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

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 ...

, 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 ...

History

Administrative divisions

Geography

Economy

Environment

References

See also