| Mangan district | |
| Native Name Lang: | Nepali |
| Settlement Type: | District of Sikkim |
| Coordinates: | 27.5167°N 120°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Sikkim |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Mangan |
| Leader Title: | District Collector (DC) |
| Leader Name: | Mr. A B Karki [1] |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 4226 |
| Elevation M: | 610 |
| Population Total: | 43,709 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +05:30 |
| Registration Plate: | SK-03 |
| Iso Code: | IN-SK |
North Sikkim (now officially named as Mangan District)[2] is a district of the Indian state of Sikkim. Its district headquarters is Mangan. It is the seventh least populous district in the country (out of 640).[3]
Mangan is the largest of the six districts of Sikkim. The landscape is mountainous with dense vegetation all the way up to the alpine altitude before thinning out to desert scrub towards the northern tundra. Numerous waterfalls astride the main road make the trip to this district extremely picturesque.
The most prominent effect of the steepness of the valleys is the prevalence of landslides that at times drop debris anything between 3000and carrying devastation along their course. Most of them are caused either by melting snow beds on top of the mountains or by erosive action of monsoon rains.
Most of the people of the state reside near Mangan, the district headquarters which is about 3000feet above sea level. Further north the elevation increases with the vegetation turning from temperate to alpine to tundra. Temperatures range from about 25°C to below NaN°C in the extreme high reaches where the altitude is in excess of 6000-3NaN-3. Kanchenjunga is the highest peak at over 8000-3NaN-3, straddling its western border with Nepal and can be seen clearly from the town of Singhik.[4]
Since 2002, the district has been divided into three assembly constituencies.
Mangan is known as the Large Cardamom Capital of the world. The climate and terrain best suit the cultivation of the larger variety of Cardamom here.
The region has many power projects and enjoys almost uninterrupted electricity. The steep gradient and the innumerable lakes on the higher reaches facilitate ideal conditions for generation of hydro electric power.
In 2006 the Ministry of Panchayati Raj named North Sikkim one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640). It is the only district in Sikkim currently receiving funds from the Backward Regions Grant Fund Programme (BRGF).[5]
Most of North Sikkim is restricted to travellers and permits are needed to visit these areas. The area, which shares a sensitive border with the People's Republic of China is heavily patrolled by the Indian army. However, owing to the natural environment and scenery, a large number of tourists have started visiting the region. Often unregulated tourism becomes a conservation issue in fragile ecosystem such as high mountains.[6]
North Sikkim is divided into two sub-divisions:[7]
| Name | Headquarters | Number of villages[8] | Location | |
| 9 | ||||
| Mangan | Mangan | 46 |
According to the 2011 census Mangan district has a population of 43,709,[3] roughly equal to the nation of Liechtenstein.[9] This gives it a ranking of 634th in India (out of a total of 640).[3] The district has a population density of 10PD/sqkm.[3] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 5.66%.[3] North Sikkim has a sex ratio of 769 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 77.39%. 10.62% of the population lives in urban areas. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes make up 2.25% and 65.70% of the population respectively.[3]
The people are mainly of Lepcha and Bhutia descent. Other groups include the Tibetan community. It also has one of the lowest populated regions of the state.
Buddhism is followed by majority of the people in Mangan district. Hinduism followed by a considerable population.[10]
At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 31.71% of the population in the district spoke Lepcha, 23.24% Nepali, 14.41% Sikkimese, 8.51% Limbu, 6.40% Hindi, 3.63% Sherpa, 2.56% Tamang, 1.75% Punjabi, 1.62% Bhojpuri, 1.22% Rai and 1.08% Bengali as their first language.[11]
Roads are in a poor condition owing to the frequent landslides.
North Sikkim is home to the red panda (Ailurus fulgens), a vulnerable species.[12] This animal is the pride of Sikkim and is also the State Animal. It is generally found between heights of 2000 m to 4000 m. It is as big as a domestic Siamese cat (approximately 2 ft long), has a triangular shaped face with a stripe on its cheek, with red fur and black eyes. It has a sprinkling of white on its back and chest. The tail is bushy, black or brown in colour and long like that of a skunk. They generally live on treetops.
In 1977 North Sikkim district became home to Khangchendzonga National Park, which has an area of 1784abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[13] It shares the park with West Sikkim district. It is also home to the Shingba (rhododendron) Wildlife Sanctuary, which was established in 1984 and has an area of 43abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[13]
The following Banks provide banking facilities in North Sikkim, district of Sikkim: