Mizoram (Hindi: मिज़ोरम) is one of the Seven Sister States in northeastern India on the border with Myanmar. Its population at the 2001 census stood at 888,573. Mizoram boasts a literacy rate of 88.8% — the second highest among all the states of India, after Kerala. Mizoram is a mountainous region which became the 23rd state of the Indian Union in February, 1987. It was one of the districts of Assam until 1973 when it became a Union Territory. Sandwiched between Myanmar in the east and south and Bangladesh in the west, Mizoram occupies an area of great stategic importace in the northeastern corner of India. The boundaries with Myanmar and Bangladesh total 722 kilometers. Mizoram has the most variegated hilly terrain in the eastern part of India. The hills are steep (avg. height 1000 metres) and separated by rivers which flow either to the north or south creating deep gorges between the hill ranges. The highest peak in Mizoram is the Blue Mountain (Phawngpui) with a height of 2210 metres.
