SIKKIM, a protected State of India, situated in the eastern Himalaya. Area 2,818 sq. miles. The country is a mass of moun tains and consists of part of the main chain of the Himalayas and of ranges projecting southwards and gradually lessening in height. On the west the Singalila range divides Sikkim from Nepal, the chief pass into which is Chiabhanjan-la (10,32o ft.). On the east the Chola range forms the boundary with Tibet, the chief passes being the Natu-la and Jelep-la, both over 14,000 ft. Between these two ranges the country is split up into moun tain ridges and a succession of deep valleys, which in the south are only i,000 ft. above sea-level. The highest peaks are Kin chinjunga (28,146 ft.), Siniolchu, or D.2 (22,52o ft.), Kinchin jhau (22,509 ft.) and Chomiomo (22,385 ft.). The line of per petual snow lies at about 17,000 feet. Between 12,000 and 15, 00o ft. there are occasional plateaux, with some small lakes, e.g., at Changur, to which cattle are driven for grazing in the summer. Forests cover the mountain slopes from 9,00o to 12,000 ft. and lower down give place to cultivation. From 6,5oo to 4,500 ft. the slopes have been completely denuded and brought under cultivation, crops of maize, millets and pulses being raised. At lower levels the slopes are terraced and rice is grown wherever irrigation is possible. The chief river is the Tista, which is formed by the confluence of the Lachen and Lachung in the north of Sikkim. The valleys drained by these two affluents are broader and more open than those in the south into which the steep sides of the mountains descend abruptly, forming narrow gorges. The capital is at Gangtok. As is natural in a country with elevations varying from t,000 to over 28,000 ft., every variety of climate and vegetation, sub-tropical, temperate and arctic, is en countered. The rainfall is heavy, as the mountains are ex posed to the moisture-laden monsoon winds blowing up from the Bay of Bengal and averages 137 in. a year at Gangtok. The exuberance of the flora may be imagined when it is considered that the flowering plants comprise some 4,000 species of rhodo dendron. Butterflies abound and comprise about 600 species.
Among mammals, the most interesting are the snow leopard, the cat-bear, the musk deer and two species of goat antelope.
The population numbers (1931) 109,808, of whom the majority are Nepalese by origin or actual birthplace. The other races are chiefly Bhotias of Tibetan extraction (10,98o) and Lepchas (13,06o). The Lepchas, whose own name for themselves is Rongpa, i.e., the people of the valleys or ravines, are believed to be the earliest inhabitants of Sikkim and to be of Indo-Chinese origin. As their name implies, they are chiefly denizens of the warmer valleys. A peaceful, simple people, they have been re placed at higher levels by the more industrious and pushing Nepalese, who are a hardy race of cultivators. The Bhotias are mainly graziers, who make their homes at higher elevations. Buddhism, the State religion, is professed by one-third of the in habitants, chiefly the Bhotias and Lepchas, for most of the Nepalese are Hindus. There are a number of Buddhist monas teries picturesquely placed on the summits and shoulders of the hills, of which the most important is at Pemionchi. The Buddh ism prevalent is of the lamaistic type found in Tibet. The popu lation is essentially agricultural, each family living in a home stead on its own land; and there are no close clusters of houses that can be dignified with the name of village except round a few market places and in the Lachen and Lachung valleys.
History.—The ruling family is Tibetan, and claims descent from one of the Gyalpos or princelings of eastern Tibet. Their ancestors found their way to Lhasa and, in 1641, overcame the Lepcha chiefs of Sikkim. One of them established his government and introduced Buddhist Lamaism as a State religion. Till the end of the 18th century Sikkim was practically a dependency of Tibet, where its ruler was designated Governor of Sikkim.