Imphal Valley ( mni, Imphal Tampak) or Manipur Valley ( mni, Manipur Tampaak) is located in the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n state of

Manipur Manipur () ( mni, Kangleipak) is a state in Northeast India, with the city of Imphal as its capital. It is bounded by the Indian states of Nagaland to the north, Mizoram to the south and Assam to the west. It also borders two regions of Myanm ...

and is an irregular almost oval shaped canyon that was formed as a result of the multiple small rivers that originate from neighbouring hill regions surrounding the valley and flow through it. The water in the Imphal valley is fetched from several rivers that flows via the valley, such as

Imphal River The Imphal River ( mni, Imphal Turel), also known as the Turel Achouba, is a major river in Manipur state, northeastern India which originates in Kangpokpi district to the north of Kangpokpi district headquarters Kangpokpi. It is a tributary of ...

Iril River The Iril River is a river that runs through the eastern suburbs of the city of Imphal in the state of Manipur, India. The name Iril derives from two words ''Ee'' and ''Rei/Ree''. The Meitei word ''Ee'', which means ''blood'', although "Ee" is als ...

, Thoubal River,

Khuga River Khuga River is a river of Manipur, India. It is a tributary of the Manipur River. The Khuga is impounded by the Khuga Dam at Churachandpur Churachandpur ( Meitei pronunciation: ''/tʃʊraːˌtʃaːnɗpʊr/'') is the district headquarter of t ...

and Sekmai river. Imphal River is the most prominent of the rivers which pass through the heart of the valley, and the river for which the entire valley is named. The Imphal valley is located in almost the centre of the state of

and is surrounded by hills on all sides. Manipur has multi-topographical characteristics; it is a part of the

eastern Himalaya ] The Eastern Himalayas extend from eastern Nepal across Northeast India, Bhutan, the Tibet Autonomous Region to Yunnan in China and northern Myanmar. The climate of this region is influenced by the monsoon of South Asia from June to September. It ...

s, especially its lower hills, and it is an important feature of the landscape of Manipur. The hills form one of the two main physical regions of the state. The other is the Manipur valley or the Imphal valley, in which the state capital, Imphal, Imphal city is situated. The hill ranges that surround the valley include Naga hills to the north, the East Manipur hills along the eastern Myanmar border, the Kuki hills to the south, and the West Manipur Hills to the west. Many geologists have suggested that the Imphal valley is actually a

lacustrine plain A lacustrine plain or lake plain is a plain formed due to the past existence of a lake and its accompanying sediment accumulation. Lacustrine plains can be formed through one of three major mechanisms: glacial drainage, differential uplift, and inla ...

formed by siltation of an ancient lake. The

Loktak Lake , image = , caption = Different scenes of the Loktak lake of Manipur , alt = View of Loktak Lake and Phumdis , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Manipur , coords ...

, biggest fresh water lake in the

northeast The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each se ...

region of India, located in the south west of the valley, is believed to be a remnant of the ancient lake. The valley is about 57.92 km from north to south and 32.19 km from east to west at its broadest. The area of the valley is only 1,864.44 sq.km. This plain area extends to the foothills of the mountains. All rivers of the valley flow south due to the slope of the valley from north to south. The average elevation of the valley is 790 m above mean sea level but in the north it is 832.2 m and in the south it is 760.01 meters from mean sea level.

Demographics

Manipur has a total population of around 2,855,794 as per the 2011 census. Out of this around 60% (approx) of the total population lives in the Imphal valley and the remaining 40% (approx) lives in the hill regions of Manipur. The valley region is mainly populated by the

Meitei people The Meitei people, also known as the Manipuri people,P.20: "historically, academically and conventionally Manipuri prominently refers to the Meetei people."P.24: "For the Meeteis, Manipuris comprise Meeteis, Lois, Kukis, Nagas and Pangal." is ...

(also known as the

Manipuris The Meitei people, also known as the Manipuri people,P.20: "historically, academically and conventionally Manipuri prominently refers to the Meetei people."P.24: "For the Meeteis, Manipuris comprise Meeteis, Lois, Kukis, Nagas and Pangal." is ...

Climate

The climate is temperate in the valley but comparatively cold in the hilly regions of Manipur. In summer the average high temperature is about 32–34 °C, while in the winter temperatures can drop to as low as about 1–2 °C.

References

{{coord missing, Manipur Manipur articles missing geocoordinate data Valleys of India Geology of India Geography of Manipur