Assam is described as “The land of red river and blue hills”, has a unique landscape with sprawling tea gardens and unending stretches of paddy fields interspersed with groves of coconut, areca nuts, and banana trees. Assam is popular for Assam tea, petroleum resources, Assam silk and for its wide biodiversity.
Located to the north east side of India and to the south of the eastern Himalayas, Assam along with other states: Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya are known as seven sisters and it is surrounded by them. It comprises the Brahmaputra and the Barak river valleys and the Karbi Anglong and the North Cachar Hills. Actually the Assam’s area is almost equivalent to the size of Ireland or Austria.
The population is a mixture of different races and tribes like the Austrics, the Aryans, Negroids, Indo-Burmese, Indo-Tibetans and Mongoloid which they have enriched each other to give a distinctive identity to the Assamese people. The language is akin to Bengali, spoken in West Bengal and Bangladesh.
The best popular tourist spots are the capital Guwahati, Kaziranga National Park, Manas National Park, Majuli River Island and Sualkuchi, the site where Assam silk is made.
Dispur is the official state capital and Guwahati is the commercial capital of Assam and revered by its ancient Hindu. Assam is very rich in wildlife with 12 wildlife sanctuaries.
The one-horned Indian rhinoceros has successfully conserved, the tiger in Manas and the Asian elephant has one of the last wild habitats on this state. Rapidly is becoming in a popular destination for wild-life tourism. Assam is also known for its Sal tree forests and forests products, much of them depleted now.
The principal economy activity is the agriculture. Rice grows on around two-thirds of cultivated area. The most important crops are tea and jute along oilseeds, peas, beans, canola, sugarcane, and fruits. The state produces about one-sixth if India’s petroleum and natural gas.
The important silk products of Assam are the Eri, Muga and Pat. Since ancient times, artists, sculptors, architects and minor crafts like weavers, spinners, potters, goldsmiths, artisans of ivorym wood, bamboo, cane and hide have flourished in Assam.
The climate in Assam has mild winters and warm summers. Rainfall in Assam ranks among the highest in the world. The best season is since February to May. Average temperature is moderate, about 29 degrees C in the hottest month of August.
Tourism in Assam is often called the gateway to north-east India but non doubt, it will result an unforgettable experience due to its exotic natural beauty, luscious and piquant cuisines, placid backwaters, narrow valleys and verdant thick forests; along with various national parks and wildlife sanctuaries.