Until 1974, one of the world’s least-known countries was Sikkim, a princely state in the Himalaya Mountains, between Nepal. India, Bhutan, and the Tibet region of China.
The area of Sikkim is just 2,745 square miles. But within this state, the climate ranges from arctic to temperate to tropical as a traveler journeys up or down the lofty Himalayas.
Sonic of the mountains in Sikkim are more than 22,000 feet high, and Sikkim borders on the third highest peak on earth, Kanchenjunga, which is more than 28,000 feet high!
Settlers from Tibet gained control of the Sikkim region in the 17th century. The British seized Sikkim in the 19th century and made it part of their Indian Empire.
When India gained its independence in 1947, Sikkim remained partly independent. But in 1974, Sikkim became a state of India, and this tiny country in the Himalayas ceased to exist as an independent land.
