Kalimpong
Kalimpong is a city in the far northern portion of the Indian state of West Bengal. It is located on a ridge of the Himalayan foothills at an altitude of 1250 meters (4100 feet), about found 50 kilometers east of Darjeeling and 80 kilometers south of Gantok. It has a population of approximately 50,000.
Kalimpong means "minister's stronghold" in Bhutanese, referring to Bhutan's control of the city from 1706 until 1865 when it was ceded to British India in the Treaty of Sinchula. Dzongkha (the main language of Bhutan) can still occasionally be heard on the streets of Kalimpong, although the majority of its residents are Nepali-speakers.
Until the Chinese invasion of Tibet closed the border to the north, Kalimpong was an important stopover in the wool trade route which ran from Tibet through Sikkim to India.
Kalimpong is well known for its flower exporting industry (primarily orchids). It is also the site of an important regional bazaar.