The Khasi Hills () is a low mountain formation on the

Shillong Plateau The Shillong Plateau is a plateau in eastern Meghalaya state, northeastern India. The plateau's southern, northern and western ridges form the Garo, Khasi and Jaintia Hills respectively. The plateau shows numerous fracture lineaments in satellit ...

Meghalaya Meghalaya (, or , meaning "abode of clouds"; from Sanskrit , "cloud" + , "abode") is a states and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. Meghalaya was formed on 21 January 1972 by carving out two districts from the state of As ...

state of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The Khasi Hills are part of the Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range and connects with the Purvanchal Range and larger

Patkai Range The Pat-kai (Pron:pʌtˌkaɪ) or Patkai Bum ( Burmese: ''Kumon Taungdan'') are a series of mountains in the Indo-Myanmar border falling in the north-eastern Indian states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Upper Burma region of Myanmar. They ...

further east. Khasi Hills, and the whole Garo-Khasi-Jaintia range, are in the

Meghalaya subtropical forests The Meghalaya subtropical forests is an ecoregion of Northeast India. The ecoregion covers an area of , and despite its name, comprise not only the state of Meghalaya, but also parts of southern Assam, and a tiny bit of Nagaland around Dimapur ...

ecoregion. Khasi Hills, and the entire Meghalaya state was administratively part of

Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...

before 1970. In older sources in particular, the alternative

transcription Transcription refers to the process of converting sounds (voice, music etc.) into letters or musical notes, or producing a copy of something in another medium, including: Genetics * Transcription (biology), the copying of DNA into RNA, the fir ...

Khasia Hills is seen. The region is inhabited mainly by tribal Khasi dwellers, which are traditionally in various chieftainships, states known as the

Khasi Hill States The Khasi and Jaintia Hills are a mountainous region that was mainly part of Assam and Meghalaya. This area is now part of the present Indian constitutive state of Meghalaya (formerly part of Assam), which includes the present districts of East ...

. One of its capitals,

Sohra Cherrapunji () or Sohra is a subdivisional town (Proposed District) East Khasi Hills district in the Indian state of Meghalaya. It is the traditional capital of ka ''hima'' Sohra (Khasi tribal kingdom). Sohra has often been credited as being t ...

, is considered one of the wettest places in the world. The majority of Khasis are Presbyterians followed by Catholics and Anglicans. The region came under the Khasi Hills district, which was divided into

West Khasi Hills West Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. History The West Khasi Hills district was carved out of the Khasi Hills district, which was divided into West and East Khasi Hills districts on 28 October 1976 ...

and

East Khasi Hills East Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Shillong. The district occupies an area of 2752 km² and has a population of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most ...

districts on 28 October 1976. The highest peak is Lum Shyllong which is high. It is situated a few kilometers south of

Shillong Shillong () is a hill station and the capital of Meghalaya, a Indian state, state in northeastern India, which means "The Abode of Clouds". It is the headquarters of the East Khasi Hills district. Shillong is the list of most populous cities in ...

town.

Administration

Administratively, the Khasi Hills used to be a part of the Khasil Hills district. The district was divided into

East Khasi Hills district East Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. The district headquarters are located at Shillong. The district occupies an area of 2752 km² and has a population of 825,922 (as of 2011). , it is the most ...

and

West Khasi Hills district West Khasi Hills is an administrative district in the state of Meghalaya in India. History The West Khasi Hills district was carved out of the Khasi Hills district, which was divided into West and East Khasi Hills districts on 28 October 1976. ...

on 28 October 1976. On 4 June 1992, the Ri-Bhoi District was carved out of the East Khasi Hills District.

Demographics

The population of the region according to the 2011 Census is 1,468,223.

Religion

A vast majority of 1,128,769 people in Khasi Hills follow

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

of various denominations mostly

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

is mainly followed by 182,353 people mainly Non-Tribals (

Bengalis Bengalis (singular Bengali bn, বাঙ্গালী/বাঙালি ), also rendered as Bangalee or the Bengali people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the ...

Nepalis Nepalis (English: Nepalese ; ne, नेपाली) are the citizens of Nepal under the provisions of Nepali nationality law. The country is home to people of many different national origins who are the descendants of immigrants from India, K ...

Biharis The Biharis () is a demonym given to the inhabitants of the Indian state of Bihar. Bihari people can be separated into three main Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic groups, Bhojpuris, Maithils and Magadhis. They are also further divided into a v ...

Marwaris The Marwari or Marwadi (Hindi: मारवाड़ी, Urdu: مارواڑی) are an Indian ethnic group that originate from the Rajasthan region of India. Their language, also called Marwari, comes under the umbrella of Rajasthani languages, ...

etc) living in the region. A small segments of khasi tribe numbering around 127,735 still follow their own indigenous tribal Religion called "Ka Niamtre",

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

is a micro-scopic minority with around 17,471 people following it. While 0.81 percent follow other religions.

Language

Khasi is spoken by 1,149,178 people as their mother tongue,

Garo Garo may refer to: People and languages * Garo people, a tribal people in India ** Garo language, the language spoken by the Garo tribe Places * Kingdom of Garo, a former kingdom in southern Ethiopia * Garo, Colorado * Garo Hills, part of the Ga ...

is spoken by 88,533. While

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

and Nepali came under 3th and 4th position and is spoken by 56,086 and 48,010 people.DDW-C16-STMT-MDDS-0000.xlsx A vast number Non tribals can only be found in multi-diverse

district.

Administration

Demographics

Religion

Language

See also

References

Further reading