As of 2003, the district had a population of 48,990.[2] It covers an area of 1,206 km2. The capital lies at Mường Luân, although the only town in the district is Điện Biên Đông.[2]
Điện Biên Đông is located at an average elevation of 900–1000 m.[4] The land is dominated by many streams and mountains which account for 90% of natural land.[4] The main river is the Nậm Mạ River which flows through the central part of the district. Điện Biên Đông has a tropical climate, influenced each year by two large air masses: the northern dry air, and the cold and hot humid air from the south.[4] Average rainfall is from 1600–1700 mm, falling mostly in June, and the average temperature throughout the year is 22 degrees Celsius.[4] The ethnic composition is as follows: Hmong (53.73%), Thai (32.06%), Lao (2.9%), Kho Mu (5.96%) and Sinh Mun (3.46%), with the remainder being minorities.[4]
Administrative divisions
Điện Biên Đông has 14 administrative units, including a township and 13 communes:
The main agricultural commodities are rice, corn, peanuts, betel nuts, cotton, tea and products from livestock farming.[4] Điện Biên Đông district has reserves of gold ore, lead and zinc.[4] Many of the Thai inhabitants live in two colonnade homes with wooden floors, usually along the streams and mainly farm rice and weave.[4] There is a notable tower in the commune of Mường Luân, classified as a national monument in 1981.[4]National Route 130 passes through the central part of the district.
References
^Bình yên cho Điện Biên. Nhà xuất bản Công an nhân dân. 2004. p. 301. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
