46 Facts About Sikkim

Sikkim is close to the Siliguri Corridor, which borders Bangladesh.

Sikkim is the least populous and second smallest among the Indian states.

Kingdom of Sikkim was founded by the Namgyal dynasty in the 17th century.

Sikkim achieved its ambition to convert its agriculture to fully organic between 2003 and 2016, and became the first state in India to achieve this distinction.

Origin theory of the name Sikkim is that it is a combination of two Limbu words: su, which means "new", and khyim, which means "palace" or "house".

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The Tibetan name for Sikkim is Drenjong, which means "valley of rice", while the Bhutias call it Beyul Demazong, which means '"the hidden valley of rice".

In 1700, Sikkim was invaded by the Bhutanese with the help of the half-sister of the Chogyal, who had been denied the throne.

The Nepalese attacked Sikkim, overrunning most of the region including the Terai.

The Chogyal of Sikkim became a titular ruler under the directive of the British governor as a result of the invasion.

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, a pro-accession political party.

Sikkim came under the suzerainty of India, which controlled its external affairs, defence, diplomacy and communications.

In 1975, the Prime Minister of Sikkim appealed to the Indian Parliament for Sikkim to become a state of India.

On 16 May 1975, Sikkim became the 22nd state of the Indian Union, and the monarchy was abolished.

Hills of Sikkim mainly consist of gneiss and schist which weather to produce generally poor and shallow brown clay soils.

Sikkim is one of the few states in India to receive regular snowfall.

Sikkim has six districts – Gangtok District, Mangan District, Namchi District, Pakyong District, Geyzing District and Soreng District.

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.

Sikkim is situated in an ecological hotspot of the lower Himalayas, one of only three among the ecoregions of India.

Sikkim is home to around 5, 000 species of flowering plants, 515 rare orchids, 60 primula species, 36 rhododendron species, 11 oak varieties, 23 bamboo varieties, 16 conifer species, 362 types of ferns and ferns allies, 8 tree ferns, and over 900 medicinal plants.

Fauna of Sikkim include the snow leopard, 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.

Avifauna of Sikkim include the impeyan pheasant, crimson horned pheasant, snow partridge, Tibetan snowcock, bearded vulture and griffon vulture, as well as golden eagles, quails, plovers, woodcocks, sandpipers, pigeons, Old World flycatchers, babblers and robins.

Sikkim has more than 550 species of birds, some of which have been declared endangered.

Sikkim has a rich diversity of arthropods, many of which remain unstudied.

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Sikkim produces more cardamom than any other Indian state and is home to the largest cultivated area of cardamom.

In 2003, Sikkim decided to fully convert to organic farming and achieved this goal in 2015 becoming India's first "organic state".

Sikkim has furthermore invested in a fledgling gambling industry promoting both casinos and online gambling.

Sikkim did not have any operational airport for a long time because of its rough terrain.

Towns in eastern, southern and western Sikkim are connected to the hill stations of Kalimpong and Darjeeling in northern West Bengal.

Sikkim's roads are maintained by the Border Roads Organisation, an offshoot of the Indian Army.

The roads in southern Sikkim are in relatively good condition, landslides being less frequent in this region.

Sikkim receives most of its electricity from 19 hydroelectric power stations.

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".

Sikkim is India's least populous state, with 610, 577 inhabitants according to the 2011 census.

Sikkim is one of the least densely populated Indian states, with only 86 persons per square kilometre.

Sikkim was the fourth state with the biggest decline in the percentage of Hindus, behind only Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam.

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.

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 amongst all Indian states, behind Punjab and Haryana.

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.

Sikkim has a National Institute of Technology, currently operating from a temporary campus in Ravangla, South Sikkim, which is one among the ten newly sanctioned NITs by the Government of India under the 11th Five year Plan, 2009.

The NIT Sikkim has state of art super computing facility named PARAM Kanchenjunga which is said to be fastest among all 31 NITs.

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Sikkim University began operating in 2008 at Yangang, which is situated about 28 kilometres from Singtam.