Dêmqog, Ngari Prefecture

Dêmqog (Tibetan: ཌེམ་ཆོག, Wylie: Demchog, ZYPY: Dêmqog , historical: bDe-mChog),[2] traditionally transliterated as Demchok,[3] is a village in the disputed Demchok sector that is administered as part of the Ngari Prefecture, Tibet Autonomous Region by China.

For the historical village, see Demchok (historical village). For the Indian-administered village, see Demchok, Ladakh.
Dêmqog

ཌེམ་ཆོག་, 典角村

Demchok
Village
Dêmqog
Dêmqog
Coordinates: 32°41′40″N 79°27′45″E
CountryChina
RegionTibet
PrefectureNgari Prefecture
CountyGar County
TownshipZhaxigang
Elevation
4,240 m (13,920 ft)
Population
 (2019)[1]
 • Total171
Dêmqog
Chinese典角村
Hanyu PinyinDiǎnjiǎocūn
Literal meaning"Demchok Village"

Geography
Dêmqog

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes along the northwest side of the village, following the Charding Nullah upstream from the nearby Indus River. The Indian-administered village of Demchok, Ladakh is roughly 600m away, across the stream.[4][5] The Indian-claimed border extends 3 miles (4.8 km) southeast of Demchok, while the Chinese-claimed border extends 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Demchok.[6]:39,48

Dêmqog is located on the west bank of the Indus, roughly 30 km from Zhaxigang.[7] It has an average altitude of over 4,000m.[7]

History

17th to 19th centuries
Further information: Demchok (historical village)

The village of Demchok was mentioned in the Chronicles of Ladakh as the boundary point between Tibet and Ladakh demarcated in the 1684 Treaty of Tingmosgang.[8]

When Henry Strachey visited the area in 1847, he described Demchok as a single hamlet with settlements on both the sides of the Lhari stream and the stream as the prevailing border between Ladakh and Tibet.[9] A governor (wazir-e-wazarat) of Ladakh visited the area in 1904–05 and found the Tibetan Demchok village housing 8 to 9 huts of zamindars (landholders) while the Ladakhi Demchok village had only two zamindars.[10] When Sven Hedin visited the area in the November 1907, he described Demchok as four or five huts lying on the southeastern bank of the Lhari stream in Tibet, with the Ladakhi side of the Lhari stream only containing the pyramidal Lhari peak and the ruins of two or three houses.[11][12]

Chinese administration

By 1984, there were only three households living in Dêmqog.[1] In 1984, committees from the Tibet Autonomous Region, Ngari Prefecture, and Gar County governments selected 24 people from 5 households to move from Jiamu Village, over 100 km away in Shiquanhe, to move to Dêmqog, although 3 of those residents returned to Jiamu Village the following year because they found the climate unsuitable.[1]

In 1990, Dêmqog was administratively established as a village.[1] In that year, 9 households were selected from Jiamu Village to move to Shoubian in Dêmqog, and there were a total of 15 households in Dêmqog divided into two working groups.[1]

From 2011 to 2018, the Gar County government invested more than CN¥42 million on facilities and rebuilding the local residences.[5] The construction of the two-storey single-family villas, which replaced the previous low-rise adobe houses, was completed in 2018.[5]

In 2017, Dêmqog was named a National Civilized Village by the Central Guidance Commission on Building Spiritual Civilization.[13]

Demographics

In 2019, there were 171 people in 51 households living in Dêmqog, of whom 41 were members of the Chinese Communist Party.[1] In 2015, the per capita income was CN¥8,234 .[14]

Economy

The local economy of Dêmqog is largely based on cattle and sheep grazing.[5] The northeast corner of the village contained a small border trade market largely containing Indian handicrafts and Chinese daily necessities that operated from 1999 to 2008.[5]

Residents of Dêmqog receive government subsidies for living in a border region and for living in grasslands.[14][5]

In 2012, travel writer Romesh Bhattacharji stated that China expected to set up a trading village in Dêmqog, but India never renewed trade after the war. He stated that the southern Dêmqog village has only commercial buildings whereas the northern village has security-related buildings.[15]

Education

In 2015, the primary and secondary school enrollment rate for school-age children was 98%.[14][5]

Infrastructure

Before 2011, Dêmqog lacked electricity and running water.[5] By 2017, the village was completely electrified by two photovoltaic power stations and had water pumped from two newly drilled wells.[5] The village also has full cellular network coverage, contains 2 public toilets, and has a landfill.[5]

See also
  • List of towns and villages in Tibet

References
  1. "典角村"五代房":见证阿里"边境第一村"变迁" ["Five-generation house" in Dianjiao Village: Witness the changes of Ngari's "No. 1 Border Village"] (in Chinese). China Tibet Network. 11 July 2019. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. Antiquities of Indian Tibet, Part (Volume) II, by A. H. Francke and edited by F. W. Thomas, (1926), pages 115-116.
  3. Lange, Decoding Mid-19th Century Maps (2017), p. 353: '... the village of Demchok marked the border between Tibet and Ladakh for a long time. Abdul Wahid Radhu, a former representative of the Lopchak caravan,[14] described Demchok in his travel account as “the first location on the Tibetan side of the border”.'
  4. "Ladakhis deplore Krishna's remark on Demchok road". Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 31 May 2008.
  5. Zhao, Chunjiang; Gao, Baojun (May 2020). Lei, Dongjun (ed.). "西藏典角村，前方距印度碉堡仅600米". Chinese National Geography. Retrieved 19 July 2020. Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
  6. Lamb, Alastair (1965). "Treaties, Maps and the Western Sector of the Sino-Indian Boundary Dispute" (PDF). The Australian Year Book of International Law. 1 (1): 37–52.
  7. Liu, Ying (18 September 2014). "《追梦喜马拉雅》之典角村的幸福生活" (in Chinese). China Tibet Broadcasting. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  8. Lamb, Treaties, Maps and the Western Sector (1965), p. 38.
  9. Lamb, The China-India border (1964), p. 68.
  10. Report of the Officials, Indian Report, Part 3 (1962), pp. 3–4: "I visited Demchok on the boundary with Lhasa. ... A nullah falls into the Indus river from the south-west and it (Demchok) is situated at the junction of the river. Across is the boundary of Lhasa, where there are 8 to 9 huts of the Lhasa zamindars. On this side there are only two zamindars."
  11. Lange, Decoding Mid-19th Century Maps (2017), pp. 353–354, 357 'Hedin described the place as follows: "Rolled stones play an important part in the country which we have now reached. The whole of Demchok, the last village on the Tibetan side, is built of them. It consists, however, of only four or five huts with brushwood roofs."'
  12. Hedin, Southern Tibet (1922), p. 194: "A short distance N. W. of Demchok, the road passes a partly frozen brook [Lhari stream] coming from Demchok-pu, a tributary valley from the left. ... At the left side [Ladakhi side] of the mouth of this little valley, are the ruins of two or three houses, which were said to have belonged to Hemi-gompa. A pyramidal peak at the same.. side of the valley is called La-ri and said to be sacred. The valley, Demchok-pu, itself is regarded as the boundary between Tibet and Ladak."
  13. "（受权发布）第五届全国文明城市、文明村镇、文明单位和第一届全国文明校园名单" (in Chinese). Xinhua News Agency. 17 November 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  14. "中印边境示范村——典角新颜" (in Chinese). China Tibet Broadcasting. 12 September 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  15. Bhattacharji, Romesh (2012). "Chapter 9: "Changthang: The High Plateau". Ladakh: Changing, Yet Unchanged. New Delhi: Rupa Publications – via Academia.edu.

Bibliography
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