27°30′N90°10′E / 27.500°N 90.167°E /27.500; 90.167
Wangdue Phodrang District དབང་འདུས་ཕོ་བྲང་རྫོང་ཁག། | |
|---|---|
 Map of Wangdue Phodrang District in Bhutan | |
| Country | Bhutan |
| Headquarters | Wangdue |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,308 km2 (1,663 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 42,186 |
| • Density | 9.792/km2 (25.36/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+6 (BTT) |
| HDI (2019) | 0.604[1] medium ·15th of 20 |
| Website | www |
Wangdue Phodrang District (Dzongkha: དབང་འདུས་ཕོ་བྲང་རྫོང་ཁག།;Wylie:Dbang-'dus Pho-brang rdzong-khag; previously spelled "Wangdi Phodrang") is aThromde anddzongkhag (district) of centralBhutan. This is also the name of thedzong (built in 1638) which dominates the district. The name is said to have been given by theShabdrung Ngawang Namgyal who was searching for the best location for a dzong to prevent incursions from the south. The word "wangdue" means unification of Country, and "Phodrang" means Palace inDzongkha.
Wangdue Phodrang is the largest dzongkhag in Bhutan by area[2] and is bordered byDagana andTsirang dzongkhags to the south,Trongsa dzongkhag to the east,Thimphu andPunakha dzongkhag to the west, andGasa dzongkhag and a small section of border withTibet to the north. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.
An historicdzong built byShabdrung Ngawang Namgyal in 1638 was located at Wangdue Phodrang. The dzong was burnt down by a fire in June 2012. However, as the dzong was being renovated at the time of the fire, most of the historic relics had been put into storage and so were saved from destruction.[3]
The dominant language in Wangdue Phodrang isDzongkha, the national language, spoken in the western two-thirds of the district. Communities along the border withBumthang District in the northeast speakLakha. Along the same border, in central Wangdue Phodrang, inhabitants speakNyenkha. In southeast Wangdue Phodrang, remnants of the autochthonous'Olekha (Black Mountain Monpa) speaking community barely survive.
There are three paved roads in Wangdue Phodrang dzongkhag. TheLateral Road enters from the west atDochu La Pass, crosses theSankosh (Puna Tsang Chhu) at Wangdue Phodrang dzong, and continues east to Tongsa. One spur road heads north from Wangdue Phodrang to the dzong atPunakha and slightly beyond. This road eventually becomes the trail toGasa. A second spur departs the Lateral Road near thePele La pass halfway between Wangdue and Tongsa, traveling south a short distance toGangteng Monastery and thePhobjika valley where the rareblack-necked cranes (grus nigricollis) may be found.
Wangdue Phodrang District is divided into fifteen village blocks (orgewogs):[4]
Most of Wangdue Phodrang District isenvironmentally protected. The northern half of the district (thegewogs ofKazhi,Dangchu andSephu) falls withinWangchuck Centennial Park, with northwestern pockets (thegewog ofKazhi) belonging toJigme Dorji National Park. Southeastern Wangdue (thegewogs ofAthang andPhobji) is part ofJigme Singye Wangchuck National Park. Also protected are thebiological corridors crisscrossing the district that connect Bhutan's extensive national park system.[4][5]
The environmentally precious and vulnerable lands ofPhobjika Valley are not protected by the government, but are maintained by the first and only Bhutanese private conservation group, theRoyal Society for the Protection of Nature (RSPN). Chartered as a public benefit nonprofit organization (PBO), the RSPN focuses on education, sustainable agriculture, ecotourism, and improving living standards in ecologically responsible ways.[6][7]
| Climate data for Punakha-Wangdue, elevation 1,236 m (4,055 ft), (1990–2017 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °C (°F) | 27.0 (80.6) | 30.5 (86.9) | 34.0 (93.2) | 35.5 (95.9) | 36.0 (96.8) | 37.0 (98.6) | 36.0 (96.8) | 35.5 (95.9) | 35.0 (95.0) | 35.0 (95.0) | 32.5 (90.5) | 28.0 (82.4) | 37.0 (98.6) |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 18.8 (65.8) | 20.7 (69.3) | 23.9 (75.0) | 26.8 (80.2) | 28.8 (83.8) | 30.5 (86.9) | 30.7 (87.3) | 30.4 (86.7) | 29.3 (84.7) | 27.4 (81.3) | 23.9 (75.0) | 20.2 (68.4) | 26.0 (78.7) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 12.3 (54.1) | 14.3 (57.7) | 17.6 (63.7) | 20.6 (69.1) | 23.1 (73.6) | 25.2 (77.4) | 25.8 (78.4) | 25.5 (77.9) | 24.4 (75.9) | 22.0 (71.6) | 17.7 (63.9) | 13.8 (56.8) | 20.2 (68.3) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 5.8 (42.4) | 7.9 (46.2) | 11.2 (52.2) | 14.4 (57.9) | 17.3 (63.1) | 19.9 (67.8) | 20.8 (69.4) | 20.6 (69.1) | 19.4 (66.9) | 16.6 (61.9) | 11.4 (52.5) | 7.3 (45.1) | 14.4 (57.9) |
| Record low °C (°F) | 0.0 (32.0) | 0.0 (32.0) | 2.0 (35.6) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.0 (50.0) | 12.0 (53.6) | 15.0 (59.0) | 13.5 (56.3) | 12.0 (53.6) | 7.0 (44.6) | 1.0 (33.8) | 1.0 (33.8) | 0.0 (32.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 13.7 (0.54) | 21.7 (0.85) | 17.1 (0.67) | 43.5 (1.71) | 85.4 (3.36) | 143.2 (5.64) | 157.9 (6.22) | 147.9 (5.82) | 101.0 (3.98) | 46.2 (1.82) | 4.7 (0.19) | 3.6 (0.14) | 785.9 (30.94) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 75.1 | 75.9 | 74.2 | 73.6 | 76.4 | 79.5 | 81.2 | 80.9 | 81.8 | 78.4 | 77.0 | 76.5 | 77.5 |
| Source: National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology[8] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Phobjika, Wangdue Phodrang District, elevation 2,860 m (9,380 ft), (1996–2017 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 9.4 (48.9) | 10.8 (51.4) | 13.1 (55.6) | 15.8 (60.4) | 17.6 (63.7) | 19.6 (67.3) | 20.0 (68.0) | 20.3 (68.5) | 18.9 (66.0) | 16.7 (62.1) | 13.2 (55.8) | 10.6 (51.1) | 15.5 (59.9) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 3.0 (37.4) | 3.8 (38.8) | 6.8 (44.2) | 9.3 (48.7) | 12.3 (54.1) | 14.8 (58.6) | 15.7 (60.3) | 15.9 (60.6) | 14.6 (58.3) | 11.2 (52.2) | 6.5 (43.7) | 3.3 (37.9) | 9.8 (49.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | −3.5 (25.7) | −3.3 (26.1) | 0.5 (32.9) | 2.8 (37.0) | 6.9 (44.4) | 10.0 (50.0) | 11.3 (52.3) | 11.4 (52.5) | 10.3 (50.5) | 5.6 (42.1) | −0.3 (31.5) | −4.1 (24.6) | 4.0 (39.1) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 3.7 (0.15) | 11.0 (0.43) | 90.0 (3.54) | 188.7 (7.43) | 273.9 (10.78) | 267.7 (10.54) | 516.3 (20.33) | 530.4 (20.88) | 211.3 (8.32) | 97.4 (3.83) | 36.6 (1.44) | 1.2 (0.05) | 2,228.2 (87.72) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 70.0 | 67.0 | 69.7 | 70.7 | 76.6 | 80.6 | 82.6 | 83.2 | 81.4 | 77.3 | 70.9 | 65.4 | 74.6 |
| Source: National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology[9] | |||||||||||||
| Climate data for Samtengang, Wangdue Phodrang District, elevation 1,960 m (6,430 ft), (1996–2017 normals) | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Mean daily maximum °C (°F) | 15.4 (59.7) | 16.2 (61.2) | 19.4 (66.9) | 23.7 (74.7) | 25.2 (77.4) | 26.2 (79.2) | 25.9 (78.6) | 26.2 (79.2) | 25.3 (77.5) | 23.9 (75.0) | 18.8 (65.8) | 17.3 (63.1) | 22.0 (71.5) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 10.0 (50.0) | 10.8 (51.4) | 13.7 (56.7) | 17.2 (63.0) | 19.4 (66.9) | 20.7 (69.3) | 21.4 (70.5) | 21.5 (70.7) | 20.5 (68.9) | 18.1 (64.6) | 13.5 (56.3) | 11.7 (53.1) | 16.5 (61.8) |
| Mean daily minimum °C (°F) | 4.6 (40.3) | 5.4 (41.7) | 8.0 (46.4) | 10.7 (51.3) | 13.6 (56.5) | 15.2 (59.4) | 16.9 (62.4) | 16.7 (62.1) | 15.7 (60.3) | 12.3 (54.1) | 8.1 (46.6) | 6.1 (43.0) | 11.1 (52.0) |
| Average rainfall mm (inches) | 4.4 (0.17) | 13.2 (0.52) | 22.6 (0.89) | 48.9 (1.93) | 88.3 (3.48) | 125.4 (4.94) | 229.0 (9.02) | 204.4 (8.05) | 130.9 (5.15) | 69.0 (2.72) | 9.7 (0.38) | 3.0 (0.12) | 948.8 (37.37) |
| Averagerelative humidity (%) | 82.0 | 81.7 | 81.3 | 81.1 | 82.9 | 84.9 | 87.5 | 87.8 | 85.8 | 83.9 | 82.7 | 82.8 | 83.7 |
| Source: National Center for Hydrology and Meteorology[10] | |||||||||||||