Singtam Tea Garden (also spelled Singtom) is a

census town In India and some other countries, a census town is designated as a town that satisfies certain characteristics. India In India, a census town is one which is not statutorily notified and administered as a town, but nevertheless whose population ...

in the Darjeeling Pulbazar CD block in the

Darjeeling Sadar subdivision Darjeeling Sadar subdivision is a subdivision of the Darjeeling district in the state of West Bengal, India. Subdivisions Darjeeling district is divided into the following administrative subdivisions: Police stations Police stations i ...

of the Darjeeling district in the state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Geography

Location

Singtam Tea Garden is located at .

Area overview

The map alongside shows the northern portion of the Darjeeling Himalayan hill region.

Kangchenjunga Kangchenjunga is the third-highest mountain in the world. Its summit lies at in a section of the Himalayas, the ''Kangchenjunga Himal'', which is bounded in the west by the Tamur River, in the north by the Lhonak River and Jongsang La, and ...

, which rises with an elevation of is located further north of the area shown.

Sandakphu Sandakphu or Sandakpur at is a mountain peak in the Singalila Ridge on the border between India and Nepal. It is the highest point of the ridge and of the state of West Bengal, India. The peak is located at the edge of the Singalila Nation ...

, rising to a height of , on the

Singalila Ridge The Singalila Ridge is a north–south mountain ridge running from northwestern West Bengal through Sikkim in the Indian part of the Himalayas. The district of Ilam in Nepal falls on the western part of this ridge. The ridge separates mountain r ...

, is the highest point in West Bengal. In

61% of the total population lives in the rural areas and 39% of the population lives in the urban areas. There are 78 tea gardens/ estates (the figure varies slightly according to different sources), producing and largely exporting

Darjeeling tea Darjeeling tea is a tea made from ''Camellia sinensis var. sinensis'' that is grown and processed in Darjeeling district or Kalimpong district in West Bengal, India. Since 2004, the term ''Darjeeling tea'' has been a registered geographical in ...

in the district. It engages a large proportion of the population directly/ indirectly. Some tea gardens were identified in the 2011 census as

s or villages. Such places are marked in the map as CT (census town) or R (rural/ urban centre). Specific tea estate pages are marked TE. Note: The map alongside presents some of the notable locations in the subdivision. All places marked in the map are linked in the larger full screen map.

Demographics

According to the 2011 Census of India, Singtam Tea Garden had a total population of 5,792 of which 2,850 (49%) were males and 2,942 (51%) were females. There were 416 persons in the age range of 0 to 6 years. The total number of literate people in Singtam Tea Garden was 4,649 (80.27% of the population over 6 years).

Infrastructure

According to the ''District Census Handbook 2011, Darjiling'', Singtam Tea Garden covered an area of 5.9975 km². Among the civic amenities, the protected water supply involved overhead tank and tap water from untreated sources. It had 1,182 domestic electric connections. Among the medical facilities it had 1 dispensary/ health centre. Among the educational facilities it had were 5 primary schools, 1 middle school, the nearest secondary and senior secondary school at Darjeeling 10 km away. It had 4 non-formal education centres (Sarba Siksha Abhiyan). Among the social, cultural and recreational facilities, it had 1 auditorium/ community hall. An important commodity it manufactured was tea.

Singtam Tea Estate

Singtam Tea Estate, 6 km from

Darjeeling Darjeeling (, , ) is a city in the northernmost region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of West Bengal. Located in the Eastern Himalayas, it has an average elevation of . To the west of Darjeeling lies the Koshi Pr ...

, was established in 1852. It covers 263 hectares. It belongs to the Camelia Tea Group Private Limited. According to another source, Singtam Tea Estate was set up in 1854 by a German priest, Joachim Stoelke. He also planted Darjeeling's oldest tea estate in 1852, at a nearby site called Steinthal.

Tourism

Singtom Tea Estate & Resort, located inside Singtom Tea Estate/Garden, is claimed to the world's oldest tea-estate resort, built in 1854. It is one of the world's most famous plantation-centric boutique hotels. It hosts thousands of visitors each year, and is arguably the only such place in the world where you can get a luxury experience at an affordable price.

References

{{Darjeeling District Cities and towns in Darjeeling district