Darjeeling

Related Category: Indian Political Geography

or Darjiling(both: därjēl´ĭng), town (1991 pop. 73,062), 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.