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PHYSICAL SETTING
Sikkim,which is situated in the estern Himalayas, from longitude 88 degree 03'40" to 88 degree 57'19" East and from latitude 27 degree 03'47" to 28 degree 07'34" North, became the twenty second state of India on April 26,1975. It has a total area of 7,096 sq.km., 114 km from north to south and 64 km from east to west. The entire state is mountaneous, with altitudes ranginging from 300 to 8,586 masl. There are 440 villages, eight towns and four districts in Sikkim. The state has four major ethnic groups, namely Lepchas ,Bhutias and Nepalis The climate of the state varies from cold temperate and alpine in norteast to subtropical in the south. Agroclimatically, the state is divided into four zones, viz., the subtropical zone (below 1,000 meters); the humid zone (1,000-1,600 meters); the mid-hill dry zone (again in altitudes ranging from 1,000-1,600 meters); and high hill temperate zone (with an altitude of above 1,600 meters). The genetic diversity, of both forest vegetation and agricultural crops, is enormous. The state has about 600 plant species and more than 4,000 species of flowering plants.
Demographic Features
| NUMBER OF DISTRICTS | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AREA | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| POPULATION | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| DENSITY OF POPULATION | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| SEX RATIO | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| POPULATION IN AGE-GROUPS 0-6 | | LITERACY | | |||||||||||||||||||||
Macro-ecological Features
| Parameters |
| ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Rivers | Two major river systems originating from glacers, Rangit (West Sikkim),
and Tista (North Sikkim)
| ||
| Ecological Zones | Alpine (>4,000 m), sub-alpine(3,000-4,000 m), cool temperate (2,200-3,000 m), warm temperate (1,400-2,200 m), and subtropical (300-1,400 m). | ||
| Mostly sloping land only with scarce flat lands in valley. These are marginal lands | |||
| Lush green board-leaved mixed forests in subtropical and temperate zones . Silver fir and rhododendron forests in the sub-alpine zone. | |||
| Plants of Special interest | Rhododendrons, orchid, medicinal plants, and a large variety of wild edible olants apart from plants of academic interest. | ||
| Issue of concern | Specific habitat degradation and loss have caused a threat to:
|