Lohit district | |
|---|---|
 View of the Lohit River | |
.svg) Location in Arunachal Pradesh | |
| Country | India |
| State | Arunachal Pradesh |
| Division | East |
| Headquarters | Tezu |
| Tehsils | 3 |
| Government | |
| • District collector | Prince Dhawan, IAS |
| • Lok Sabha constituencies | 1 |
| • Vidhan Sabha constituencies | 1 |
| Area | |
• Total | 2,402 km2 (927 sq mi) |
| Population (2011)[1] | |
• Total | 49,776 |
| • Density | 20.72/km2 (53.67/sq mi) |
| Demographics | |
| • Literacy | 69.9%[1] |
| • Sex ratio | 901[1] |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (IST) |
| Major highways | nh-13 |
| Website | lohit |
Lohit district (/ˈləʊhɪt/) is an administrative district in the state ofArunachal Pradesh in India. The district headquarters is located atTezu. As of 2011 it is the third most populous district of Arunachal Pradesh, afterPapum Pare andChanglang.[1]
It was known earlier as theMishmi Hills. The district is named after theLohit River and consists of the river valley and hills/mountains to thenorth andsouth.[citation needed]
Duringmedieval times, the present district was under the control of the rulers of theChutiya Kingdom. The Chutiyas controlled the area from the early 13th century to the 16th century and during the 19th century, it became one of the lastterritories to be brought underBritish control after the punitiveAbor and Mishmi Expedition in the first decade of 20th century. The ruins of the hill fortBhismaknagar is from the Chutia period.
In June 1980,Dibang Valley district was split from Lohit (and has since been bifurcated again to create the newLower Dibang Valley district).[2] On 16 February 2004,Anjaw district was carved out from the northern part of Lohit district borderingTibet andMyanmar, with its headquarters atHawai. Anjaw was carved out under the Arunachal Pradesh Re-organization of DistrictsAmendment Bill.[2]Namsai was split from Lohit in 2013.
Wakro is an important sub-division of this district. It is adisyllabic word originated from the local dialectMiju Mishmi. Another important sub-division of Lohit is Sunpura, which is located near theAssam-Arunachalborder. Lohit district occupies an area of 11,402 km2 (4,402 sq mi) and has a population of 143,478 (as of 2001).[citation needed]
FourArunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly constituencies are located in this district:Tezu,Wakro, Sunpura. All of these are part ofArunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.[3]
The area is highly inaccessible, and it was only in 2004 that a permanent bridge has been made operational across the Lohit at theholy site ofParashuram Kund, giving a round-the-year connection toTezu. About 100 km (62 mi) east of Tezu lies the small town ofHayuliang, and this is slated to become the headquarters of a new district. The road along the Lohit runs right up to the small garrison town ofWalong just south of the Chinese border, site of the famous Battle of Walong in 1962.[citation needed]
According to the2011 census the erstwhile Lohit district has apopulation of 145,726,[1] roughly equal to the nation ofSaint Lucia.[4] This gives it a ranking of 601st in India (out of a total of640).[1] The district has a population density of 28 inhabitants per square kilometre (73/sq mi) .[1] Itspopulation growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 16.44%.[1] Lohit has asex ratio of 901females for every 1000 males,[1] and aliteracy rate of 69.88%.[1] The divided district has a population of 49,776. 15,920 are Scheduled Tribes.
Lohit is the home of theAdi,Zekhring,Khampti,Singpho andMishmi tribes. A small group ofTibetans have settled in Lohit since the 1960s. The Zekhring are TibetanBuddhists; the Khampti and Singpho are Threvada Buddhists, and the Mishmi and Adis are mainlyAnimists.[citation needed]
The most populous language spoken in the district isNepali, with 28.19% of the population. 24.02% speakMishmi, 16.4%Hindi, 9.09%Bengali, 5.41%Assamese, 2.87%Adi, 2.28%Tibetan, 1.73%Odia as their first language.[6]
| Religion | Per cent | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hinduism | 67.95% | |||
| Buddhism | 16.78% | |||
| Christianity | 7.33% | |||
| Donyi Polo | 4.99% | |||
| Islam | 2.64% | |||
| Others | 0.30% | |||
In 1989 Lohit district became home to the KamlangWildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 783 km2 (302.3 mi2).[8] It is the home to some of the endangeredflora andfauna. The district has been found to be an ideal place forJatropha cultivation, which is used forbio-diesel making.
In the western part of the district, north of the Lohit River occurs the newsubspecies ofhoolock gibbon, which has been described and named as Mishmi Hills hoolockH. h. mishmiensis.[9] A new giantflying squirrel named as Mishmi Hills giant flying squirrel also occurs north of the Lohit River.[10]
Saint Lucia 161,557 July 2011 est.
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