The Dibang River originates in the mountains of Arunachal Pradesh and flows through the length of the valley which is named after it. The Dibang has multiple tributaries and only once it debouches into the plains is it called by its name. Some of the major rivers of Dibang Valley District are: Ahui, Emra, Mathun, Dri, Tangon, Ithun, and Ange. The capital of this district, Anini, is the northernmost district capital in Northeast India. This district contains the northernmost point of Northeast India.
According to the 2011 census Dibang Valley district has a population of 7,948,[1] roughly equal to the nation of Nauru.[12] This gives it a ranking of 640th in India (out of a total of 640).[1] The district has a population density of 0.8 inhabitants per square kilometre (2.1/sq mi) .With this, it is also the most sparsely populated district in India.[1] Its population growth rate over the decade 2001–2011 was 9.3%.[1] Dibang Valley has a sex ratio of 808 females for every 1000 males,[1] and a literacy rate of 64.8%.[1]
The major population of this district consists of Mishmi (Idu).
The Mishmis have a story narrating the first journeys undertaken in course of migration. The story conveys the names and location of the Cheethu-Huluni or the twelve rivers that the Mishmi (Idu) people came over in the region and settled around. The first accounts of the Mishmi (Idus) are found in the narrations given by the neighboring Ahoms. The Mishmis inhabited the deep jungles of what is now the Dibang valley.
About 40% of the district's population follows Hinduism.[13] The Mishmi(Idu) people here believes that Rukmini-Chief Consort of Lord Krishna belonged to their tribe.[14] The plays and dances on ‘Rukmini haran’ are common. There is a legend that
Lord Krishna asked the Mishmi people to cut their hair as a form of punishment for not allowing him to marry Rukmini. Due to this Idu-Mishmi people are also called "chulikata" (chuli-hair, kata- cut).[15]
Languages
Languages spoken include Idu Mishmi with approximately 25,000 speakers, written in both Latin and Devanagric scripts.
^Choudhury, Anwaruddin(2008) Survey of mammals and birds in Dihang-Dibang biosphere reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. Final report to Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India. The Rhino Foundation for nature in NE India, Guwahati, India. 70pp.
^Choudhury, Anwaruddin (2009).One more new flying squirrel of the genus Petaurista Link, 1795 from Arunachal Pradesh in north-east India. The Newsletter and Journal of the RhinoFoundation for nat. in NE India 8: 26–34, plates.