Northeastern states of India

Northeast India refers to the easternmost region of India consisting of the 7 Sister States of Arunachalpradesh; Assam; Meghalaya; Nagaland; Manipur;   Mizoram and Tripura 


When India became independent from the UK in 1947, only 3 states covered the area. Manipur and Tripura were princely states, while a much larger Assam was under direct British Rule.

4 new states were carved out of the original territory of Assam in the decades following independence, in line with the policy of the Indian government of reorganizing the states along ethnic and linguistic lines .
Nagaland became a separate state in 1963, followed by Meghalaya in 1972.
Mizoram became a Union Territory in 1972, and achieved statehood - along with Arunachalpradesh in 1987.

The northeastern states, having a comparatively small electorate (3.8% of India's total population) are alloted just 25 out of a total of 543 seats in the Loksabha 4.6% of the total number of seats).

There is great ethnic and religious diversity within the seven states.Except for Assam, where the major languages are Assamese and Bengali, and Tripura, where the major language is Bengali, the region has a predominantly tribal population that speak numerous TibetoBurman and AstroAsiatic languages
Christians  comprise the majority of the population in Nagaland,Mizoram and Meghalaya and sizeable minority in Manipur and Arunachalpradesh.The bigger stsates of Assam and Tripura, however, have remained predominantly Hindu, with a sizeable Mislim minority in Assam.

Assam is the gateway through which the sister states are connected to the mainland.

Arunachal Pradesh
means "land of the dawn lit mountains" in Sanskrit

is located in the far NorthEast sharing international borders with Burma  in the East, Bhutan in the West;

in the North by China and by Assam and Nagaland in the south

availability of cane and bamboo in abundance have made the State famous for cane & bamboo articles

population of the State is predominantly Tribal and is a thinly populated hilly tracthas the lowest density of 13 persons per sq. km 

Also the largest state (in terms of area) of the north-eastern 

the people may be divided into three cultural groups on the basis of their socio-religious affinities namely

The Monpas and Sherdukpens ; Adis, Akas, Apatanis and Noctes and Wanchos 

 Wanchos 

                                                                                 Noctes                                                    

                       Apatanis

•   

 




festivals are celebrated either to thank God for his divine intervention or to pray for a good harvest.Dances form part of the festivals to express joy

Mopin, a popular festival of the Adis                

                                                                                                                                                                                     

  State Flower - Fox tail Orchid           State Animal - Mithun 
        

                  
         
  

State Bird - Horn Bill                                           
                                  

                                         
Meghalaya
 was formed by carving out two districts from the state of Assam: the United Khasi Hills and Jaintia Hills, and the Garo Hills on 21 January 1972.
Tribal people make up the majority of Meghalaya's population. The Khasis are the largest group, followed by the Garos
Meghalaya is one of three states in India to have a Christian majority with 70.3% of the population practicing Christianity( the other two (Nagaland and Mizoram)
The principal languages in Meghalaya are Khasi and Garo with English as the official language of the State.
 Many words in the Khasi language are supposed to have been borrowed from Indo-Aryan languages such as Nepali, Bengali and Assamese.
Moreover, the Khasi language had no script of its own in its onset.
The Garo language has a close affinity with the Koch and Bodo language. Garo, spoken by the majority of the population, is spoken in many dialects.
 Agriculture and allied activities engage nearly two-thirds of the total work force in Meghalaya. However, the contribution of this sector to the State’s NSDP is only about one-third. Agriculture in the state is characterized by low productivity and unsustainable farm practices, giving rise to a high incidence of rural poverty. 
With average annual rainfall as high as 1200 cm in some areas, Meghalaya is the wettest place on earth.
The town of Cherrapunji in the Khasi Hills south of capital Shillong holds the world record for most rain in a calendar month, while the village of Mawsynram, near the town of Cherrapunji, holds the distinction of seeing the heaviest yearly rains.
Meghalaya also offers many adventure tourism opportunities in the form of mountaineering, rock climbing, trekking and hiking, water sports etc.The Umiam Lake has a water sports complex with facilities such as rowboats, paddleboats, sailing boats, cruise-boats, water-scooters and speedboats

Cherrapunjee is one of the most popular tourist spots in North East of India. It lies to the south of the capital Shillong.

Meghalaya does not have any railhead. It has a small airport at Umroi, about 40 km from Shillong on the Guwahati-Shillong highway. The small size of the airport does not allow the operations of large aircraft and only small aircraft operate from Kolkata and Agartala - Capital of Tripura.The state has a relatively poor road and communication network specially NH 62.