31 Facts About Darjeeling

Darjeeling is a town and municipality in the northernmost region of the Indian state of West Bengal.

The population of Darjeeling meanwhile has exploded over the years, and unregulated construction, traffic congestion and water shortages are common.

Darjeeling's culture is highly cosmopolitan—a result of diverse ethnic groups intermixing and evolving away from their historical roots.

In 2005, Darjeeling tea was given geographical indication by the World Trade Organization as much for the protection of the brand as for the development of the region that produces it.

Darjeeling later became the summer capital of the Bengal Presidency.

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In 1945, as the British Raj was drawing towards a close, the Nepalese-speaking Indian Gorkha residents of Darjeeling had not been granted rights as British Indian subjects.

Darjeeling had a sizeable community of Sherpas, an ethnic group, originally from eastern Tibet whose ancestors had moved to some villages in Nepal below Mount Everest.

Darjeeling'srpas had come to Darjeeling in the second half of the 19th century as seasonal labourers looking for work in road-building.

In May 1975, the Kingdom of Sikkim to the north of Darjeeling was absorbed into the Republic of India through a referendum.

Agitation for a separate state in Darjeeling included violent protests, and fighting between the disparate militant groups.

Four years later, more agitation caused several months of violence, food shortages, and strikes in Darjeeling but resulted in the Morcha splitting into factions.

Darjeeling hills have been formed by accumulations of folds, faults and tangential thrusts caused by a compression in the north–south direction as the Indian tectonic plate has subducted under the Eurasian plate.

Darjeeling's altitude—which is greater than some other regions of the Eastern Himalayas at the same latitude, such as the Assam hills—and its rarified air causes its UV radiation levels to be correspondingly higher.

Darjeeling is a part of the Eastern Himalayan zoo-geographic zone.

The town of Darjeeling and surrounding region face deforestation due to increasing demand for wood fuel and timber, as well as air pollution from increasing vehicular traffic.

The fauna found in Darjeeling includes several species of ducks, teals, plovers and gulls that pass Darjeeling while migrating to and from Tibet.

Darjeeling began to be an "administrative" town in independent India after being made the headquarters of Darjeeling district in 1947.

Seasonal migration out of Darjeeling has long been a local feature, especially among the lower-income groups; substantial migration among middle-class youth is a 21st-century occurrence.

Many educated young people in Darjeeling have begun to migrate out because the growth of jobs in the area has not kept pace with the numbers of people with tertiary degrees.

Darjeeling Municipality is one of the oldest in India, established on 1 July 1850, with ten wards.

In 1988, the Gorkha-dominated hill areas of Darjeeling district were given an autonomous form of governance under the Darjeeling Gorkha Hill Council .

Darjeeling town is within the Darjeeling Assembly constituency that elects one member of West Bengal Legislative Assembly in state legislative elections every five years.

Darjeeling tea is produced on plantations in which a few leaves on each tea bush are plucked by women.

Darjeeling has two peak tourism seasons, September to November and April to May A 2014 study suggested that domestic tourism is the foundation of the town's vacation business.

Darjeeling had become an important tourist destination as early as 1860.

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Since India's economic liberalisation in 1991, tourism in Darjeeling has become cheaper, and Darjeeling, once considered a luxury destination, has become accessible to mass tourism.

In 1897 Darjeeling became the first town in India to be supplied by hydroelectricity, which was generated at the nearby Sidrapong Hydel Power Station; it was primarily for use in street lighting and private houses.

Darjeeling has road connections with Bagdogra, Gangtok and Kathmandu and the neighbouring towns of Kurseong and Kalimpong.

Culture of Darjeeling is diverse and includes a variety of indigenous practices and festivals; it has a regional distinctness from the rest of India.

Traditional dietary culture of the town of Darjeeling has much in common with that of the Darjeeling hills, though urbanisation has affected the food habits throughout the region.

Some lower-middle-class families in Darjeeling were sending their children to North Point and Loreto, despite their high fees, in order to give them better future opportunities.