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| Location | |
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| Quick Facts | |
| Capital | Dispur, Guwahati |
| Currency | INR |
| Area | 78438 sq km |
| Population | 26,655,528(2001) |
| Language | Assamese, Bodo, Mishing, Karbi, Dimasa, Rabha, Siloti |
| Religion | Hindu (65%), Muslim (30%), Christian, Buddhist, etc. |
| Electricity | 230V/50Hz, Indian/European plugs |
| Calling Code | +91 |
| Internet TLD | .in |
| Time Zone | UTC +5:30 |
Assam (Assamese: অসম Ôxôm [ɔxɔm]) is a region straddling in a transitional zone between South Asia and South East Asia and politically a state in India since 1947. Prior to that Assam was a part of British India since the British annexed the Kingdom of Assam and its tributary states in 1826 following the Treaty of Yandaboo. Assam is a land of blue hills, green valleys and a red river. Situated in the north eastern region of India and located just below the eastern Himalayan foothills, it is surrounded by the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Meghalaya, which together with Assam are known collectively as the seven sisters. Leaving Manipur and Tripura, rest of these states are carved out from Assam during 1960s and 70s and Sylhet, a district of Assam was annexed with Bangladesh during partition of British India (1947). With an area of 78,438 sq km Assam currently is almost equivalent to the size of Ireland or Austria. Assam shares international borders with Bhutan and Bangladesh and the international borders of China and Myanmar are within the range of 80 to 100 km.
Assam was known as the Kingdom of Pragjyotisha-Kamarupa during the first millenium A.D. and was broken into smaller states during the beginning of the second millenium; however, later, after 13th century for next six hundred years the region again transformed into a united sovereign country as the Kingdom of Assam under the later dynasties such as the Ahoms and Koches. Despite being an archaeologically and historically rich region, Assam is still a terra-incognito to the world.
Assam is a world leader in production of tea for more than past one hundred years and currently produces around 25 percent of the world's tea. Traditionally it is a producer of high quality silk, locally called paat bred on mulberry leaves, and the only place in the world where all four major silk types are cultivated, the others being the golden silk Muga unique to Assam , the Ahimsa silk Eri bred on castor leaves, and tassar. It has the highest reserves of oil and natural gas after Bombay High and Gujarat. Along with neighbouring Arunachal, it has the richest biodiversity in India.