Gasa District or Gasa Dzongkhag (
Dzongkha: མགར་ས་རྫོང་ཁག་;
Wylie: ''Mgar-sa rdzong-khag'') is one of the 20
dzongkhags (districts) comprising Bhutan. The capital of Gasa District is
Gasa Dzong
Gasa Dzong or Gasa Tashi Tongmön Dzong near Gasa is the administrative center of Gasa Dzongkhag (district) in the northwestern region of Bhutan. The Dzong was built in the 17th century by Tenzin Drukdra the second Druk Desi over the site of a med ...
near
Gasa
GASA Group (''Gartnernes Salgsforeninger''; "co-operative marketing organisations") is a Danish company that imports and exports flowers, fruits, and vegetables. Founded in 1929 as a fruit, flowers and vegetable auction co-operative, the mul ...
. It is located in the far north of the county and spans the Middle and High regions of the Tibetan Himalayas. The dominant language of the district is
Dzongkha, which is the national language. Related languages,
Layakha
Laya ( Dzongkha: ལ་ཡ་ཁ་, ལ་ཡག་ཁ་; Wylie: ''la-ya-kha'', ''la-yag-kha'') is a Tibetic variety spoken by indigenous Layaps inhabiting the high mountains of northwest Bhutan in the village of Laya, Gasa District. Speake ...
and
Lunanakha, are spoken by semi-nomadic communities in the north of the district. The
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
claims the northern part of Gasa District.
Gasa has an area of ,
formerly .
[
] It had a population of 3,116 as of the 2005 census,
making it the largest, least populated, and thus least densely populated of all the dzongkhags; it is also the least developed district of Bhutan.
History
Gasa was formerly a ''
drungkhag'' (sub-district) of the
Punakha
Punakha ( dz, སྤུ་ན་ཁ་) is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is abo ...
''dzongkhag'' (district). It became a separate ''dzongkhag'' in 1992, the start of 7th
Five Year Plan.
Administrative divisions
Gasa District is divided into four village blocks (or ''
gewogs''):
[
]
*
Khamaed Gewog,
formerly known as ⋅Goenkhamae
*
Khatoed Gewog,
formerly known as Goenkaatoe
*
Laya Gewog
Laya Gewog is a gewog (village block) of Gasa District, Bhutan. The capital of gewog is the town Laya.
The gewog lies entirely within Jigme Dorji National Park and contains several of Bhutan's glaciers.
As well as the national language, Dz ...
*
Lunana Gewog
Geography
Gasa is bordered to the north by
Tibet Autonomous Region
The Tibet Autonomous Region or Xizang Autonomous Region, often shortened to Tibet or Xizang, is a province-level autonomous region of the People's Republic of China in Southwest China. It was overlayed on the traditional Tibetan regions of ...
of the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and by
Thimphu
Thimphu (; dz, ཐིམ་ཕུག ) is the capital and largest city of Bhutan. It is situated in the western central part of Bhutan, and the surrounding valley is one of Bhutan's ''dzongkhags'', the Thimphu District. The ancient capital city ...
,
Punakha
Punakha ( dz, སྤུ་ན་ཁ་) is the administrative centre of Punakha dzongkhag, one of the 20 districts of Bhutan. Punakha was the capital of Bhutan and the seat of government until 1955, when the capital was moved to Thimphu. It is abo ...
, and
Wangdue Phodrang
Wangdue Phodrang (, Dzongkha 'Wangdi Phodr'a) is a town and capital (dzongkhag thromde) of Wangdue Phodrang District in central Bhutan. It is located in Thedtsho Gewog.
History
The town shares its name with the Wangdue Phodrang Dzong built in 1 ...
dzongkhags to the south.
Economy
Gasa has become a
tourist destination
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of natural ...
because of its pristine forests and the exceptionally scenic location of its
Dzong. In 2008 a massive flood on the
Mo Chhu
Mo Chhu is a major river in Bhutan. The word "Chhu" means "river" or "water" in Dzongkha, the official national language in Bhutan. The river rises in Gasa Dzongkhag (district) near the border between Bhutan and Tibet. From there, the Mo Chhu fl ...
(Female River) destroyed a popular hot spring complex, which is under restoration and was to re-open in late 2011. The high altitude makes farming difficult, although government programs seek to establish
mustard
Mustard may refer to:
Food and plants
* Mustard (condiment), a paste or sauce made from mustard seeds used as a condiment
* Mustard plant, one of several plants, having seeds that are used for the condiment
** Mustard seed, seeds of the mustard p ...
and summer vegetable planting programs. Residents herd
yaks and
dzos, and a small number benefit from the nascent tourism industry. A narrow road from Punakha, which is mostly unpaved, reaches up to the Dzong and is now being extended up to Laya. The majority of the known herds of wild
Takin
The takin (''Budorcas taxicolor''; ), also called cattle chamois or gnu goat, is a large species of ungulate of the subfamily Caprinae found in the eastern Himalayas. It includes four subspecies: the Mishmi takin (''B. t. taxicolor''), the g ...
occur in Gasa. Electricity is also being supplied to some of the
gewogs and all electrification programs are expected to be completed by 2012.
Gasa is most famous for its
Layap
The Layap ( Dzongkha: ལ་ཡཔ་) are an indigenous people inhabiting the high mountains of northwest Bhutan in the village of Laya, in the Gasa District, at an altitude of , just below the Tsendagang peak. Their population in 2003 stood at ...
people, and for the
Snowman Trek, one of the most challenging treks in the Himalayas.
Environment
All of Gasa is an environmentally
protected area of Bhutan. Most parts of the dzongkhag lie within
Jigme Dorji National Park
The Jigme Dorji National Park (JDNP), named after the late Jigme Dorji Wangchuck, is the second-largest National Park of Bhutan. It occupies almost the entire Gasa District, as well as the northern areas of Thimphu District, Paro District, Puna ...
(
Khamaed,
Khatoed,
Laya,
Lunana Gewogs), although the northeast reaches of Gasa are part of
Wangchuck Centennial Park
Wangchuck Centennial National Park in northern Bhutan is the kingdom's largest national park, spanning over five districts, occupying significant portions of northern Bumthang, Lhuntse, and Wangdue Phodrang Districts. It borders Tibet to th ...
(
Lunana Gewog).
Several of
Bhutan's glaciers are located in Gasa, namely in
Lunana Gewog, which borders
Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa, Taman ...
.
References
See also
*
Layap
The Layap ( Dzongkha: ལ་ཡཔ་) are an indigenous people inhabiting the high mountains of northwest Bhutan in the village of Laya, in the Gasa District, at an altitude of , just below the Tsendagang peak. Their population in 2003 stood at ...
*
Districts of Bhutan
{{Authority control
Districts of Bhutan