Manang District ( ne, मनाङ जिल्ला , a part of

Gandaki Province Gandaki Province ( ne, गण्डकी प्रदेश ) ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015. Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borde ...

, is one of the seventy-seven

districts of Nepal Districts in Nepal are second level of administrative divisions after provinces. Districts are subdivided in municipalities and rural municipalities. There are seven provinces and 77 districts in Nepal. After the state's reconstruction of admi ...

. The district, with Chame as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population (2011) of 6,538. The pass of Thorung La at 5415 meters above the sea connects the district to Mustang District by providing a route between the towns of Manang and

Muktinath Muktinath is a Vishnu temple, sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists. It is located in Muktinath Valley at the foot of the Thorong La mountain pass in Mustang, Nepal. It is one of the world's highest temples (altitude 3,800 m). Within Hinduism, it ...

. Manang district gets least amount of rainfall among districts of Nepal as it lies to the north of the Himalayas which blocks monsoon air. The Manang Valley, which lies close to the Nepal-Tibet border, offers tremendous opportunities due to its rich natural flora and fauna. Three tracks start from here. The first, via Thorangla, Muktinath, and Mustang to Lhasa—a journey that takes four days; the second via Naur Khola and Naurgaon, which takes five days to Lhasa; and finally the third via Larkiya bazar, which is the one most commonly used by the people of Central Nepal. Along with the Marwaris who have migrated from India to Nepal in large numbers, the Manangies are the best known traders of Nepal. They have received special dispensation from the King to trade in South East Asia, and travel abroad with precious stones and metals, musk, herbs and other items. They import ready-made garments, watches and electronic goods. Many of the Manangies spend as much as six months away from home, returning only during the summers. Many of them reside in Kathmandu, where their children study in the English medium schools. The parents' lack of proficiency in the English language is irrelevant as it in no way affects their trading skills. Since the area was opened to outsiders in the late 1970s, many have switched from the traditional agriculture to hoteleering. The trail from Manang to Muktinath has been used by the locals for hundreds of years to transport huge herds of sheep and yak in and out of Manang. It is an important route for the people of the region. The northern parts of Manang Valley are dry, brown and desolate places, very different from the thick forests and brown green valleys of Sikkim and Eastern Nepal. Thorangla

Geography and climate

Demographics

At the time of the

2011 Nepal census Nepal conducted a widespread national census in 2011 by the Nepal Central Bureau of Statistics. Working with the 58 municipalities and the 3915 Village Development Committees at a district level, they recorded data from all the municipalities and ...

, Manang District had a population of 6,538. Of these, 56.9% spoke

Gurung Gurung (exonym; ) or Tamu (endonym; Gurung: ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. Gurung people predominantly live around the Annapurna region in Manang, Mustang, Dolpo, Kaski, Lamjung, Go ...

, 21.0%

Nepali Nepali or Nepalese may refer to : Concerning Nepal * Anything of, from, or related to Nepal * Nepali people, citizens of Nepal * Nepali language, an Indo-Aryan language found in Nepal, the current official national language and a language spoken ...

, 8.5% Tamang, 7.3% Sherpa, 1.7% Magar, 1.1% Newari and 0.8% Thakali as their

first language A first language, native tongue, native language, mother tongue or L1 is the first language or dialect that a person has been exposed to from birth or within the critical period. In some countries, the term ''native language'' or ''mother to ...

. 76.9% of the population in the district spoke

and 0.6% Sherpa as their

second language A person's second language, or L2, is a language that is not the native language ( first language or L1) of the speaker, but is learned later. A second language may be a neighbouring language, another language of the speaker's home country, or a ...

Administration

The district consists of four

rural municipalities A rural municipality is a classification of municipality, a type of local government, found in several countries. These include: * Rural municipalities in Canada, a type of municipal status in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, ...

. These are as follows: * Chame * Nason Rural Municipality * Narpa Bhumi Rural Municipality * Manang Ngisyang Rural Municipality

Former Municipalities and Village Development Committees

Prior to the restructuring of the district, Manang District consisted of the following municipalities and

Village development committees A village development committee ( ne, गाउँ विकास समिति; ''gāum̐ vikās samiti'') in Nepal was the lower administrative part of its Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development. Each district had several VDCs ...

: * Bhakra * Chame * Dharapani * Ghyaru * Khangsar * Manang * Nar * Ngawal * Phu *

Pisang Pisang is a village development committee in Manang District in the Gandaki Zone of northern Nepal. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census it had a population of 307 people living in 105 individual households. The village is locate ...

* Tachi Bagarchhap * Tanki Manang * Thoche

References

External links