Changthang district is a proposed district of India in the Union Territory of Ladakh. It is named after the Changthang plateau, a high-altitude region that extends from western Tibet into eastern Ladakh, and is intended to administratively cover the sparsely populated highland tracts inhabited largely by the Changpa nomadic pastoralists.
| Type | Proposed district |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Union Territory | Ladakh |
| Named after | Changthang plateau |
| Region | Eastern Ladakh |
Ladakh was constituted as a Union Territory without a legislature on 31 October 2019, following the reorganisation of the former state of Jammu and Kashmir. At the time of its formation, Ladakh comprised two districts, Leh and Kargil. To improve administrative reach in a vast and thinly populated terrain, the Government of India announced plans to create additional districts within the Union Territory.
Changthang was identified as one of the proposed new districts, alongside others carved out of the existing Leh and Kargil districts. The proposal reflects long-standing demands for closer administration in remote border areas of Ladakh, where settlements are widely dispersed and travel distances to existing district headquarters are considerable.
The Changthang region lies in the eastern part of Ladakh, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China along the Line of Actual Control. It is a cold desert plateau, with average elevations generally above 4,000 metres. The area contains several high-altitude lakes, including Pangong Tso and Tso Moriri, the latter lying within the Tso Moriri Wetland Conservation Reserve, a Ramsar site. Much of the region forms part of the Changthang Wildlife Sanctuary.
The region is traditionally home to the Changpa, a Tibetan-speaking nomadic and semi-nomadic pastoralist community. The Changpa rear the Changthangi (pashmina) goat, whose fine undercoat supplies the raw material for pashmina wool, an important component of Kashmir's shawl industry. Yak and sheep husbandry, along with limited agriculture in sheltered valleys, also form part of the local economy.
The proposed district is significant for several reasons: