Sikkim
Sikkim ( Nepali: सिक्किम Sikkim, Bhutia: འབྲས་ལྗོངས་ 'Bras ljongs or Denjong ) is an Indian state located in the southern Himalayas between Nepal, China and Bhutan. With an area of 7,096 square kilometers and 600,000 inhabitants ( 2011 census ) Sikkim is the second smallest in terms of area and number of inhabitants according to the smallest state of India. The capital of Sikkim is Gangtok.
- 4.1 Political system
- 4.2 parties
- 6.1 demographics
- 6.2 languages
- 6.3 religions
Geography
Sikkim in northeastern India in the eastern Himalayas. The state is bordered on the south by the Indian state of West Bengal, on the west by Nepal, in the north and east by the People's Republic of China ( Tibet Autonomous Region) and in the southeast Bhutan. With an area of 7,096 square kilometers ( about one-tenth of Bavaria ) Sikkim is geographically to Goa is the second smallest state of India.
The entire area of Sikkim is mountainous, with the southern part of the foothills of the Siwaliks and the northern part is occupied by high mountains. Is the Kangchenjunga, with 8,586 meters the highest mountain in India and third highest in the world on the border between Sikkim and Nepal. Sikkim is bounded by mountain ranges in three directions: to the north of the main crest of the Himalaya forms the border with Tibet. In the west and the east limit the Singalia and Chola Mountains, two side chains, which run from the main ridge from the south, Sikkim to Nepal and Bhutan. Between these mountain ranges of the Tista, a tributary of the Brahmaputra, runs from north to south. The border with West Bengal in the south form the Tista and its tributaries Rangpo and Rangit. In the valley of the River Tista on the border with West Bengal is located at 280 meters, the deepest point of Sikkim.
Largest cities
(As of 2001 census )
History
Due to its exposed location, which enabled easy access from India to Tibet, Sikkim gained strategic importance early on. 1641 Sikkim became a kingdom. Due to military supremacy in Bengal became in 1817 the British East India Company suzerainty over Sikkim. 1835 joined the Chögyel ( Tib: chos rgyal; " Dharma " ) of Sikkim a part of the Darjeeling region to the company from; In 1849 and 1861, he suffered another area losses in favor of the British - a capture of British nationals served as a pretext. Furthermore, the company had to be granted full freedom of trade. Nevertheless (usually wood) went in the aftermath import and export back strong. 1861 Sikkim became a protectorate of the United Kingdom.
Beginning in 1888 fell Tibetans in the country and occupied the Fort Lingtu. The occupiers but were expelled by the Viceroy of India immediately emitted expeditionary force again. The Raja, a pensioner of the British Government, but was close to the Tibetans, was then restricted by the British even further, while the Chinese government disavowed the actions of its officials. At that time, Sikkim had 50,000 inhabitants, predominantly belonged to the tribe of the Lepcha. 1918 Sikkim received the full self-government. After the Indian independence in 1947, Sikkim became independent.
On December 5, 1950 Sikkim was forced by India to re- sign a protectorate treaty. Just so Sikkim was able to escape at the time of complete annexation by India. Sikkim thus remained a de jure sovereign state, de facto, it was but an Indian reserve with limited rights of their own. For defense and foreign policy, India was responsible, currency was the Indian rupee.
1973 there was a coup attempt by the Nepalese community in Sikkim. Then Indian troops marched. In Sikkim, the constitutional monarchy was established. India also took over the internal administration of the country. On March 1, 1975 Sikkim was given the status of an associated state of the Indian Union.
On April 14, 1975 from India heavily influenced public opinion poll was conducted in 60,000 spoke out of about 97,000 registered voters to join the Indian Union. Only 1,500 voters voted against accession. On May 16, 1975 Sikkim declared under the leadership of the Chief Minister Dorji Kazi Lhendup Khangsarpa its accession to India as its 22nd state. The subsequent dispute between India and the neighboring China to the recognition of this step was only settled in April 2005 contract.
On September 18, 2011, in Sikkim, a major earthquake of magnitude 6.9 occurred.
Kings of Sikkim
See: List of the Kings of Sikkim
Policy
Political system
The Legislature of the State of Sikkim consists of a unicameral parliament, the Sikkim Legislative Assembly. The 32 Members of Parliament are determined every five years by direct universal suffrage. The Parliament shall have its seat in Gangtok. The Chief Minister ( head of government) of Sikkim, is elected by Parliament. At the head of the state, however, is appointed by the President of India Governor ( Governor ). Its main tasks include the appointment of the Chief Minister and his commission to form a government. Highest Court of Sikkim, the Sikkim High Court in Gangtok.
Sikkim places one of deputies in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament, and in the upper house, the Rajya Sabha.
Parties
The politics of Sikkim is dominated entirely by the Sikkim Democratic Front. Founded in 1993, the regional party came to power in 1994 and since then has all the following federal state elections (1999, 2004, 2009) chose for themselves. In the last election to the Parliament of Sikkim in 2009, they have won all 32 seats in parliament. Even in elections to the Lok Sabha, the Sikkim Democratic Front was every time in the constituency Sikkim successfully since 1996.
Acting Chief Minister of Sikkim Pawan Kumar is front since 1994 Chamling, the founder of the Sikkim Democratic.
Administrative divisions
Sikkim is divided into four districts (population and population density according to the 2011 census ):
Population
Demography
According to the Indian census 2011 Sikkim has 607 688 inhabitants. Thus, Sikkim is the smallest state of India. The mountainous Sikkim is sparsely populated: With 86 inhabitants per square kilometer is the population density by Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram, the third lowest in India. The degree of urbanization is relatively low: Only 25.0 percent of the population of Sikkim live in cities. Between 2001 and 2011, the population of Sikkim grew by 12.4 percent. The literacy rate is 82.2 percent higher than the all-India average ( 74.0 percent).
The composition of the population of Sikkim has changed considerably since the end of the 19th century: As a result of massive immigration from Nepal now represent ethnic Nepalese majority of the population. The long-established peoples of the Bhutia ( Denjongpa ) and Lepcha have become the minority. The Bhutia and Lepcha are from the Indian government to the " tribal peoples " ( scheduled tribes ) are counted, which provide them with certain constitutional privileges. According to the 2001 census, 20.6 percent of the population of Sikkim belong to the indigenous population. Of these, 13.0 percent and 7.5 percent Bhutia Lepcha.
Languages
The most widely used language in Sikkim is the Nepali language spoken by the Nepalese, which is the mother tongue of 63.0 percent of the population of the state according to the 2001 census. It belongs to the group of Indo-Aryan languages and is written in Devanagari script. The indigenous population of Sikkim, however, speaks the language belonging to the Tibeto-Burman languages Bhutia family or Denjongka ( 7.7 percent ), Lepcha ( 6.6 percent ) and Limbu (6.3 percent). The Bhutia is closely related to Tibetan and even closer to the spoken Dzongkha in Bhutan. It is written in Tibetan script. Lepcha and Limbu have their own writings, the Lepcha and the Limbu script font. A number of smaller Tibeto-Burman languages - Sherpa, Tamang, Rai, Newari, Gurung, Mangar and Sunwar - is spoken by parts of the immigrant population from Nepal. Among immigrants from other parts of India ( 6.7 percent ) and Bengali spread ( 1.2 percent ) mainly the Indo-Aryan languages Hindi.
Officially, Sikkim has made the state level eleven official languages: Nepali, Bhutia, Lepcha, Limbu, Newari, Rai, Gurung, Mangar, Sherpa, Tamang and Sunwar. As a lingua franca Nepali serves. Is English, as elsewhere in India, present as the language of education.
Religions
The largest religion in Sikkim is Hinduism, which is primarily practiced by the immigrants from Nepal and rest of India. According to the 2001 census, making Hindus from 60.9 percent of the population of Sikkim. 28.1 percent are Buddhists. The indigenous population of Sikkim depends mostly Vajrayana Buddhism, but also among the Nepalese immigrants find themselves Buddhists. Although today the Buddhists are only in the minority of Buddhism in Sikkim is still a strong presence as a former state religion. So, in the small state of 75 Buddhist monasteries. In addition to Ladakh Sikkim is one of the most buddhist dominated regions of India.
6.7 per cent of the inhabitants of Sikkim are Christians. This is mostly to members of the Lepcha people who were evangelized in the 19th century. Muslims constitute 1.4 percent with only a very small minority.