Day 19 of the cycle · Northeast

Nagaland

Nagaland sits in India’s far north-east, sharing an international border with Myanmar to the east and bordered within India by Assam to the west, Arunachal Pradesh to the north and Manipur to the south. It is one of the smaller states by area, occupying a narrow band of mountainous country between the Brahmaputra valley and the hills of South-East Asia.

The state lies almost entirely within the Naga Hills, part of the wider Patkai range, with elevation climbing from around 194 metres near Dimapur in the plains to over 3,800 metres at Mount Saramati, the state’s highest peak on the border with Myanmar. Steep, forested ridges and narrow valleys shape the landscape, and the climate shifts from humid and subtropical in the lower hills to cooler, temperate conditions higher up.

Kohima, the state capital, is built along a ridge in the Naga Hills at an elevation of around 1,444 metres, making it one of the highest state capitals in India. Surrounded by terraced hillsides, the town serves as the administrative and commercial centre for the surrounding hill districts, its cool climate and steep terrain shaping much of its layout.