| West Siang district | |
| Settlement Type: | District of Arunachal Pradesh |
| Total Type: | Total |
| Coor Pinpoint: | Aalo |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: |  India |
| Subdivision Type1: | State |
| Subdivision Name1: | Arunachal Pradesh |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Seat Type: | Headquarters |
| Seat: | Aalo |
| Parts Type: | Tehsils |
| Parts Style: | para |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Total: | 58,182 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Demographics Type1: | Demographics |
| Demographics1 Title1: | Literacy |
| Demographics1 Info1: | 67.6% |
| Demographics1 Title2: | Sex ratio |
| Demographics1 Info2: | 916 |
| Timezone1: | IST |
| Utc Offset1: | +05:30 |
West Siang district (Pron:/ˈsjæŋ or ˈsɪæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India.
In 1989, territory was given from West Siang to the East Siang district.[1] Since 1999, this territory has been in the new Upper Siang district.[1] Archaeological finds from Malinithan in West Siang are on display at the Jawaharlal Nehru Museum, Itanagar.[2] It was once a part of the Chutiya kingdom.[3] West Siang was divided into Upper Siang and Lower Siang. West Siang district was bifurcated on 9 December 2018 when northern areas along China border were made a separate Shi Yomi district.
The district headquarters is located at Aalo. West Siang district occupies an area of 8325km2,[4] comparatively equivalent to Crete.[5]
The 2000adj=midNaNadj=mid proposed Mago-Thingbu to Vijaynagar Arunachal Pradesh Frontier Highway along the McMahon Line[6] [7] [8] [9] will intersect with the proposed East-West Industrial Corridor Highway and will pass through this district, alignment map of which can be seen here and here.[10]
There are seven Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Liromoba, Likabali, Basar, Along West, Along East, Rumgong, and Mechuka. The first six are part of Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency, while Mechuka is part of Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.[11]
According to the 2011 Census, West Siang district has a population of 112,274,[12] roughly equal to the nation of Grenada.[13] This gives it a ranking of 612th in India (out of a total of 640).[12] The district has a population density of 13PD/sqkm.[12] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 8.04%.[12] West Siang has a sex ratio of 916 females for every 1000 males,[12] and a literacy rate of 67.62%.[12]
After bifurcation the residual West Siang district has a population of 58,182. Scheduled Tribes make up 46,204 (79.41%).[14]
Various tribal groups of the Galo, Memba, and Khamba tribes live in the district. The Galo generally follow Donyi-Polo, although some have embraced Baptist Christianity in recent years. The Memba and Khamba are followers of Tibetan Buddhism.
Languages spoken include Galo, a Sino-Tibetan tongue with approximately 140 000 speakers, written in both the Tibetan and Latin scripts;[15] and Galo, an endangered language with 30 000 speakers, also in the Sino-Tibetan language family.[16]
70.41% of the population spoke Galo, 6.65% Hindi, 3.18% Nepali, 2.75% Adi, 2.63% Bengali, 2.34% Assamese, 2.17% Bhojpuri and 1.68% Miniyong as their first language.[17]
The district is rich in wildlife. Rare mammals such as Mishmi takin, Snow leopards, Red pandas, and Musk deer occur while among birds there is the rare Blyth's Tragopan.[18] A flying squirrel, new to science, has been recently discovered from this district. It has been named as Mechuka Giant Flying Squirrel.[19]
In 1991, West Siang became home to the Kane Wildlife Sanctuary, which has an area of 55abbr=onNaNabbr=on.[20]
