West Siang district


West Siang is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India.

History

In 1989, territory was given from West Siang to the East Siang district. Since 1999, this territory has been in the new Upper Siang district. Archaeological finds from Malinithan in West Siang are on display at the Jawaharlal Nehru Museum, Itanagar. It was once a part of the Chutiya kingdom. West Siang was divided into Upper Siang and Lower Siang. West Siang district was bifurcated on 9 December 2018 when northern areas along China border were made a sperate Shi Yomi district.

Geography

The district headquarters are located at Aalo. West Siang district occupies an area of, comparatively equivalent to Crete.

Transport

The proposed Mago-Thingbu to Vijaynagar Arunachal Pradesh Frontier Highway along the McMahon Line will intersect with the proposed East-West Industrial Corridor Highway and will pass through this district, alignment map of which can be seen and .

Divisions

There are seven Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Liromoba, Likabali, Basar, Along West, Along East, Rumgong, and Mechuka. The first six are part of Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency, while Mechuka is part of Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2011 Census, West Siang district has a population of 112,274, roughly equal to the nation of Grenada. This gives it a ranking of 612th in India. The district has a population density of. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 8.04%. West Siang has a sex ratio of 916 females for every 1000 males, and a literacy rate of 67.62%.
Various tribal groups of the Adi, Memba, and Khamba tribes live in the district. The Adi generally follows Donyi-Polo, although some have embraced Baptist Christianity in recent years. The Memba and Khamba are followers of Tibetan Buddhism. A well-known Tibetan Buddhist temple, Mechuka Gompa, is located in the western part of the Memba-speaking Mechuka district of West Siang.

Languages

Languages spoken include Adi, a Sino-Tibetan tongue with approximately 140 000 speakers, written in both the Tibetan and Latin scripts; and Galo, an endangered language with 30 000 speakers, also in the Sino-Tibetan language family.

Flora and fauna

The district is rich in wildlife. Rare mammals such as Mishmi takin, Snow leopards, Red pandas, and Musk deer occur while among birds there is the rare Blyth's Tragopan. A flying squirrel, new to science, has been recently discovered from this district. It has been named as Mechuka Giant Flying Squirrel.
In 1991, West Siang became home to the Kane Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of.