ABSTRACT
The State of Meghalaya occupies the Shillong plateau in the north-eastern region of India. The ‘abode of the clouds’ rises steeply from the international border with Bangladesh, which runs along the state’s southern length. Bangladesh also lies to the west, but there begins the long border with Assam, above the Brahmaputra lowlands to the north and the Barak valley and Cachar (Kachari) hills to the east. Meghalaya was formed as an autonomous state within Assam on 2 April 1970, but became a separate state of the Union on 21 January 1972. It has an area of 22,429 sq km (8,660 sq miles).
