(2001 est. pop. 2 million). Since 1963 a state in India's northeastern corner bordering Myanmar (Burma), Nagaland has an area of 15,579 square kilometers and is inhabited by sixteen major and twenty minor ethnic groups, all called Nagas. Most are fiercely independent, each with their own dialect, customs, and culture; most live in politically sensitive areas all but closed to foreigners, in the starkly remote terrain of villages high on the mountain ridges of the Naga Hills, at the extremity of the subcontinent. Only in reaction to external encroachment—by the British, Christians, Japanese, the Indian government—did the Nagas gain a sense of common identity. After Indian independence in 1947, the Nagas did not wish to join the Indian Union, but in 1960 an agreement led to statehood. In 1975 Nagaland agreed to accept the Indian constitution and surrender arms, but clashes continued, and in 1995 India declared Nagaland a disturbed area. In 1997 a cease-fire agreement was announced, but conflict continues.
Rice is cultivated on terraced fields. Nearly all villages are electrified. Industrialization is in its infancy. Weaving is traditional among women. War dances in colorful costumes form the distinctive art of Nagaland at festivals, marriages, and harvests.
Further Reading
Bower, Ursula Graham. (1952) Naga Path. London: John Murray.
Jacobs, Julian. (1999) Nagas: Hill Peoples in Northeast Asia. Columbia, MO: South Asia Books.
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