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One of the county's youngest states, Meghalaya has its capital in
Shillong. Summer capital of Assam during British days, the beautifully
kept golf course and several English country cottages testify to a
colonial hangover. Beautiful lakes and falls, hillside cottages, a large
university, and the popular Bara Bazar are quaint aspects of this town. Meghalaya or 'abode of the clouds', it is one of the most picturesque states of India, offering a spectrum of sylvan surroundings, rich cultural heritage, misty heights, breathtakingly beautiful waterfalls, luxurious vegetation, flora and fauna.
Meghalaya is predominatly inhabited by tribals, including the original inhabitants the Khasis, Jaintias and Garos. One can see a confluence of different cultures in this state. While the Khasis and Jaintias take their ancestry to the Mongolian race, the Garos belong to the Tibeto-Burman race. Due to the geographic isolation, the people here have retained most of their cultural traits and ethnic origins. The Khasi language spoken here is believed to be one of the few surviving dialects of the Mon-Khmer family of languages in India.
While a majority of the population here is Christian, the non-Christians continue to worship and practice old cultural beliefs. Colouful dances and festivals of the tribals, vary according to the region and tribe to which they belong.
Agriculture is the main occupation of Meghalaya, with eighty three percent of the total population, dependent on it for their livelihood. Rice and maize are the major food crops. Important fruits grown here are orange, pineapple, lemon, guava, jackfruit and bananas, while potato, jute, mesta, cotton, arecanut, ginger, turmeric, betel leaf and black pepper are the chief commercial crops. 'Jhum' or the shifting system of cultivation is being replaced with scientific methods, bringing land under permanent cultivation. Forest resources from pine and other timber products bring in the major chunk of state revenue. The state has many small scale industries in furniture making, iron and steel fabrication, tyre retreading and baking, to name the main ones.
