Darjeeling district

The district Darjeeling (also: Darjeeling; Bengali: দার্জিলিং জেলা, Dārjiliṃ Jela ) is a district in the Indian state of West Bengal with a population of 1.605 million (2001) on an area of ​​3149 km ². It is bordered by the countries of Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh, the Indian states of Bihar and Sikkim and West Bengal districts of Uttar Dinajpur and Jalpaiguri. The district capital is Darjeeling.

The largest cities are Kalimpong, Kurseong and Siliguri, Siliguri which is by far the largest. The place is significant Mirik tourist on.

In the district of Darjeeling is the town of Naxalbari, where in 1967 a Maoist- inspired peasant uprising occurred, which is considered as the starting point of the movement of Naxalites. The majority of the population consists of nepalesischstämmigen Gurkha. In the district of several competing separatist movements have been active for decades, which occurred especially in the 1980s for an autonomous Gorkhaland. Political slogans calling for the independence of the Gurkhalandes of West Bengal, and the green-white- yellow tricolor Separatist determine the image of most places in the region, since the movement is flared end of the 2000s again.