Darjeeling is a town and a municipality in
the Indian state of West Bengal.
It is located in the Lesser Himalayas at
an elevation of 6,700 ft (2,042.2 m). It is noted for its tea industry,
its views of the Kangchenjunga, the world's third-highest mountain, and
the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Darjeeling is the
headquarters of the Darjeeling District which has a partially
autonomous status within the state of West Bengal.
It is also a popular tourist destination in India.
The
recorded history of the town starts from the early 19th century when the
colonial administration under the British Raj set
up a sanatorium and
a military depot in the region. Subsequently, extensive tea plantations were
established in the region and tea growers developed hybrids of black tea and
created new fermentation techniques. The resultant distinctive Darjeeling tea is
internationally recognised and ranks among the most popular black teas in the
world. The Darjeeling Himalayan Railway connects the town with the plains
and has some of the few steam
locomotives still in service in India.
Darjeeling
has several British-style public schools, which
attract pupils from all over India and a few neighbouring countries. The varied
culture of the town reflects its diverse demographic milieu comprising
indigenous Bengali, Nepali, Lepcha, Bhutia, Tibetan,
and other mainland Indian ethno-linguistic groups. Darjeeling, alongside its
neighbouring town of Kalimpong, was the centre of the Gorkhaland movement in
the 1980s.
Darjeeling is the main town of the Sadar subdivision
and also the headquarters of the district. It is located at an elevation of
6,700 ft (2,000 m) in the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region on
the Darjeeling-Jalapahar range that originates in the south from Ghum.
The range is Y-shaped with the base resting at Katapahar and Jalapahar and
two arms diverging north of the Observatory Hill. The north-eastern arm
dips suddenly and ends in the Lebong spur,
while the north-western arm passes through North Point and ends in the valley
near Tukver Tea Estate. The hills are nestled within
higher peaks and the snow-clad Himalayan ranges tower over the town in the
distance. Kanchenjunga, the world's third-highest peak, 8,598 m
(28,209 ft) high, is the most prominent mountain visible. In days clear of
clouds, Nepal's Mount Everest, 29,035 ft (8,850 m)
high, can be seen.
The
hills of Darjeeling are part of the Lesser Himalaya.
The soil is chiefly composed of sandstone and
conglomerate formations, which are the solidified and upheaved detritus of the
great range of Himalaya. However, the soil is often poorly consolidated (the
permeable sediments of the region do not retain water between rains) and is not
considered suitable for agriculture. The area has steep slopes and loose topsoil,
leading to frequent landslides during the monsoons.
According to the Bureau of Indian Standards, the town falls
under seismic zone-IV, (on a
scale of I to V, in order of increasing proneness to earthquakes) near
the convergent boundary of the Indian and
the Eurasian tectonic plates and
is subject to frequent earthquakes.
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