Dibang Valley ( ) is a district of the Indian state of

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

named after the Dibang River or the Talon as the Mishmis call it. It is the least populated district in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and has an area of .

History

In June 1980, Dibang Valley district was created out of part of

Lohit district Lohit () is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. The district headquarters is located at Tezu. As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Arunachal Pradesh, after Papum Pare and Changlang. Etymol ...

. On 16 December 2001, Dibang Valley district was bifurcated into Dibang Valley district and Lower Dibang Valley district.

Geography

The Dibang River originates in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh and flows through the length of the valley which is named after it. The Dibang has multiple tributaries and only once it debouches into the plains is it called by its name. Some of the major rivers of Dibang Valley District are: Ahui, Emra, Mathun, Dri, Tangon, Ithun, and Ange. The capital of this district, Anini, is the northernmost district capital in

Northeast India Northeast India, officially the North Eastern Region (NER), is the easternmost region of India representing both a geographic and political Administrative divisions of India, administrative division of the country. It comprises eight States and ...

. This district contains the northernmost point of

Transport

The proposed Mago- Thingbu to Vijaynagar Arunachal Pradesh Frontier Highway along the McMahon Line, (will intersect with the proposed East-West Industrial Corridor Highway) will pass through this district, alignment map of which can be see
here
an
here

Divisions

There is only one Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly constituency in this district- the Anini constituency. It is part of Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.

Demographics

According to the 2011 census Dibang Valley district has a

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 7,948, roughly equal to the nation of

Nauru Nauru, officially the Republic of Nauru, formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country and microstate in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies within the Micronesia subregion of Oceania, with its nearest neighbour being Banaba (part of ...

. This gives it a ranking of 640th in India (out of a total of

640 Year 640 ( DCXL) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 640 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming y ...

). The district has a population density of .With this, it is also the most sparsely populated district in India. Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 9.3%. Dibang Valley has a

sex ratio A sex ratio is the ratio of males to females in a population. As explained by Fisher's principle, for evolutionary reasons this is typically about 1:1 in species which reproduce sexually. However, many species deviate from an even sex ratio, ei ...

of 808 females for every 1000 males, and a

literacy rate Literacy is the ability to read and write, while illiteracy refers to an inability to read and write. Some researchers suggest that the study of "literacy" as a concept can be divided into two periods: the period before 1950, when literacy was ...

of 64.8%. The major population of this district consists of Mishmi (Idu). The Mishmis have a story narrating the first journeys undertaken in course of migration. The story conveys the names and location of the Cheethu-Huluni or the twelve rivers that the Mishmi (Idu) people came over in the region and settled around. The first accounts of the Mishmi (Idus) are found in the narrations given by the neighboring Ahoms. The Mishmis inhabited the deep jungles of what is now the Dibang valley.

Religion

About 40% of the district's population follows

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...

. The Mishmi(Idu) people here believes that Rukmini-Chief Consort of

Lord Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is wi ...

belonged to their tribe. The plays and dances on ‘Rukmini haran’ are common. There is a legend that

asked the Mishmi people to cut their hair as a form of punishment for not allowing him to marry

Rukmini Rukmini (, ) is a Devi, Hindu goddess and the first queen of Krishna. She is described as the chief of Krishna's wives in Dvārakā. Rukmini is revered as the avatar of Lakshmi and is venerated primarily in Warkari, and Haridasa tradition, and ...

. Due to this Idu-Mishmi people are also called "chulikata" (chuli-hair, kata- cut).

Languages

Languages spoken include Idu Mishmi with approximately 25,000 speakers, written in both

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

and Devanagric scripts.

Flora and fauna

The district is rich in wildlife. Rare mammals such as Mishmi takin, red goral and

Gongshan muntjac The Gongshan muntjac (''Muntiacus gongshanensis'') is a species of muntjac (a type of deer) living in the Gongshan mountains in northwestern Yunnan, southeast Tibet, Northeast India (especially in Arunachal Pradesh) and northern Myanmar. Ongoin ...

occur, while among birds there is the rare Sclater's monal. A flying squirrel new to science was discovered from this district in the 2000s. It has been named as Mishmi giant flying squirrel, ''Petaurista mishmiensis''.Choudhury, Anwaruddin (2009).One more new flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista Link, 1795 from Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. The Newsletter and Journal of the RhinoFoundation for nat. in NE India 8: 26–34, plates. In 1991, Dibang Valley district became home to the Dibang Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of .

Map

File:NH-46-16 Nizamghat India.jpg

References

External links

Official Website of Dibang Valley District Government
{{Authority control Districts of Arunachal Pradesh 1980 establishments in Arunachal Pradesh