| SIKKIM,
a small Himalayan State lying between 27 to 28 degrees
North latitude and 88 to 89 degrees East longitude is
the second smallest state in India. It is barely 7,096
sq km in size yet has an elevation ranging from 300
m to 8585 m above sea level. It's Geography is dominated
by the most majestic mountain chain in the world which
includes the Khangchendzonga, the world's third highest
mountain and is
AREA : 7096 sq km
CAPITAL TOWN : Gangtok
NUMBER OF DISTRICTS : 4
DISTRICT HEADQUARTERS : North - Mangan, South - Namchi,
East - Gangtok , West - Gyalshing.
POPULATION - 5,40,493 (Census -2001)
LANGUAGE SPOKEN : Nepali, English, Hindi, Bhutia (Sikkimese),
Bhutia (Tibetan), Lepcha, Limboo.
LITERACY RATES : 69.68%
URBANISATION RATIO - 9.10% (Census -1991)
CLIMATE -
Cold Winters in the month of November to February
with minimum temperatures dipping to 4 centigrade during
January - February. It is between the month of March
and early May when sunshine is quite abundant. Though
summer is officially from May to October, Sikkim is
almost always wet due to the heavy monsoons, with rains
at times continuing for days on ends. Longest recorded
nonstop rain is 11 days. September to October is Autumn.
A peculiar feature of Sikkim weather is that though
there is a classification of sorts of the various seasons,
actually experiences a cold winter from end of November
to February and monsoons throughout the year with a
little respite during May - June and October - November.
Even the winter months can be irritatingly wet and damp
with the unpredictable showers.
BEST SEASON TO VISIT :
March to June and September to December
MAXIMUM SUMMER TEMPERATURE : 28 ° C
MINIMUM WINTER TEMPERATURE : 0 ° C
AVERAGE RAINFALL :325 cm. RF / Year
CURRENCY : Indian Rupee
NEAREST RAILWAY STATION : The closest Railhead is at
New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal, 148 km and Siliguri which
are connected to Calcutta , New Delhi Guwahati and other
major Indian cities.
NEAREST AIRPORT :
The closest Indian Airport isat a distance of 124 kms
from Gangtok at Bagdogra in Siliguri in West Bengal,
where scheduled flights operates from Kolkata(Calcutta),
Delhi and Guwahati and connecting flights onwards. Travel
time from the airport to Gangtok is 4 hours.
From Kathmandu you can fly to Bhadrapur in the east
Nepal(1 hour), then drive to Kakarbhitta (Nepal-India
border, 35 kms), to Siliguri(37 kms) and to Gangtok
(110 kms, 4 hrs). Or fly to Biratnagar also in the east.
HELICOPTER SERVICE :
The Bagdogra airport is connected to Gangtok by
a helicopter service which takes approx. 30 minutes
to reach Gangtok. Sikkim Tourism Development Corporation(+91-3592-222634)
operates this service daily at 11:00 AM from Gangtok
to Bagdogra and at 2:00 PM from Bagdogra to Gangtok
at a price of Rs.1500/- per person. It is a five seater
chopper and mountain flights and other such tours to
North Sikkim are conducted.
ROAD:
Gangtok is well connected by road to Siliguri, 114
kms. 4 hours, which functions as the major transit point
for the North and North Eastern sections of the Indian
Sub-continent. Gangtok is further well connected by
road with Darjeeling(4 Hrs), Kalimpong and with Bhutan,
Phuntsholing (6 Hrs).
ENTRY FORMALITIES:
All foreigners intending
to visit India must process an Indian visa which can
be obtained at any Indian Embassy or Mission abroad.
special permit is required for trekking inside India.
However, Sikkim travel documents must need to be shown
as and when enter Sikkim state. |
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