Samdrup Jongkhar District

Samdrup Jongkhar District (Dzongkha: བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: Bsam-grub Ljongs-mkhar rdzong-khag) is one of the 20 dzongkhags (districts) comprising Bhutan. The dominant languages of the district are Tshangla (Sharchopkha) in the north and west, and Lhotsam in the east. It covers a total area of 1878 sq km.[2] Samdrup Dzongkhag comprises two Dungkhags: Jomotsangkha and Samdrupcholing, and 11 Gewogs.[2]

Samdrup Jongkhar district
བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་རྫོང་ཁག
District
Map of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan
Map of Samdrup Jongkhar District in Bhutan
CountryBhutan
HeadquartersSamdrup Jongkhar
Area
 • Total1,878 km2 (725 sq mi)
Population
 (2017)
 • Total35,079
 • Density19/km2 (48/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+6 (BTT)
HDI (2019)0.614[1]
medium · 11th
Websitewww.samdrupjongkhar.gov.bt

Geography edit

Samdrup Jongkhar District is situated in the southeastern corner of the country, sharing its southern and northern borders with the Indian states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, respectively. The district falls within the subtropical climate zone, spanning an elevation range of 200 to 3600 meters above sea level. The temperature in this region varies from a minimum of 14°C to a maximum of 36°C during the peak summer months. The average annual rainfall, as recorded at Aerong, is 5309.4 mm, contributing to the lush environment. The district experiences an average annual temperature of 23.8 °C, with approximately 2749 mm of precipitation occurring annually.[3]



Dzongdags' succession edit

 
Dasho Tashi Wangmo

"Dzongdag"[4] is a term used in Bhutan to refer to the head of a dzongkhag, which is a district in the country. The dzongdag is essentially the administrative head of the district and is responsible for overseeing various governmental functions and services within that district. They are appointed by the central government and play a crucial role in local governance and administration. The dzongdag is typically a civil servant with significant experience in administration and governance.

བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་ནང་ དྲགོས་རྫོང་བདག་རིམ་བྱོན་གྱི་ཐོ།
SN Name Year Village
1 Dasho Karma Dorji 1976-1981 Ramjar Trashi Yangtse
2 Dasho Passang Tobhay 1981-1985 Samkhar Trashigang
3 Dasho Thuji Yonten 1985-1988 Jangsa Paro
4 Dasho Goenpo Tshering 1988-1989 Paro
5 Dasho Dorji Namgyal 1989-1991 Paro
6 Dasho Dorji Wangdi 1991-1997 Drametse Mongar
7 Dasho Palden Wangchuk 1997-2003 Wangduephodrang
8 Dasho Sangay Dorji 2003-2007 Trashi Yangtse
9 Dasho Phub Tshering 2007-2013 Paro
10 Dasho Goling Tshering 2013-2016 Goling Zhemgang
11 Dasho Tharchin Lhendup 2016-2022 Chumey Bumtang
12 Dasho Tashi Wangmo 2022-Present Haa

Vision edit

A self-reliant Dzongkhag co-existing in peace and harmony with enhanced socio-economic standards, rich natural resources and cultural heritage

༉ དགའ་སྐྱིད་དང་མཐུན་འབྲེལ་ཐོག་ དཔལ་འབྱོར་གོང་འཕེལ་དང་རང་བཞིན་གནས་སྟངས་ དེ་ལས་ རང་ལུགས་ལམ་སྲོལ་དང་ལྡན་པའི་ རང་གིས་རང་ལངས་ཚུགས་པའི་ རྫོང་ཁག། །།

Mission edit

To enhance rural livelihood with good local governance in line with culture and environment

༉ རང་བཞིན་གནས་སྟངས་དང་ རང་ལུགས་ལམ་སྲོལ་དང་མཐུན་སྟེ་ གྲོང་གསེབ་གོང་འཕེལ་དང་ ས་གནས་གཞུང་གོང་འཕེལ་གཏང་ནི།། །།

Population edit

According to the Population and Housing Census of Bhutan (PHCB) conducted in 2017, the population was recorded at 35,079.[5]

Administrative Divisions edit

 
The Samdrup Jongkhar Dzong was inagurated by H.E. Lyonpo T. Jagar, Honorable Home Minister on 24th November 1983.

Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag is an Administrative region located in southeastern Bhutan. The Dzongkhag is subdivided into two Drungkhags and eleven (gewogs)[6]

Samdrup Choling Drungkhag is positioned approximately 68 km away from the main administrative zone. It encompasses Gewogs such as Samrang, Pemathang, Phuntshothang, and Martsalla.

Jomotsangkha Drungkhag is situated at a distance of around 181 km via India. Within its jurisdiction lie Gewogs such as Lauri, Serthi, and Langchenphu. Completing the administrative structure are Gewogs like Doethang, Orong, Gomdar, and Wangphu.

Economy edit

Samdrup Jongkhar Brand edit

 
SAMJONG Brand Logo

SAMJONG, the distinctive brand of Samdrup Jongkhar District, was unveiled on June 23, 2023,[7] with a visionary purpose: to champion local products and destinations. The custodian of this brand is the Rural Youth Processing and Marketing Enterprise, comprising enthusiastic youth from eleven gewogs. SAMJONG's primary focus lies in crafting value-added products, cultivating a profound sense of local identity, curbing imports, addressing market challenges, alleviating unemployment concerns, reinforcing cooperative efforts, and propelling the local economy to new heights. By synergizing these elements, SAMJONG aims to elevate the district's economic landscape while celebrating its rich heritage and fostering community pride.

edit

The name "Samjong" is a contraction of "Samdrup Jongkhar," which indicates the origin of the products associated with the brand.

The logo features two stylized leaves positioned above the name "SAMJONG," which represents the progressive economic growth of the Dzongkhag.

Inside the letter "O" of the word "SAMJONG," a small leaf growing upwards represents the green economy growth and sustainability.

The national brand, “BHUTAN BELIEVE”, above the word "SAMJONG," conveys the Dzongkhag’s initiatives are in line with core values of National Brand.

ལས་རྟགས་ཀྱི་འགྲེལ་བཤད།

བསམ་ལྗོངས་ཟེར་མི་ཐ་སྙད་འདི་ བསམ་གྲུབ་ལྗོངས་མཁར་གྱི་བསྡུ་ཚིག་ཨིན། འདི་གིས་ ཐོན་རྣམ་དང་འབྲེལ་བའི་ ཐོན་སྐྱེད་ཀྱི་འབྱུང་གནས་ བརྡ་མཚོནམ་ཨིན།

བསམ་ལྗོངས་ཚིག་གི་བལྟ་ལུ་ འདམ་མ་གཉིས་ཡོད་མི་འདི་ རྫོང་ཁག་གི་དཔལ་འབྱོར་གོང་འཕེལ་ བརྡ་མཚོནམ་ཨིན།

བསམ་ལྗོངས་ཚིག་གི་ཡི་གུ་ ཨོ་གི་ནང་ན་ འདམ་མ་ཁ་ཡར་སྦེ་རྒྱས་ཏེ་ཡོད་མི་གིས་ ཡར་རྒྱས་དང་ཡུན་བརྟན་ བརྡ་མཚོནམ་ཨིན།

བསམ་ལྗོངས་ཚིག་གི་བལྟ་ལུ་ རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཀྱི་ལས་རྟགས་ཡོད་མི་འདི་ རྫོང་ཁག་གི་རྩོལ་སྒྲུབ་ག་ར་ རྒྱལ་ཡོངས་ཐོན་རྣམ་གྱི་ནང་སྙིང་བརྩི་མཐོང་དང་འབྲེལ་བ་ཡོདཔ་སྦེ་ བརྡ་མཚོནམ་ཨིན།

Farmer Groups and Cooperatives. edit

In the Dzongkhag, there are 6 registered cooperatives and 47 farmers' groups. The majority of FGs are in the Agriculture Sector, followed by Livestock and then Forestry, with 41% in agriculture, 32% in livestock, and 18% in forestry.[8]

Agriculture and livestock edit

Samdrup Jongkhar's mainstay cash crops include areca nuts, ginger, garlic, oranges, and Cardamom. Notably, Samdrup Jongkhar has also introduced high-value crops like quinoa and avocado, broadening its agricultural scope.[9]

Fruits Grown In Samdrup Jongkhar edit

SN Fruits Production (MT) No. of Trees/Sown Area(Acre)
1 Apple 0.16 1285
2 Areca Nut 1604.64 366223
3 Mandarin 2377.95 207599
4 Watermelon 2.89 1.26
5 Dragon Fruit 0.09 546`
6 Mango 41.40 8954
7 Avacado 2.27 6741
8 Litchi 24.7 4537
9 Banana 164.58 4622
10 Papaya 11.54 955
11 Passion Fruit 4.86 452

Cereals Grown in Samdrup Jongkhar edit

SN Cereals Production (MT) Sown Area (Acre)
1 Irrigated Paddy 2143.26 1395.7
2 upland paddy 5 26.98
3 Maize 2750.26 2138.03
4 Wheat 6.65 14.64
5 Buckwheat 334.53 614.54
7 Barley 29.43 53.97
8 Millet 34.63 78.44
9 Quinoa 1.25 2.80

The agricultural practices in Samdrup Jongkhar encompass both dry and wet land cultivation. A unique cereal, known as Khamtay, distinguishes the dzongkhag. In the livestock sector, the region encompasses various activities, including aquaculture, apiculture, piggery, poultry, and sheep rearing.[9]

Mines edit

 
Tshophangma Coal Mine

Samdrup Jongkhar, located in southeastern Bhutan, is home to various mines, including coal mines, which play a significant role in the region's economy. Coal mining in Samdrup Jongkhar has been a prominent activity, contributing to both local employment and national energy needs. The coal mines in Samdrup Jongkhar are situated in diverse locations across the district, showcasing Bhutan's rich natural resources.[10]

SN Mine Names Promoter Location
1 Habrang Coal Mine SMCL Khatoethang, Phuntshothang
2 Tshopama Coal Mine SMCL Tshophagma, Martsala
3 Majuwa Coal Mine SMCL Tsholingkhar,Phuntshothang
4 Reshore Coal Mine SMCL Reshore, Doethang

Tourism edit

The Chökyi Gyatso Institute (CGI)

 
Chökyi Gyatso Institute (CGI)

It is located at Dewathang. It is truly unique in various aspects. It originated as a small temple constructed by Dzongsar Khyentse Rinpoche’s maternal grandfather, Lama Sonam Zangpo.[11] Following a ten-year renovation, the monastery began its final phase of reconstruction in 2015.

Bhairab Kunda Shiva Mandir edit

 
Bhairab Kunda Shiva Mandir

The Shiva Mandir at Jomotsangkha is popular among the local visitors and also regional tourists from across the border. There is a self-arisen lake with linga beside the cave.[12]

Narphu – Samdrupjongkhar birding route edit

Located about sixty kilometers away from the main town, the area near the famous mirror cliff (melong brak) is a sub-tropical forest with a warm climate and a variety of broadleaf trees. This makes it a popular place for birdwatching, as it's home to approximately 360 different bird species found in Bhutan, such as the Beautiful Nuthatch, Crimson Sunbird, Asian Emerald Cuckoo, Greater Goldenback, Ruby-cheeked Sunbird, and White-browed Scimitar Babbler. Birdwatching is best enjoyed during the spring, fall, and winter seasons.[13]

The Dungsam Seeds Bank edit

 
Dungsam Seed Bank

The seed bank includes sixty-seven different kinds of seeds for cereals and vegetables that are native to the area. This place is like a library for seeds, especially the important ones known as Dru-na-gu.[13]

Samdrup Jongkhar Tsechu edit

 
SAMJONG TSECHU

The Samdrup Jongkhar Dzongkhag Tshechu is held annually from the 13th to the 15th of the eleventh month of the Bhutanese calendar. This three-day event features performances by Rabdey monks and dzongkhag dancers, presenting a variety of mask dances and cultural showcases. The Tshechu reaches its climax with the unveiling of the Guru Tshengey Thongdrel.[14]

Industry edit

Motanga Industrial Park, situated in Samdrup Jongkhar, is a pivotal initiative by the Bhutanese government to cultivate small to medium-sized industries.[15] Its strategic location, a mere 12 km from SJ Town and near the Indian border, positions it as an ideal manufacturing and export-focused enclave. Encompassing a substantial 156 acres, the park is a nucleus for key sectors, including mineral and chemical-based, forest and wood-based, as well as food and agro-based industries. This dynamic endeavor exemplifies Bhutan's dedication to economic diversification, fostering growth, and strengthening cross-border trade relationships.

SN Name of Lessee Proposed Business Business Activity Type of Investment,Size
1 M/s S.D East Bhutan Ferro Silicon Private Limited M/s S.D East Bhutan Ferro Silicon Private Limited Production of magnesium ferro silicon and ferro silicon based inoculants Large, Domestic
2 M/s Bhutan Gypsum Product Pvt.Ltd M/s Bhutan Gypsum Product Pvt.Ltd Production of Plaster of Paris Large, Domestic
3 Barma chemical&plaster private limited Barma chemical&plaster private limited Production of Gypsum Powder and Palster of Paris. Medium, Domestic
4 Azista Health Care Pvt.Ltd Azista Health Care Pvt.Ltd Manufacturing of Pharmaceutical Products. FDI, Large
5 Mr. Phuntsho Tenzin Thongley wire Industry Production and supply of nails,wires and barbed wire. Small

Protected areas edit

Samdrup Jongkhar contains protected areas. Southeastern Samdrup Jongkhar District (the gewogs of Langchenphu, Pemathang, Samrang and Serthi) contains Khaling Wildlife Sanctuary, which is connected via biological corridors to Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary to the north (Trashigang District) and Royal Manas National Park to the west (several districts). A small portion of northern Lauri Gewog is part of the Sakteng Wildlife Sanctuary.[6][16]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Sub-national HDI - Area Database - Global Data Lab". hdi.globaldatalab.org. Retrieved 2018-09-13.
  2. ^ a b Facts about Bhutan The Land of the Thunder Dragon. Absolute Bhutan Books. 2017. p. 368.
  3. ^ "GPI Atlantic in Bhutan". www.gpiatlantic.org. Retrieved 2024-02-13.
  4. ^ https://parliament.bt. "Local Government Act of Bhutan, 2009". Parliament of Bhutan. Retrieved 2024-03-27. {{cite web}}: External link in |last= (help)
  5. ^ "District Profile". www.samdrupjongkhar.gov.bt. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  6. ^ a b "Chiwogs in Samdrup Jongkhar" (PDF). Election Commission, Government of Bhutan. 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-10-02. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
  7. ^ "Samdrup Jongkhar unveils brand 'SAMJONG" to promote local products". BBSCL. 2023-06-25. Retrieved 2024-02-26.
  8. ^ "FGs Report, 2023". www.samdrupjongkhar.gov.bt. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  9. ^ a b "Agriculture – National Statistics Bureau". Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  10. ^ "Habrang Coal Mine". Global Energy Monitor. 2021-09-08. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  11. ^ "Chökyi Gyatso Institute (CGI)". www.samdrupjongkhar.gov.bt. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  12. ^ Newspaper, Bhutan's Daily. "Significance of Bhairab Kunda Temple in Bhutan". Kuensel Online. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  13. ^ a b "The unseen adventures in Samdrupjongkhar". www.linkedin.com. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  14. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
  15. ^ Property, New Asia (2021-03-10). "Motanga Industrial Park - Bhutan Industrial Estates Asia - border with India". Industrial Estates Asia. Retrieved 2024-02-11.
  16. ^ "Parks of Bhutan". Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation online. Bhutan Trust Fund. Archived from the original on 2011-07-02. Retrieved 2011-03-26.

External links edit


26°55′N 91°37′E / 26.917°N 91.617°E / 26.917; 91.617