Arunachal Pradesh,
bordered on the south by Assam state, on the west by Bhutan,
on the north and northeast by China, and on the east by
Myanmar (formerly known as Burma) is a sparsely populated
mountainous area in the extreme northeastern part of the
subcontinent. Arunachal Pradesh (Sanskrit for "Land of the
Rising Sun") has an area of 83,743 sq km.
Most of Arunachal Pradesh
is mountainous. Its terrain consists of lofty, haphazardly
aligned ridges that separate deep valleys and rise to the
peaks of the Great Himalayas. The state's main rivers are
the Brahmaputra known in Arunachal Pradesh as the Siang,
and its tributaries, the Tirap, the Lohit (Zayü Qu), the
Subansiri, and the Bhareli. The climate of the foothills
is subtropical; in the mountains, temperatures decrease
rapidly with altitude. Rainfall averages between 2000 and
4000 mm (80 and 160 in) a year
Arunachal Pradesh has
a single-chamber Legislative Assembly, which has 60 seats.
The state sends three members to the Indian national parliament:
one to the Rajya Sabha (upper house) and two to the Lok
Sabha (lower house). Local government is based on 12 administrative
districts
History
The region that is now Arunachal
Pradesh is mentioned in the Puranas (Sanskrit writings
about the beginning of time), but little else is known
of the state's early history. Part of Arunachal Pradesh
was annexed by the Ahom kings of Assam in the 16th century.
In 1826 Assam became part of British India, but efforts
to bring Arunachal Pradesh under British administration
did not begin until the 1880s. In 1912 the region became
an administrative unit within Assam, called the North
Eastern Frontier Tract (NEFT); in 1954 the NEFT became
the North East Frontier Agency. Its northern boundary
with Tibet has been disputed since 1913, when China rejected
British proposals that the border should follow the crest
of the Himalayas.
This proposed border, known as
the McMahon line, has served as the de facto boundary
since. After the independence of India in 1947, China
made claims to practically the whole area covered by the
districts of East and West Kameng, Lower and Upper Subansiri,
East and West Siang, and Lohit, arguing that the McMahon
Line had never been accepted by China and was the result
of British "aggression." Following this dispute, Chinese
troops crossed the McMahon Line on August 26, 1959, and
captured an Indian outpost at Longju, a few miles south
of the line. They abandoned this in 1961 but in October
1962 crossed the line, this time in force. After first
striking toward the Tanglha ridge and Tawang near the
Bhutan border, the Chinese later extended their attack
along the whole frontier. Deep inroads were made at a
number of points. Later the Chinese agreed to withdraw
approximately to the McMahon Line and in 1963 returned
Indian prisoners of war
The region became the union territory of Arunachal Pradesh
in 1972, and India's 24th state in December 1986.
Society and Culture
Most of the population
of Arunachal Pradesh is of Asiatic origin and shows physical
affinities with the peoples of Tibet and the Myanmar hill
region. There are dozens of tribes and sub tribes, each
with a specific geographic distribution. In western Arunachal
Pradesh the main tribes are the Nissi (Nishi or Dafla),
Sulung, Sherdukpen, Aka, Monpa, Apa Tani, and Hill Miri.
The Adi, the largest tribal group in the state, occupy
the central region. The Mishmi occupy the northeastern
hills, and the Wancho, Nocte, and Tangsa inhabit the southeastern
district of Tirap. These tribal groups speak about 50
distinct languages and dialects, belonging mostly to the
Tibeto-Burmese branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family.
They are often mutually unintelligible and, thus, Assamese,
Hindi, and English are used as lingua francas in the region.
As a rule, the tribes do not intermarry, and each follows
distinct social, cultural, and religious practices. The
most common religious practice is animism, in which deities
of nature and various spirits are worshiped. Ritual sacrifice
is also common, and the mithun (a domesticated gaur, or
wild ox) is especially revered as a sacrificial animal.
Hindu beliefs and practices have penetrated the region,
especially among populations near the Assam lowlands.
Tibetan Buddhism is found among groups near the Tibetan
border, and some tribes along the Myanmar border practice
the Southeast Asian form of this religion, Hinayana Buddhism.
Economy and Infrastructure
Arunachal Pradesh is well endowed
with an abundant forest cover, mineral, and hydel
power resources. the principal crops are rice. Maize,
millet, wheat, pulses (edible seeds gathered from
pea and bean crops), potatoes, sugarcane, fruit, and
oilseeds are also important. Many areas depend on
shifting cultivation (also known as slash-and-burn
agriculture), in which trees and grasses are burned
from an area so a crop may be planted for several
seasons and then shifted to a new area. Industry is
small scale and includes timber, rice, and oil mills;
soap and candle making; sericulture (raising silkworms
for the production of raw silk); and handicrafts.
The economic potential of Arunachal Pradesh's forests
and rivers, and of its coal, oil, and other mineral
deposits has yet to be exploited, partly because rough
terrain makes transportation difficult. Coal reserves
of the state comprising of the Namchik-Namphuk coal
mine in Tirap district, are estimated at 90 million
tons and the crude oil reserves are estimated to be
1.5 million tons. Deposits of dolomite, limestone,
graphite, quartzite, kyanite, mica, iron and copper
are also found here.
The state's rugged terrain
makes transport and communications extremely difficult.
With few surfaced roads and no railways in Arunachal
Pradesh, links with the rest of India are limited.
Hotels of Arunachal Pradesh
The Union Territory
has hotels of star and non-star category catering
to the needs of the tourists visiting Arunachal Pradesh.
Besides it has resorts, restaurants and cafés, which
cater to the needs of all segments of travelers.
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