Geography

Demography

• Dimapur
• Dzukou Valley
• Kohima

Demography

Nagaland has heavy rain fall. The average rainfall is between 175cm and 250 cm. Most of the heavy rainfall is during the 4 months from June to September. The rains during April to May is low. Strong winds blow from the north west in February and March. The climate is pleasant.

The Government of Nagaland has been the development of elementary education in the state. Primary and Secondary Education in the state is managed by the state government. The �free and compulsory education policy� has been introduced in the state for students below the age of 14 years.

The state has one central university located at Kohima which is the highest seat of learning for the students, teachers and researchers. The National Research Centre for Mithun (NRCM) is another pioneer institute located near Medziphema established with objectives of protecting, preserving, evolving superior herd and developing location specific health and production technology for Mithun for the Mithun rearers of the country. The state has several technical institutions including ITIs and polytechnics.

The People of Nagaland prefer non-vegetarian and hot food. Pork meat with bamboo shoot forms the common dish among the Naga people. Nagas prepare vegetable stew by boiling bamboo shoots and tomato together. Anishe is well known Naga dish made from dry yam leaves, which are smoked and then boiled, with pork. Rice beer, a popular drink is often accompanied by smoked beef chutney.

The cuisines of this state are mouth watering dishes that show the culture and economic resources of this state. One can easily get vegetarian as well as non vegetarian food in the state of Nagaland. But most commonly non vegetarian food is popular.

Nagaland is an important part of the colourful culture of India. The forests of Nagaland are rich in bamboo and cane. Thus, naturally they are expert basket makers. Basketry among the Nagas is highly developed. However, the craft is restricted to men. All Naga men know how to weave mats of split bamboo, which is the chief material besides wood for constructing walls and floors of houses. Very important is the production of finely woven mats for drying paddy.

Nagaland people lived a life centered around agricultural and headhunting and the various rites and rituals connected to the two activities. The Naga people belong to the Mongoloid ethnic group. Every tribe, clan, has its own myths of the origin of the Naga people, tracing between them their first homes, it is suggested that their love of marine shells points to a bygone settlement near the sea, their spears (with ornamental barbs curling outward from a shaft) suggested some relationship with the resident of the Philippine Islands and Indonesian people, generally by the use of the lion loom, these are not substantial evidence to build a history of ancient times.

The Nagaland tribes have their own language. In actual practice, the language, even within one tribal area, varies from village to village. There are about thirty languages. The multiplicity of Naga languages is mainly because of the living condition in the past, when villages were isolated and there was little of friendly inter-communication between them.

Naga languages in the Tibeto-Burman family is divided into three groups; the western sub-group, the central sub-group and the eastern sub-group. The western sub-group comprises Angami, Sema, Rengma and Chakhesang languages; the central sub-group include Ao, Lotha and Phom languages; while the eastern sub-groups is made up of among others, Chang and Konyak languages.

The major religion of Nagaland is Christianity. It is the only state where Christians form 90% of the population. Hindus and Muslims constitute the non-Naga populations of the state and form 7.7% and 1.8% of the population.