Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

Arunachal Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh (; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and la ...

. The seat of

Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly The Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Arunachal Pradesh state in north-eastern India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Itanagar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprise ...

, the seat of government of Arunachal Pradesh, and the seat of

Gauhati High Court The Gauhati High Court was promulgated by governor general of India on 1 March 1948 after the Government of India Act 1935 was passed, establishing the high court with effect from 5 April 1948, for the then-province of Assam. It was originall ...

permanent bench at Naharlagun are all in Itanagar. Being the hub of all the major economic bases, Itanagar, along with the adjacent town of Naharlagun, comprise the administrative region of the Itanagar Capital Complex Region. This stretches from the Itanagar Municipal limit at Chandranagar Town extended until Nirjuli Town, and is a major junction of cultural, economic, fashion, education and recreational activities.

Etymology

Itafort, ‘the fort of bricks’ from which the state capital derives its name, is situated in the heart of Itanagar. The fort has an irregular shape, built mainly with bricks dating back to the 14th-15th century of Mayapur of Ramachandra, a king of the Jitari Dynasty.

Geography

Itanagar is located at . It has an average elevation of 320 metres.

Climate

Itanagar features a

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ''Cwa''), with dry, mild winters and hot, humid and wet summers.

Culture

Itanagar is inhabited by a number of tribes viz., Nyishi,

Adi Adi or ADI may refer to: Abbreviations * Acceptable daily intake, in health and medicine * Acting detective inspector, a type of police inspector * Africa Development Indicators, a compilation of data assembled by the World Bank * Alternating ...

, Apatani, Tagin, Galo, and a few others.

Demographics

India

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

, Itanagar had a population of 59,490 . Males constitute 53% of the population and females 47%. Itanagar has an average literacy rate of 66.95%, lower than the national average of 74.4%: male literacy is 73.69%, and female literacy is 59.57%. In Itanagar, 15% of the population is under 6 years of age.

Religion

The majority of the Tribes are worshipers of the nature, with Tani Tribes being descendants of the Forefather

Abotani Abotani or Abu Tani is considered the progenitor of the Tani tribes of the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. Abotani are located in Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh. In China, Abotani tribes recognized as part of Lhoba ethnic group. The Apatan ...

being followers of Donyi-Polo. According to the 2011 census, 40.94% of the population is

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 29.51%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 21.17% Donyi Polo, 4.52%

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

and 2.88%

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

Languages

According to 2011 census, Nishi was the most spoken language in Itanagar with 17,896 speakers, followed by

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

at 8,125,

at 8,102, Apatani at 4,256, Nepali at 3,721,

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

at 3,641, Assamese at 3,538 and

Bhojpuri Bhojpuri may refer to: * Bhojpuri language, an Indo-Aryan language of India and Nepal * Bhojpuri grammar, grammatical rules of the language * Bhojpuri nouns, nouns of the language * Bhojpuri people, people who speak the language * Bhojpuri region ...

at 1,987.

Education

Universities and colleges

* Dera Natung Government College *

Don Bosco College Don Bosco College was a Roman Catholic seminary located in Newton, New Jersey. Opening in , it was operated by the Salesian Order (Society of St. Francis de Sales) until it was closed in 1989 and its 179-acre campus sold to the Sussex County, Ne ...

* Himalayan University * NERIST *

National Institute of Technology, Arunachal Pradesh National Institute of Technology Arunachal Pradesh (also known as NIT Arunachal Pradesh or NITAP) is a public technical and research institute located at Jote near Itanagar, the capital of Arunachal Pradesh. NIT Arunachal Pradesh is one of the ...

Rajiv Gandhi Government Polytechnic Rajiv Gandhi Government Polytechnic (previously known as Arunachal Pradesh Polytechnic) is a multi-speciality, Institute of technology, technology-oriented college located at Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is also the first polytechnic ...

* Rajiv Gandhi University * Tomo Riba Institute of Health and Medical Sciences *

Indira Gandhi National Open University Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is a National university, public Open university (concept), open & Distance education, distance learning university located in Delhi, India. Named after the former Prime Minister of India, prime ...

Media and communications

Television

DD Arunprabha Doordarshan Arunprabha (DD Arun Prabha) is an Indian satellite television channel, which was launched on 9 February 2019 by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. It is Doordarshan's second channel for North East and first for Arunachal Pradesh ...

is the state-owned television broadcaster of Arunachal Pradesh.

Radio

Radio stations of Itanagar are:

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, RadioCity Itanagar (Arunachal Pradesh's first community radio) and Big FM 92.7 (India's largest national radio network).

Newspapers

* The Arunachal Times * Echo of Arunachal * Dawnlit Post

Places of Interest

* Ita Fort, one of the most important historical sites in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. The name literally means "Fort of bricks"( brick being called "Ita" in the

Assamese language Assamese () or Asamiya ( ) is an Indo-Aryan language spoken mainly in the north-eastern Indian state of Assam, where it is an official language. It has long served as a ''lingua franca'' in parts of Northeast India."Axomiya is the major langu ...

). The Ita Fort was built as early as the 14th or the 15th century. The fort has an irregular shape, built mainly with bricks dating back to the 14th-15th Century. The total brickwork is of 16,200 cubic meter lengths which have been identified by some scholars with the Chutiya kingdom. The fort has three different entrances at three different sides, which are western, eastern, and southern sides. *

Jawaharlal Nehru Museum, Itanagar The Jawaharlal Nehru State Museum (or simply Jawaharlal Nehru Museum) is the state museum of Arunachal Pradesh, in Itanagar. Established in the 1980s, it showcases aspects of tribal life of the Himalayan state of Arunachal Pradesh, India. The ...

is also known for showcasing the rich tribal culture of the state. * Gekar sinyi (Ganga Lake) is a beautiful natural lake which literally means ''confined lake'' in the Nyishi dialect. It is surrounded by a landmass of hard rock. Primeval vegetation, orchids masses on tall trees and tree ferns contribute to its popularity as a hot picnic spot and recreation hub. Boating facilities and a swimming pool are available at the site. * Buddhist monastery ompa mandir

Transport

Road

National Highway 415 connects Itanagar to Arunachal Pradesh and the rest of the country. Regular bus and taxi services are available from

Guwahati Guwahati () the largest city of the Indian state of Assam, and also the largest metropolis in northeastern India. Dispur, the capital of Assam, is in the circuit city region located within Guwahati and is the seat of the Government of Assam. Th ...

and its airport.

Railway

Naharlagun railway station Naharlagun railway station is a railway station located in Papum Pare district of Arunachal Pradesh. It is about to the state capital Itanagar Itanagar () is the capital and largest town of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. The seat o ...

is the nearest railway station, which is nearly 15 km away from the city. Taxi and bus services are easily available from the railway station to Itanagar. Donyi Polo Express can be availed which runs on all days of a week from

and

Shatabdi Express Shatabdi Express () are a series of fast passenger trains operated by Indian Railways. Shatabdi Express are day trains and mostly return to their origin station the same day. The trains run at a maximum permissible speed of depending on the ...

is available thrice a week from

. The Arunachal AC Superfast Express runs between Naharlagun and

Anand Vihar Terminal Anand Vihar Terminal (station code: ANVT) is a railway station on the Indian Railways network, located in the Anand Vihar locality of Delhi, India. It is under the administrative control of the Delhi Division of the Northern Railway zone of Ind ...

twice a week, which is the only direct train that connects Arunachal Pradesh with the

national capital A capital city, or just capital, is the municipality holding primary status in a country, state, province, department, or other subnational division, usually as its seat of the government. A capital is typically a city that physically encomp ...

Air

Regular

helicopter A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which Lift (force), lift and thrust are supplied by horizontally spinning Helicopter rotor, rotors. This allows the helicopter to VTOL, take off and land vertically, to hover (helicopter), hover, and ...

service is available from

to Naharlagun.

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

laid the

foundation stone A cornerstone (or foundation stone or setting stone) is the first stone set in the construction of a masonry Foundation (engineering), foundation. All other stones will be set in reference to this stone, thus determining the position of the entir ...

for

Itanagar Airport Donyi Polo Airport , also known as Hollongi Airport, is a domestic airport serving Itanagar, the capital city of Arunachal Pradesh, India. It is located at Hollongi, situated south from the city centre, in the Papum Pare district. It is built ...

at Hollongi on 9 February 2019. It has been named as ''Donyi Polo Airport'', and was inaugurated on 19 November 2022, with flight services operated by Alliance Air,

IndiGo InterGlobe Aviation Limited (d/b/a IndiGo), is an India, Indian airline headquartered in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. It is the largest List of airlines of India, airline in India by passengers carried and fleet size, with a 64.1% domestic market ...

and FlyBig airlines.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Itanagar Cities and towns in Papum Pare district Indian capital cities Hill stations in Arunachal Pradesh Tourism in Northeast India