[Daily article] November 6: Darjeeling

Darjeeling is a town in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the 
headquarters of Darjeeling district, in the Shiwalik Hills on the lower 
range of the Himalaya, at an average elevation of 6,982 ft (2,128 m). 
During the British Raj in India, Darjeeling's temperate climate led to 
its development as a hill station for British residents to escape the 
heat of the plains during the summers. Darjeeling is internationally 
famous for its tea industry and the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a 
UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tea growers of the area developed 
distinctive hybrids of black tea and fermenting techniques, with many 
blends considered among the world's finest. The Darjeeling Himalayan 
Railway connecting the town with the plains was declared a World 
Heritage Site in 1999 and is one of the few steam engines still in 
service in India. Darjeeling has several British-style public schools, 
which attract students from many parts of India and neighbouring 
countries. The town, along with neighbouring Kalimpong, was a major 
center for the demand of a separate Gorkhaland state in the 1980s, 
though the separatist movement has gradually decreased over the past 
decade due to the setting up of an autonomous hill council. In recent 
years the town's fragile ecology is threatened by a rising demand for 
environmental resources, stemming from growing tourist traffic and 
poorly planned urbanisation.

Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darjeeling>

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Today's selected anniversaries:

1865: