, was sworn in. Bhandari held on to power in the 1984 and 1989 elections. In the 1994 elections, Pawan Kumar Chamling of the Sikkim Democratic Front became the Chief Minister of the state. Chamling and his party had since held on to power by winning the 1999, 2004, 2009 and 2014 elections. However, the 2019 legislative assembly elections were won by the Sikkim Krantikari Morcha party and the chief minister since then is Prem Singh Tamang. The current Governor of Sikkim is Lakshman Acharya.
Sikkim is among India's most environmentally conscious states, having banned plastic bottle "in all government functions and meetings" and polystyrene products (throughout the state).
Each of Sikkim's districts is overseen by a state government appointee, the district collector, who is in charge of the administration of the civilian areas of the district. The Indian Army has control over a large part of the state, as Sikkim forms part of a sensitive border area with China. Many areas are restricted to foreigners, and official permits are needed to visit them.
Because of its hilly terrain and poor transport infrastructure, Sikkim lacks a large-scale industrial base. Brewery, distilling, tanning and Watchmaker are the main industries and are mainly located in the southern regions of the state, primarily in the towns of Melli and Jorethang. In addition, a small mining industry exists in Sikkim extracting minerals such as copper, dolomite, talc, graphite, quartzite, coal, zinc, and lead. Despite the state's minimal industrial infrastructure, Sikkim's economy has been among the fastest-growing in India since 2000; the state's GDP expanded by 89.93% in 2010 alone. In 2003, Sikkim decided to fully convert to organic farming and achieved this goal in 2015 becoming India's first "organic state".
In recent years, the government of Sikkim has extensively promoted tourism. As a result, state revenue has increased 14 times since the mid-1990s. Sikkim has furthermore invested in a fledgling gambling industry promoting both and online gambling. The state's first casino, the Casino Sikkim, opened in March 2009. In the year 2010, the government subsequently issued three gambling licences for casinos and online sports betting in general. The Playwin lottery has been a notable success in the state.
The opening of the Nathu La pass on 6 July 2006, connecting Lhasa, Tibet, to India, was billed as a boon for Sikkim's economy. Trade through the pass remains hampered by Sikkim's limited infrastructure and government restrictions in both India and China, though the volume of traded goods has been steadily increasing.
Before October 2018, the closest operational airport to Sikkim was Bagdogra Airport near Siliguri in northern West Bengal. The airport is located about from Gangtok, and frequent buses connect the two. "How to reach Sikkim" Government of Sikkim. Retrieved 18 December 2014. A daily helicopter service run by the Sikkim Helicopter Service connects Gangtok to Bagdogra; the flight is thirty minutes long, operates only once a day, and can carry four people. The Gangtok helipad is the only civilian helipad in the state.
List of national highways of Sikkim:
Sikkim receives most of its electricity from 19 hydroelectric power stations. Power is also obtained from the National Thermal Power Corporation and Power Grid Corporation of India. By 2006, the state had achieved 100 per cent rural electrification. However, the voltage remains unstable and voltage stabilisers are needed. Per capita consumption of electricity in Sikkim was approximately 182 kilowatt hour in 2006. The state government has promoted biogas and solar power for cooking, but these have received a poor response and are used mostly for lighting purposes. In 2005, 73.2 per cent of Sikkim's households were reported to have access to safe drinking water, and the state's large number of mountain streams assures a sufficient water supply.
On 8 December 2008, it was announced that Sikkim had become the first state in India to achieve 100 per cent sanitation coverage, becoming completely free of public defecation, thus attaining the status of "Nirmal State".. Infochange India. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2012. "NIRMAL GRAM PURASKAR 2011" . India Sanitation Portal. 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2012.
Nepali is the lingua franca of Sikkim, while Sikkimese (Bhutia), Lepcha, Limbu and others are spoken in certain areas of the state.indiatoday.in/amp/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/mini-sikkim-in-making-308081-2016-02-10 English is also spoken and understood in most of Sikkim. Other languages include Dzongkha, Groma language, Hindi, Majhi language, Majhwar language, Thulung language, Standard Tibetan, and Yakha language.
According to the 2011 census, 57.8% follow Hinduism, making it the state's majority religion. Buddhism is followed by 27.4% of the population, while Christianity is followed by 9.9%. Between 2001 and 2011, Christianity was the fastest growing religion in the state, going from 6.67% to 9.91% of the population. It was thus the fourth state with the highest Christian growth in the period, behind only Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Meghalaya. As of 2014, the Evangelical Presbyterian Church of Sikkim is the largest Christian denomination in Sikkim. "Points of Ministry" . IRFA.org.au. 2014. Retrieved 18 December 2014. Hinduism, on the other hand, declined from 60.93% to 57.76% of the population in the same period. Sikkim was the fourth state with the biggest decline in the percentage of Hindus, behind only Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam. Vajrayana, which accounts for 27.3% of the population, is Sikkim's second-largest, yet most prominent religion. Prior to Sikkim's becoming a part of the Indian Union, Vajrayana Buddhism was the state religion under the Chogyal. Sikkim has 75 Buddhist monasteries, the oldest dating back to the 1700s. The public and visual aesthetics of Sikkim are executed in shades of Vajrayana Buddhism and Buddhism plays a significant role in public life, even among Sikkim's majority Nepali Hindu population. Other religious minorities include of Tibet, Bihari ethnicity and , who each account for roughly 1% of the population. The traditional religions of the native Sikkimese account for much of the remainder of the population.
Sikkim have 7 mosques, 2 Gurudwara, 336 Hindu temples and 168 churches.
Although tensions between the Lepchas and the Nepalese escalated during the merger of Sikkim with India in the 1970s, there has never been any major degree of communal religious violence, unlike in other Indian states. "Census and You – Religion" . Census India. Retrieved 20 October 2012. The traditional religion of the Lepcha people is Mun, an animist practice which coexists with Buddhism and Christianity.
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Sikkimese Muslims celebrate Eid ul-Fitr and Muharram. Christmas has been promoted in Gangtok to attract tourists during the off-season.
Western rock music and Indian pop have gained a wide following in Sikkim. Nepalese rock and Lepcha music are also popular. Sikkim's most popular sports are football and cricket, although hang gliding and river rafting have grown popular as part of the tourism industry.
There are about 155 varieties of fruits with different tastes and nutritional values. These a walnut that tastes like butter; a fruit known as wallay… and a grape with the taste of wine. There are fruits called tingding with the taste of meat, and sedey, which can be eaten as the equivalent of an entire meal; turnips, and thirty-seven other types of root vegetables are available. There are twenty different varieties of garlic. Altogether, among the edible plants, there are 360 varieties available. There are wild radishes, along with tsolay, nyolay, and grapes in the valley. In the trees, among the rocks and hanging from the cliffs there are beehives.Noodle-based dishes such as thukpa, chow mein, thenthuk, fakthu, gyathuk and wonton are common in Sikkim. Momos – steamed filled with vegetables, chicken, mutton, beef or pork and served with soup – are a popular snack.
Beer, whiskey, rum and brandy are widely consumed in Sikkim, as is tongba, a millet-based alcoholic beverage that is popular in Nepal and Darjeeling. Sikkim has the third-highest per capita alcoholism rate among all Indian states, behind Punjab and Haryana.
The southern urban areas of Sikkim have English, Nepali and Hindi daily newspapers. Nepali-language newspapers, as well as some English newspapers, are locally printed, whereas Hindi and English newspapers are printed in Siliguri. Important local dailies and weeklies include Hamro Prajashakti (Nepali daily), Himalayan Mirror (English daily), the Samay Dainik, Sikkim Express (English), Kanchanjunga Times (Nepali weekly), Pragya Khabar (Nepali weekly) and Himali Bela. Furthermore, the state receives regional editions of national English newspapers such as The Statesman, The Telegraph, The Hindu and The Times of India. Himalaya Darpan, a Nepali daily published in Siliguri, is one of the leading Nepali daily newspapers in the region. The Sikkim Herald is an official weekly publication of the government. Online media covering Sikkim include the Nepali newspaper Himgiri, the English news portal Haalkhabar and the literary magazine Tistarangit. Avyakta, Bilokan, the Journal of Hill Research, Khaber Khagaj, Panda, and the Sikkim Science Society Newsletter are among other registered publications. If one types Sikkim in the input box and submits, the list is displayed.
Internet cafés are well established in the district capitals, but broadband connectivity is not widely available. Satellite television channels through dish antennae are available in most homes in the state. Channels served are largely the same as those available in the rest of India, although Nepali-language channels are also available. The main service providers include Airtel digital TV, Tata Sky, Dish TV, DD Free Dish and Nayuma.
Recently, Government of Sikkim has approved the open school board named Board of Open Schooling and Skill Education, BOSSE to provide Secondary Education, Senior Secondary as well as Skill & Vocational Education up to pre-degree level and to provide opportunity to continue education to such students who have missed the opportunity of school education. Sikkim has a National Institute of Technology, currently operating from a temporary campus in Ravangla, which is one among the ten newly sanctioned NITs by the Government of India under the 11th Five year Plan, 2009. The NIT Sikkim also has state of art super computing facility named PARAM which is said to be fastest among all 31 NITs. Sikkim University is the only central university in Sikkim. The public-private funded institution is the Sikkim Manipal University of Technological Sciences, which offers higher education in engineering, medicine and management. It also runs a host of distance education programs in diverse fields.
Medhavi Skills University is a private university located in the state of Sikkim, India. It was established in 2021 under the Sikkim Private Universities, (Amendment) Act, 2021. The university aims to provide skill-based education to students and bridge the gap between academia and industry.
There are two state-run polytechnic schools – the Advanced Technical Training Centre (ATTC) and the Centre for Computers and Communication Technology (CCCT) – which offer diploma courses in various branches of engineering. ATTC is situated at Bardang, Singtam, and CCCT at Chisopani, Namchi.
Sikkim University began operating in 2008 at Yangang, which is situated about from Singtam. Many students, however, migrate to Siliguri, Kolkata, Bangalore and other Indian cities for their higher education.
The campus of the National Institute of Electronics & Information Technology (NIELIT), under the Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology of the Government of India, is at Pakyong in East Sikkim, and offers formal and informal education in the IT/ITES sector.
Gangtok, Pakyong, Namchi, Jorethang, Rangpo, Singtam, Gyalshing, Mangan, Soreng, Pelling, Rhenock, Rongli, Rorathang, Ravangla, Chungthang, Ranipool, Lachen, Nayabazar, Lachung, Dikchu, Majitar, Legship, Melli, Yuksom, Sherathang, Namthang, Rinchenpong, Singhik, Hee Burmiok, Tashiding, Kumrek, Makha, Yangang, and Damthang.
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