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North-East India is the least urbanised state of India with only 18 % of the region’s population living in 414 towns of variable size. Guwahati, the capital of Assam, is the only million city in the region. Besides, there are half a dozen towns with a population of over 100,000. The largest number of towns falls in the group having a population of 5,000–10,000 people. Many of these towns have a statutory status as a town, without fulfilling either the conditions prescribed by the Census of India, and don’t have an economic base to sustain a local self-body. The region, however, boasts of a past urban culture and many historic towns some of which exist only as ruins. Most towns are administrative or service centres, and only a few are industrial towns. A few industrial towns that exist in the region are in Assam in, or close to, industrial clusters. Among important towns, one may mention Guwahati, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Jorhat and Tezpur in Assam, Shillong and Tura in Meghalaya, Imphal in Manipur, Kohima and Dimapur in Nagaland, Aizawl in Mizoram, Tawang and Ziro in Arunachal Pradesh and Agartala in Tripura. Guwahati, earlier known as Gauhati, is the capital of Assam. Located on the left bank of Brahmaputra and on a bridgehead and having an international airport, it is the gateway to North-East India. Equally important is Shillong, the capital of Assam during the colonial regime for over 70 years and a hill station located at 1,500 m ASL. As the capital of Meghalaya, the town is the administrative and cultural seat of the state. Mention has to be made of Digboi, the oil town of Assam, with a petroleum refinery and several petro-based industries. Kohima, the capital of Nagaland, became famous after the 1944 battle when the Japanese forces were routed in the Battle of Kohima and forced to retreat. Agartala, in Tripura, is an upcoming capital city and so is the newly planned town of Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. |
