Arunāchal Arunachal Pradeshstate of India. It is a sparsely populated A mountainous area in the extreme northeastern part of the subcontinent. It country, it is bordered by the kingdom of Bhutan to the west, the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Myanmar (Burma) and the Indian state of Nagaland to the south and southeast, and the Indian state of Assam to the south and southwest. The total area is 32,333 square miles (83,743 square kilometres). The capital is ItānagarItanagar.

The name Arunāchal Pradesh means Arunachal Pradesh, meaning “Land of the Rising Sun.” Formerly ,” long has been a recognized region of the Indian subcontinent, receiving mention in such ancient Hindu literature as the Kalika-purana and the epic poems Mahabharata and Ramayana. Formerly known as the North East Frontier Agency , it became a union territory in 1972 and a state in 1987.

Physical and human geographyThe landReliefMost of Arunāchal Pradesh is mountainous. Its terrain consists of lofty, haphazardly aligned ridges that separate deep valleys and





The state encompasses three broad physiographic regions

, each extending generally northeast-southwest, can be identified in the state

. Farthest south


is a series of foothills, similar in type to the

Shiwālik Hills




elevations as high as



, where Kangto,

near Tulang Pass, is 23,261 feet [7,090 metres] high



The major rivers of the state are the Brahmaputra and its

tributaries (the Dibāng [Sikāng

tributaries—the Dibang [Sikang], Lohit,




Kameng, and




Dihang [Siang] in


Arunachal Pradesh) flows eastward






onto the

Assam plains near



Pasighat. It is joined by the


Dibang and the Lohit rivers

(draining the eastern districts of Dibāng Valley and Lohit, respectively)

a few miles beyond


Pasighat, just south of the


Assam–Arunachal Pradesh border. West of the Brahmaputra, the



Kāmeng (

Kameng and other rivers in the area


rise on the southern flanks of the mountains. The


Tirap River drains

southeastern Arunāchal Pradesh

the southeastern part of the state.


The climate of


Arunachal Pradesh varies with topography and




summer temperatures

reach 95° F (35°


minimums drop below 57° F (14° C).



130 inches (



000 millimetres

300 mm), falling mostly between April and September; in

East and West Siang districts (in

the centre of the state


, however, this figure approaches 160 inches

. Average temperature decreases as elevations increase in the mountains.

(4,100 mm).

Plant and animal lifeArunāchal



evergreens and subtropical



; this changes with

. With increasing elevation

to temperate forests, both





wild buffalo. The


rare species still

found in the state.

The people

Most of the population of Arunāchal Pradesh is of Asiatic origin and shows physical affinities with Moreover, Arunachal Pradesh has an abundance of fish, many varieties of snakes, and hundreds of species of birds.



There are dozens of tribes and subtribes, each with a specific geographic distribution. In western Arunāchal Pradesh the main tribes are the





Sherdukpen, Aka, Monpa, Apa


Tani, and Hill Miri are among the main tribes. The


Adi, who constitute the largest tribal group in the state,


live in the central region. The Mishmi




are concentrated in the southeastern district of

Tirāp.These tribal


The tribal groups speak about 50


languages and dialects, most belonging


to the Tibeto-




; thus, Assamese


and Hindi,



As a rule,

Each of the tribes

do not intermarry, and each follows distinct

follows its own social, cultural, and religious practices

. The most common religious practice is animism, in which deities of nature and various spirits are worshiped



common, and

the mithun (

a domesticated gaur

, or



valued as a sacrificial animal.

Hindu beliefs and practices have penetrated the region, especially among populations near the Assam lowlands



counterpart of this religion,

Hīnayāna Buddhism.The economyShifting cultivation ( jhūm) is traditional among the hill peoples of Arunāchal Pradesh; rice

Theravada Buddhism.

Agriculture and forestry

More than half of the population of Arunachal Pradesh is engaged in agriculture, but only a very small portion of the land is under cultivation. Although settled agriculture, including wet-rice farming, has expanded considerably since the late 20th century, many of the hill peoples continue to practice shifting agriculture (jhum), whereby land is cleared by burning the vegetation, is cultivated for several years, and then is abandoned in favour of another site when the productivity of the soil declines. Rice, corn (maize), millet, and buckwheat are among the chief crops grown by this method. Millet and rice beer are popular, as is tea. Some tribes supplement their diet by hunting, fishing, and gathering forest products. Settled agriculture is practiced on less than half the area of arable land; in these areas the main crops include rice, corn, wheat, barley, mustard, and sugarcane, as well as various vegetables and fruits. The mithun is widely kept, and the yak is Major commercial crops include oilseeds, potatoes, ginger, sugarcane, and vegetables.

Mithuns are widely kept, and yaks are important in the higher elevations. The Monpa herd sheep. Arunāchal Pradesh has great, though as yet unrealized, resource potential, including extensive forests, numerous areas for hydroelectric power, and coal, oil, and other mineral deposits. No major industries exist in the state, howeverSome groups also raise fish through aquaculture.


Resources and power



The state’s manufacturing sector consists primarily of medium- and small-scale industries. Basketry, weaving, and carpets are major the main handicraft industriesmanufactures. SmallSmaller-scale industries include rice and oil millsmilling, fruit processing plants, manufacture of forest-based products, and steel fabrication, and sericulture. Industrial development is actively encouraged by the state government. Sericulture (raw silk production) also is important, and the state produces many varieties of silk yarns. Industrial expansion has been encouraged by the state’s economic development policies, and industrial estates have been set up established at ItānagarItanagar, Naharlagun (formerly Old ItānagarItanagar), PāsighātPasighat, and Deomali.


The state’s rugged terrain makes transport and communications extremely difficult. With few surfaced paved roads and no railways in Arunāchal Arunachal Pradesh, links with the rest of India are limited. Historically, however, a thriving trade has existed However, there long has been an active trade network within the region, connecting villages at different elevations and even crossing the Himalayan passes into Tibet. Intraregional air service is provided by Vayudoot.

Administration and social conditions


Government and society
Constitutional framework


At the local level, the state comprises 11 districts: Tawang, West and East Kāmeng, Lower and Upper Subansirī, West and East Siang, Dibāng Valley, Lohit, Tirāp, and Changlang.

Despite the presence of primary, middle, and higher secondary schools in Arunāchal Pradesh, literacy ranks among the lowest in India. Arunāchal University, founded in 1984, is located at Itānagar.

Cultural life



Health and welfare





Cultural life



The northern boundary, about 550 miles long, in dispute between India and China, is known as the McMahon Line because Sir Henry McMahon was At such festivals, villagers often drink millet or rice beer, as well as tea.

Cultural institutions





In 1912–13 the British Indian government made agreements with the indigenous peoples of the Himalayas of northeastern India to set up the Balipara frontier tract in the west, the Sadiya frontier tract in the east, and the Abor and Mishmi hills and the Tirap frontier tract in the south. Together these tracts became the North East Frontier Agency, which is now Arunachal Pradesh. The northern boundary of the territory (now of the state) determined at that time became known as the McMahon Line; it is about 550 miles (885 km) long and has been a lasting point of contention between India and China.

The boundary takes its name from Sir Henry McMahon, secretary in the Indian foreign department and represented representative of Great Britain at the conference held in 1912–13 in Simla (1913–14now called Shimla, in the state of Himachal Pradesh) to settle frontier and other matters relating to Tibet. The line was regarded by To the British as the natural, the line marked the geographic, ethnic, and administrative boundary . Representatives of between the two regions, and delegates from Great Britain, China, and Tibet agreed that the frontier between Tibet and northeastern India indeed should follow the crest of the high Himalayas. Two days later, however, the Chinese republican government disavowed its plenipotentiary delegate and refused to sign a convention. Prior to that, the British-Indian government had made agreements with the indigenous tribes and set up the Balipara frontier tract in the west and the Sadiya frontier tract in the east, together constituting the North East Frontier Agency (1912–13) and including undoubted Assamese territory.

After the independence of India in 1947, China made claims to practically the whole area covered by the districts of East and West KāmengKameng, Lower and Upper SubansirīSubansiri, East and West Siang, and Lohit, arguing that the McMahon Line had never been accepted by China and was the result of British “aggressionaggression. In letters to the Indian prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, the Chinese prime minister, Zhou Enlai, quoted a map in the 1929 edition of Encyclopædia Britannica showing the disputed territory as Chinese, with the boundary following the alignment of Chinese maps. Some Chinese maps before 1935 showed the North East Frontier Agency (Arunāchal Arunachal Pradesh) as part of India , and since then as part of Tibet. The Survey of India (1883) showed the disputed tribal areas as de facto administered by British India. British and Indian maps since 1914 have usually followed the McMahon Line. If the Chinese claims were allowed, the Indian-Chinese border would follow roughly the margin of the Assam plain, a frontier almost impossible to defend. 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 outpost in 1961, but in October 1962 they again crossed the line, this time in force. After first striking toward the Tanglha ridge and Tawang near the border with 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 they returned Indian prisoners of war.