Kimathanka is a Village (previously, a village development committee) in

Bhotkhola Bhotkhola ( ne, भोटखोला गाउँपालिका) is a rural municipality (gaunpalika) out of five rural municipality located in Sankhuwasabha District of Province No. 1 of Nepal. There are a total of 10 municipalities in Sankhu ...

rural municipality of

Sankhuwasabha District Sankhuwasabha District ( ne, सङ्खुवासभा जिल्ला ) is one of 14 districts of Province No. 1 of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011. ...

of Province No. 1,

Nepal Nepal (; ne, :ne:नेपाल, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in S ...

and serves as the Nepalese counterpart of the Nepal-China (

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 � ...

) border at Zhentang (Chentang). At the time of the

1991 census A nationwide census, commonly known as Census 1991, was conducted in the United Kingdom on Sunday 21 April 1991. This was the 19th UK census. ''Census 1991'' was organised by the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys in England and Wales, t ...

, it had a population of 303 people living in 50 individual households. Being among the most remote Himalayan villages of Nepal, Kimathanka is also the end point of the in-progress 362 kilometers long

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Province No. 1. With a population of 242,548 as per the 2011 census, it is the largest city in the province and also the headquarters of Morang district. As per the pr ...

Khandbari Khandbari is the district headquarters of Sankhuwasabha District in Province No. 1 of north-eastern Nepal. The 2011 Nepal census counted 26,301 population. The area A road connects Khandbari directly south to Biratnagar and the Terai. Khandba ...

-Kimathanka road called Koshi Highway, which plans to connect the village with the provincial headquarter of

and subsequently, with the Indian border town of

Jogbani Jogbani is a town, a notified area in Araria District of Bihar state, India. It lies on the Indo-Nepal border with Morang District, Koshi Zone and is a gateway to Biratnagar city. There is a customs checkpoint for goods at the border. Indian ...

. The

Arun River The River Arun () is a river in the English county of West Sussex. At long, it is the longest river entirely in Sussex and one of the longest starting in Sussex after the River Medway, River Wey and River Mole. From the series of small stream ...

runs through the valley below the village. In 2019, road embankment construction on the Chinese side led to fear of potential downstream flooding in Kimathanka. In November 2020,

Prime Minister of Nepal The Prime Minister of Nepal ( ne, नेपालको प्रधानमन्त्री) is the head of government of Nepal. The Prime Minister is the head of the Council of Ministers of Nepal and the chief adviser to the President of ...

KP Sharma Oli Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli ( ne, खड्गप्रसाद शर्मा ओली, ; born 22 February 1952) is a Nepalese politician and former Prime Minister of Nepal. He served three terms as prime minister from 11 October 2015 to 3 Augu ...

visited Kimathanka inspecting the progress of Koshi Highway and other infrastructure projects in the area.

Border

Kimathanka is near the border with

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 ...

. The border was part of brief dispute between China and Nepal before 1960. The dispute was resolved in their 1961 border agreement. The Chentang township in Tibet is on the other side of the valley. There has been local cross-border trade for decades. It has been sufficiently crucial for the local economy in recent years that in 2008 when Chinese tightened its border control during the Olympics, Kimathanka and the nearby villages faced food shortages due to disruption of the local trade. A Chinese border checkpoint was set up in 2011 checking border crossing permits of Nepalese. In 2015, there were recorded 7700 border crossings and the annual trade at this port was valued at .

Culture

Kimathanka was one of the areas of Nepal that had traditionally practiced

polyandry Polyandry (; ) is a form of polygamy in which a woman takes two or more husbands at the same time. Polyandry is contrasted with polygyny, involving one male and two or more females. If a marriage involves a plural number of "husbands and wives ...

, however that practice is fading.

References

External links

UN map of the municipalities of Sankhuwasabha District
Populated places in Sankhuwasabha District China–Nepal border crossings {{Sankhuwasabha-geo-stub