The geography and history of a region naturally shape the contours of its people, their ethnic groupings, culture, traditions, value system and way of life. They also indicate the patterns of migration of ethnic groups and reasons for the same. In a nutshell, as would be seen from the forthcoming analysis, it is a region's geography and history that largely contribute to the problems and prospects of its people and their destiny.

The Lie of the Land

Geographically, the north-east consists of the states of Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura, Arunachal, Sikkim and though not officially accepted yet as part of it – North Bengal. It is definitely an integral part of the region covering an area of about 300,000 sq km, with a population of about 46 million. The north-east is connected to the rest of India over a narrow stretch of plains through North Bengal and Assam known as the Siliguri Corridor (also called the Chicken's Neck by some), which leads into the Brahmaputra river valley plains. The Brahmaputra valley plains are about 70 to 90 km wide and 900 km long. West of Guwahati the valley widens substantially to merge with Bangladesh and the Gangetic plains.

The Himalayan mountains of Nepal, Sikkim, North Bengal, Bhutan, Arunachal and Tibet bound the Brahmaputra and the Gangetic valley plains to the north, the eastern hills link India and Myanmar to the east, and the Meghalaya-Karbi Anglong plateau, the Barak River valley and the plains of Bangladesh to the south.