Kimathanka

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Kimathanka
किमाथांका
Village (ward)
Kimathanka
Map of the village development committees in Sankhuwasabha District
Nepal Koshi adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Kimathanka
Location in province
Nepal adm location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Kimathanka
Kimathanka (Nepal)
Coordinates: 27°51′25″N87°25′05″E / 27.8569°N 87.4181°E / 27.8569; 87.4181
CountryFlag of Nepal.svg    Nepal
Province Province No. 1
District Sankhuwasabha
Rural Municipality Bhotkhola
Part of (ward)Ward no. 1
Area
  Total13.37 km2 (5.16 sq mi)
Population
 (2011)
  Total368
  Density28/km2 (71/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+5:45 (Nepal Time)

Kimathanka is a Village (previously, a village development committee) in Bhotkhola rural municipality of Sankhuwasabha District of Province No. 1, Nepal and serves as the Nepalese counterpart of the Nepal-China (Tibet autonomous region) border at Zhentang (Chentang). At the time of the 1991 census, it had a population of 303 people living in 50 individual households. [1]

Contents

Being among the most remote Himalayan villages of Nepal, Kimathanka is also the end point of the in-progress 362 kilometers long Biratnagar-Khandbari-Kimathanka road called Koshi Highway, which plans to connect the village with the provincial headquarter of Biratnagar and subsequently, with the Indian border town of Jogbani. [2] [3] The Arun River runs through the valley below the village. In 2019, road embankment construction on the Chinese side led to fear of potential downstream flooding in Kimathanka. [4] In November 2020, Prime Minister of Nepal KP Sharma Oli visited Kimathanka inspecting the progress of Koshi Highway and other infrastructure projects in the area. [5] [6]

Border

Kimathanka is near the border with Tibet. The border was part of brief dispute between China and Nepal before 1960. [7] The dispute was resolved in their 1961 border agreement. [8] The Chentang township in Tibet is on the other side of the valley. There has been local cross-border trade for decades. It has been sufficiently crucial for the local economy in recent years that in 2008 when Chinese tightened its border control during the Olympics, Kimathanka and the nearby villages faced food shortages due to disruption of the local trade. [9] A Chinese border checkpoint was set up in 2011 checking border crossing permits of Nepalese. [10] In 2015, there were recorded 7700 border crossings and the annual trade at this port was valued at RMB  18,650,000. [11]

Culture

Kimathanka was one of the areas of Nepal that had traditionally practiced polyandry, however that practice is fading. [12] [13]

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gurung people</span> Ethnic group of South Asia

Gurung or Tamu are an ethnic group indigenous to the hills and mountains of Gandaki Province of Nepal. Gurung people predominantly live around the Annapurna region in Manang, Mustang, Dolpo, Kaski, Lamjung, Gorkha, Parbat,Tanahun and Syangja districts of Nepal. They are one of the main Gurkha tribes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Biratnagar</span> Capital of Koshi province

Biratnagar is a metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 census, it is the largest city in the province and also the headquarters of Morang district. As per the preliminary report of 2022 Nepal census, Biratnagar Metropolitan has an estimated city population of 244,750. It is the administrative center of the Greater Birat Development Area which incorporates the cities of Biratnagar-Itahari-Gothgau-Biratchowk-Dharan primarily located on the Koshi Highway in Eastern Nepal, with an estimated total urban agglomerated population of 804,300 people in 159,332 households including the town of Ithari. Biratnagar is located 399 km (248 mi) east of the capital, Kathmandu, and 6 km (3.7 mi) north of the bordering town of Jogbani in the Indian state of Bihar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dharan</span> Sub-Metropolitan City in Koshi Province

Dharan is a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Koshi Province, in eastern Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and Itahari. The Nepali word "dharan" means a saw pit. The rainforest from which the tree trunks came is still just on the edge of the city. Much later the British Gurkha camp opened in October 1960. The use of the camp by British Gurkhas finished in the mid-1990s. Dharan has an estimated city population of 173,096 living in 34,834 households as per the 2021 Nepal census. It is one of the cities of the Greater Birat Development Area which incorporates the cities of Biratnagar-Itahari-Gothgau-Biratchowk-Dharan primarily located on the Koshi Highway in Eastern Nepal, with an estimated total urban agglomerated population of 804,300 people living in 159,332 households. It is the largest city in the province number one by Area. It covers 192.32 square kilometers while Biratnagar and Itahari is 2nd and 3rd biggest cities by Area

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sankhuwasabha District</span> District in Koshi Province, Nepal

Sankhuwasabha District is one of 14 districts of Koshi Province of eastern Nepal. The district's area is 3,480 km2 with a population of 159,203 in 2001 and 158,742 in 2011. The administrative center is Khandbari.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Solukhumbu District</span> District in Koshi Province, Nepal

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khandbari Municipality</span> District headquarters in Nepal

Khandbari is the district headquarters of Sankhuwasabha District in Koshi Province of north-eastern Nepal.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Olangchung Gola</span> Village in Province No. 1, Nepal

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Zhêntang Town, also known as Chentang, is a town in Dinggyê County, in the Shigatse prefecture-level city of the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It is a border town on the China–Nepal border and lies on the Pum Qu River. At the time of the 2010 census, the town had a population of 2,043.As of 2013, it had 6 communities under its administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">China–Nepal border</span> International boundary in South Asia

The China–Nepal border is the international boundary between the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China and Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal. It is 1,389 kilometres (863 mi) in length and runs in a northwest–southeast direction along the Himalayan mountain range, including Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain. The boundaries of this particular border have changed dramatically over time, especially when considering relatively recent events such as the Annexation of Tibet in 1949. However, some of the most significant developments of modern times would be the signing of the "Agreement on Maintaining Friendly Relations between the People’s Republic of China and the Kingdom of Nepal" in 1956 and the "Sino-Nepalese Treaty of Peace and Friendship" in 1960, both of which formally recognised Tibet as a part of China and confirmed the limits of the countries of China and Nepal as they are known today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Koshi Province</span> Province of Nepal

Koshi Province is the autonomous easternmost province adopted on 20 September 2015 by Constitution of Nepal. The province is rich in natural resources, tourist attractions, recreational activities, and natural beauty. The province covers an area of 25,905 km2 (10,002 sq mi), about 17.5% of the country's total area. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its capital, the province includes major eastern towns of Birtamod, Sundar Haraincha, Damak, Dharan, Itahari, Triyuga Municipality and Mechinagar, and the Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga and Ama Dablam. Koshi River, the largest river of the nation, forms the province's western boundary. Under the First-past-the-post voting system issued by the Constituency Delimitation Commission, Nepal, the province hosts 28 parliamentary seats and 56 provincial assembly seats.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Administration in Koshi Province</span> Province of Nepal

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Bhotkhola is a rural municipality (gaunpalika) out of five rural municipality located in Sankhuwasabha District of Koshi Province of Nepal. There are a total of 10 municipalities in Sankhuwasabha in which 5 are urban and 5 are rural.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Koshi Province</span>

Koshi Province covers an area of 25,905 square kilometres (10,002 sq mi). It is located at easternmost part of Nepal bordering by Tibet Autonomous Region of China in north Bagmati Province in west, Province No. 2 in south-west, Bihar of India in south, North Bengal of India in south-east and Sikkim of India in north-east. Sikkim and part of North Bengal of India forms ethno-linguistic relation with Nepal. Geography of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal is very diverse, of highest peaks of Himalayas in northern extremes to terai region to south. It lies between 86 degree 1 minute and 88 degree 3 minutes east longitude and 28 degree 2 minutes and 26 degree 3 minutes north longitude. Biratnagar, the industrial capital of Nepal, is the temporary capital of this province.

References

  1. "Nepal Census 2001". Nepal's Village Development Committees. Digital Himalaya. Archived from the original on 12 October 2008. Retrieved 19 November 2008.
  2. Rana, Pratik. "Nepal Army entrusted to build 14km road section of Khadbari-Kimathanka Highway linking China". My Republica. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  3. "Road to connect China and India in Eastern region nears completion". kathmandupost.com. Retrieved 2020-01-22.
  4. Giri, Anil; Shakya, Dipendra (13 January 2019). "Chinese construction along the Nepal-Tibet border puts strategic land at risk". The Kathmandu Post . Retrieved 2 September 2019.
  5. "Koshi highway connecting Nepal, China and India soon: PM Oli". South Asian Monitor. November 12, 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020. Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli carried out an onsite visit of Kimathanka border point and North-South highway on Wednesday. On the occasion, he expressed his confidence that India and China would be connected with each other soon.
  6. "PM Oli to visit Kimathanka on Wednesday". Khabarhub. November 10, 2020. Retrieved 22 November 2020. Prime Minister's Press Adviser Surya Thapa said that Prime Minister Oli is visiting Kimathanka to inspect various projects including the Koshi Corridor.
  7. Office of the Geographer (1969-05-30). "International Boundary Study - China – Nepal Boundary" (PDF). Bureau of Intelligence and Research. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-05-03. Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  8. 中华人民共和国和尼泊尔王国边界条约  [China-Nepal Border Agreement] (in Chinese). 1961-10-05 via Wikisource.
  9. Budhathoki, Kishor (2008-06-04). "China seals border, villages on Nepali side face starvation". The Himalayan Times. Retrieved 2017-02-13. Starvation looms large in the northern parts of Sankhuwasabha district after China closed the Kimathanka check post
  10. "朋曲:寻访边境线" [Pum Qu River: Visiting the border]. Yuanfang De Jia . Season 江河万里行. Episode 136. 2014-11-05. China Central Television . Retrieved 2017-02-14.
  11. 周健伟; 林威; 汤阳 (2017-02-17). "藏在喜马拉雅山深处的"桃花源"". Xinhua Daily Telegraph (in Chinese). Retrieved 27 November 2019. 据统计,从2011年-2015年,陈塘通道承担的中尼进出口额由715万元增加到1865万元,贸易量由485吨增加到1265吨,出入境人员由2953人次增加到7700人次,均增长1.61倍。
  12. Wagle, Dinesh (October 12, 2002). "Nepal's Polyandry Tradition: Young Men Don't Want to Share Their Wife With Brothers in Kimathanka". Wagle Street Journal. Retrieved 2017-02-28.
  13. Gurung, Juddha Bahadur (2013-08-25). "Rapid Cultural Change: A Case Study of Polyandry Marriage System among the Gurung Community from Upper Mustang, Nepal". Dhaulagiri Journal of Sociology and Anthropology. 6: 75–106. doi: 10.3126/dsaj.v6i0.8480 . ISSN   1994-2672.