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Mizoram
 

Mizoram is one of the Seven Sister States in North-Eastern India on the border with Burma. Its population at the 2001 census stood at 888,573. Mizoram boasts a literacy rate of 88.8 percent—the second highest among all the states of India, after Kerala.

There is a restriction on entry to Mizoram and foreigners require a special entry permit which may be obtained from the state or national government.

Ethnic groups

The great majority of Mizoram's population is comprised of ethnic Mizos. The Mizos are divided into numerous tribes, the largest of which is the Lushai, which comprises almost two-thirds of the state's population. Other major Mizo tribes include the Ralte, the Hmar, the Paihte, the Poi, the Mara, and the Pawi. The Chakma, a non-Mizo tribe, is of Arakanese origin.

Religion

Some 87 percent of the population (including almost all ethnic Mizos) is Christian, mostly Presbyterian and Baptist. The Christian religion is shared by a majority in the nearby states of Nagaland and Meghalaya, and by a large minority in neighbouring Manipur.

The Chakma practice Theravada Buddhism, mixed with elements of Hinduism and Animism.

The Bnei Menashe

In recent decades a number of Southeast Asian-looking tribespeople from Mizoram, Assam and Manipur have begun identifying as Jews. They are known collectively as Bnei Menashe, and include Chin, Kuki and Mizo. "Several hundred have formally converted to Orthodox Judaism, * many thousands openly practice an Orthodox type of Judaism". The Bnei Menashe do not see themselves as converts, but believe themselves to be ethnically Jewish, descendants of one of the Lost Tribes of Israel (see Bnei Menashe).

Politics

Facts and figures

Economy

Macro-economic trend

This is a chart of trend of gross state domestic product of Mizoram at market prices estimated by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in millions of Indian Rupees.
Year Gross State Domestic Product
1980 680
1985 1,810
1990 3,410
1995 9,370
2000 17,690

Mizoram's gross state domestic product for 2004 is estimated at $685 million in current prices.

Bamboo

30 percent of Mizoram is covered with wild bamboo forests, many of which are largely unexploited. In spite of that, Mizoram harvests 40 percent of India's 80-million-ton annual bamboo crop.

The current state administration wishes to increase revenue streams from bamboo; aside from uses as a substitute for timber, there is research underway to use bamboo chippings for paper mills, bamboo charcoal for fuel and bamboo "vinegar" to nourish the soil.

Bamboo harvests, rats and famine

However, any plans that the administration had were troubled with the advent of the flowering season for bamboo in May 2006, an event which takes place once every forty or so years.

"After the bamboo flowers, it dies and is finished," current Chief Minister Zoramthanga said in an interview to Reuters in May 2006. "Unless we harvest it, we are going to waste billions and billions of rupees. We have to make roads into the jungle and harvest it as soon as possible." He admitted it will only be possible to harvest five percent of the bamboo before it flowers.

The flowering of the bamboo leads to a dramatic increase in the local rat population; some experts believe that the flower has an effect on rat fertility. In a process locally known as Mautam the increase in rodent population following the flowering led to raids on granaries and the destruction of paddy fields.

Records from the British Raj indicate that Mizoram suffered famine in 1862 and again in 1911 after the region witnessed similar bamboo flowerings. The last Mautam, in 1958-59, resulted in the recorded deaths of at least a hundred people, besides heavy loss to human property and crops. It led to the foundation of the Mizo National Famine Front, set up to provide relief to far-flung areas; the front later became the Mizo National Front, which, under former Chief Minister Laldenga and current CM Zoramthanga, fought a bitter separatist struggle for twenty years against the Indian Army.

In 2006, the predicted flowering of the bamboo has led to an explosion in the rat population and the army has been called to assist embattled civil authorities and, apart from killing rats, help educate people on pest control and means of deterrents such as growing turmeric and spices which repel rats *.

Reference

  • "The Lost Tribes of Israel", Tudor Parfitt, Phoenix, 2002. ISBN 1842126652

External links

Mizoram | States and territories of India | Seven Sister States

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This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Mizoram".

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