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Siliguri, the gateway to North Eastern India was only a small place at the beginning of this century. It was an entry point for the traders to Bhutan, Sikkim and Tibet. In 1901 the population of Siliguri was app.1000. At present it has a population of nearly 7 lacs. It is situated in the so called chicken's neck of the North Eastern India, and is the vital connecting link with the rest of the country.
Geographically the location of Siliguri is unique in that by only half an hour's drive one will reach the centre of dense forest or start climbing the hills. Hilly roads to Gangtok and Kalimpong running parallel to the River Teesta or Rangit with its rapids and falls is one of the finest stretch of landscape in the world. Cluster of hill stations around Siliguri will make any country proud. Once you leave the plains and start climbing, you enter a different region altogether.
Siliguri is the commercial nerve centre of this entire region of North Bengal, Sikkim, Bhutan, Nepal and Bangladesh. People from all these places visit Siliguri regularly both for business as well as for leisure.
Siliguri, having an unique blend of good road link, excellent rail infrastructure, wonderful air links and located within reach of neighboring countries like Nepal Bhutan, Bangladesh and States like Bihar, Assam, and Sikkim, is in a true sense a Gateway to the North-East.
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