Nagaland
State of northeast India, bordering Myanmar on the east, and the Indian states of Manipur to the south, and Assam to the north and west; area 16,527 sq km/6,381 sq mi; population (2001 est) 1,988,600, which is made up of many different tribal groups. The capital is Kohima. The state is mainly upland, averaging over 1,500 m/4,900 ft, and densely forested. Wildlife includes tigers and elephants. Agriculture occupies 90% of the population, and produce includes tea, sugar, coffee, rice, millet, maize, and vegetables. Industries in the state include timber and paper, and petroleum at Dikhu. Dimapur, with a sugar mill, distillery, brick factory, and television assembly works, is the main industrial centre. The population is mainly Christian.
History
Formerly part of Assam, the area was seized by Britain from Burma (now Myanmar) in 1826. The British sent 18 expeditions against the Naga peoples in the north 1832–87. After India attained independence in 1947, there was Naga guerrilla activity against the Indian government; the state of Nagaland was established in 1963 in response to demands for self-government, but fighting continued sporadically. A peace accord was struck with the guerrillas in 1975 but fighting resumed in 1980. Charges of serious human-rights violations have been filed against Indian forces operating in the area. The Naga guerrillas have links with other rebel groups in northeast India, but there is conflict between groups over protection money from the heroin trade, transport, and banking; by August 1993 they had forced the closure of 57 of the 63 bank branches in Nagaland and held hundreds of lorries to ransom on the Nagaland–Assam border.
