Darjeeling or
Darjiling
[key], town, West Bengal state, NE India, near the border of Sikkim state.
Its most famous product is tea, a major cash crop in the region. The town is
the administrative center for the Darjeeling Gurkha Autonomous Hill Council
and a moarket for grains, spices, and vegetables. Situated at an altitude of
c.7,000 ft (2,130 m), Darjeeling is a Himalayan resort commanding majestic
views of Mt. Everest and Kanchenjunga. Many Tibetan refugees who fled from
the Chinese army in 1959 live in the vicinity. A Gurkha uprising in the
1980s in the Darjeeling district led (1988) to the establishment of what is
now the Darjeeling Gurkha Autonomous Hill Council, but some Gurkhas have
continued to agitate for a separate state.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: Indian Political Geography
