Trashigang

Trashigang
Trashigang
	Main street, Trashigang, Bhutan
	Trashigang Location in Bhutan
	Coordinates: 27°19′57.2″N 91°33′09.9″E / 27.332556°N 91.552750°E
Country	Bhutan
District	Trashigang District
Population (2017)
• Total	3,037
Time zone	UTC+6 (BTT)

Trashigang (Dzongkha: བཀྲ་ཤིས་སྒང་།), or Tashigang, meaning "fortress of auspicious mount,"^[1] is a town in eastern Bhutan and the district capital of the Trashigang Dzongkhag (district).

The town lies to the east side of the valley above the Drangme Chhu river just south of where it is joined by the Gamri River. Trashigang is the eastern terminus of the Lateral Road, Bhutan's main highway leading to Phuntsholing in the southwest.

History

Trashigang Dzong was built in 1659 by Trongsa Penlop Minjur Tenpa and served for centuries as an administrative headquarters and monastery, though government offices mostly relocated by 2011. Its sinking eastern foundation and crumbling upper walls necessitated either relocation or total destruction and reconstruction. In October 2011, dzong, under renovation since 2007, was on the verge of collapse.^[2] However, as of 2012^[update], the Trashigang Dzong was still used for the town's yearly religious festival called tsechu.^[3]

Administrative

Trashigang is the largest district in Bhutan and serves as the administrative seat for the Dzongkhag and a home for the monk body.^[1] It has three sub-districts and fifteen gewogs, which include Bartsham, Bidung, Kanglung, Kangpara, Khaling, Lumang, Merak, Phongmey, Radhi, Sakteng, Samkhar, Shongphu, Thrimshing, Udzorong, and Yangneer.^[1] Sherubtse College was the first accredited college in Bhutan, founded in 1966 by a group of Jesuits under the leadership of William Mackey. As of 2003, it became part of the newly created Royal University of Bhutan system that comprises all public post-secondary schools in Bhutan.

Rangjung, Kanglung and Wamrong are some of the major towns under Trashigang district.

Demography

The population of Trashigang town was 3,037 (1,565 males and 1,472 females) according to the 2017 Population and Housing Census of Bhutan.^[4]

Transport

Trashigang is served by Yonphula Airport which is around an hour drive from the town.^[5] It is connected by Simtokha Trashigang Primary National highway to capital city. Thimphu and Trashigang Samdrup Jongkhar Highway to Samdrup Jongkhar, border town in south eastern Bhutan.

Climate

Trashigang features a dry-winter subtropical highland climate (Köppen Cwb).

Climate data for Trashigang, 1996–2018
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Mean daily maximum °C (°F)	15.1 (59.2)	17.2 (63.0)	20.4 (68.7)	22.7 (72.9)	24.3 (75.7)	25.5 (77.9)	25.6 (78.1)	25.9 (78.6)	25.3 (77.5)	23.3 (73.9)	19.9 (67.8)	16.9 (62.4)	21.8 (71.3)
Mean daily minimum °C (°F)	3.1 (37.6)	4.8 (40.6)	7.7 (45.9)	10.5 (50.9)	13.2 (55.8)	15.9 (60.6)	16.6 (61.9)	16.4 (61.5)	15.3 (59.5)	11.5 (52.7)	7.5 (45.5)	4.6 (40.3)	10.6 (51.1)
Average precipitation mm (inches)	9.5 (0.37)	20.4 (0.80)	50.5 (1.99)	105.5 (4.15)	118.8 (4.68)	189.2 (7.45)	243.8 (9.60)	204.1 (8.04)	123.0 (4.84)	75.3 (2.96)	4.6 (0.18)	4.7 (0.19)	1,149.4 (45.25)
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.1 mm)	1.6	3.1	7.4	11.3	12.3	15.7	22.1	20.6	12.0	5.0	1.1	1.1	113.3
Source: World Meteorological Organization^[6]