Source: TOI
Subject: Mapping
Context: India has reaffirmed that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, after China again questioned its status and denied recognising it.
About Arunachal Pradesh:
What it is?
- Arunachal Pradesh is a border state in north-eastern India, popularly called the “Land of the Rising Sun” because it is the first to receive the sun’s rays in India.
- It is the largest state in the North-East Region (NER) by area and is constitutionally a full-fledged State of the Indian Union since 20 February 1987.
Location: Located in the extreme north-east of India.
- International borders: Bhutan, China and Myanmar.
- Indian neighbours: Assam and Nagaland.
Historical Background:
- Colonial & NEFA Phase:
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- Modern political history begins after the Treaty of Yandaboo (1826), when Assam came under British rule and the British gradually extended control into the frontier hills.
- The area was administered as part of the North-East Frontier Tracts, later organised as the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA).
- Shimla Convention (1914) between British India, Tibet, and China delineated the McMahon Line, under which the boundary between Tibet and NEFA was recognised by the Tibetan and British side.
- Post-Independence Administrative Evolution:
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- After 1947, NEFA was administered under the Governor of Assam on behalf of the President of India, initially under arrangements linked to the Government of India Act, 1935, later via constitutional provisions.
- NEFA was reorganised into five frontier divisions/districts – Kameng, Subansiri, Siang, Lohit, Tirap – each headed by a Political Officer (later Deputy Commissioner).
- On 21 January 1972, NEFA became the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh under the North Eastern Areas (Reorganisation) Act, 197. An Agency Council and later a Pradesh Council / Provisional Legislative Assembly were created and a Lt. Governor appointed.
- On 20 February 1987, Arunachal Pradesh was granted statehood under the Arunachal Pradesh Act, 1986, becoming a full-fledged state with its own elected Legislative Assembly and Council of Ministers.
Geographical Features:
- Forms part of the Eastern Himalaya, with predominantly mountainous and sub-montane terrain sloping down towards the plains of Assam.
- Altitudinal range: from low-lying foothills and river valleys to high Himalayan peaks, giving rise to sharp climatic variation—from hot and humid in lower valleys with dense forests to cold and even alpine conditions in higher reaches.
