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Kumaon is one of the two regions and administrative divisions of Uttaranchal, a hilly (and mountainous) state of northern India, the other being Garhwal. It includes the districts of Almora, Bageshwar, Champawat, Nainital, Pithoragarh, and Udham Singh Nagar. It is bounded on the north by Tibet, on the east by Nepal, on the south by Uttar Pradesh state, and on the west by Garhwal region. The people of Kumaon are known as Kumaonis. It is home to a famous Indian Army regiment, the Kumaon Regiment. Important towns of Kumaon are Nainital, Pittoragarh and Ranikhet, and Nainital is the administrative center of Kumaon Division.
It consists of a large Himalayan tract, together with two submontane strips called the Terai and the Bhabhar. The submontane strips were up to 1850 an almost impenetrable forest, given up to wild animals; but after 1850 the numerous clearings attracted a large population from the hills, who cultivated the rich soil during the hot and cold seasons, returning to the hills in the rains. The rest of Kumaon is a maze of mountains, part of the Himalaya range, some of which are among the loftiest known. In a tract not more than 225 km in length and 65 km in breadth there are over thirty peaks rising to elevations exceeding 5500 m. The rivers rise chiefly in the southern slope of the Tibetan watershed north of the loftiest peaks, amongst which they make their way down valleys'of rapid declivity and extraordinary depth. The principal are the Sarda (Kali), the Pindar and Kailganga, whose waters join the Alaknanda. The chief trees are the Chir Pine, Himalayan Cypress, Pindrow Fir, alder, sal or iron-wood, and saindan. Limestone, sandstone, slate, gneiss and granite constitute the principal geological formations. Mines of iron, copper, gypsum, lead and asbestos exist; but they are not thoroughly worked. Except in the submontane strips and deep valleys the climate is mild. The rainfall of the outer Himalayan range, which is first struck by the monsoon, is double that of the central hills, in the average proportion of 2000 mm to 1000 mm. No winter passes without snow on the higher ridges, and in some years it is universal throughout the mountain tract. Frosts, especially in the valleys, are often severe.
Kumaon was formerly an administrative division of British India, in the United Provinces, with headquarters at Nainital. Area 35,136 sq. km; pop. (1901), 1,207,030, showing an increase of less than 2 % in the decade. Kumaon proper constituted an old Rajput principality, which became extinct at the beginning of the eighth century. The region was annexed after the Gurkha war of 1815, and was governed for seventy years on the non-regulation system by three administrators, Mr. Traill, Mr J. H. Batten and Sir Henry Ramsay. In 1891 the division was composed of the three districts of Kumaon, Garhwal and the Tarai; but the two districts of Kumaon and the Tarai were subsequently redistributed and renamed after their headquarters, Nainital and Almora.
Different dialects of Kumaoni (http://www.euttaranchal.com/kumaoni_garhwali/learn_kumaoni.php) are spoken in different parts of Kumaon
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
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