Upper Siang district

Upper Siang district (Pron:/ˈsjæŋ or ˈsɪæŋ/) is an administrative district in the state of Arunachal Pradesh in India. It is the fourth least populous district in the country (out of 640).

The majority of the people are of the Adi tribe while the Memba, Khamba tribe also exists there. Part of the area was controlled by the Tibetan Kingdom of Powo when streams of Tibetan pilgrims searching for one of the 'hidden lands' or beyul (Standard Tibetan: sbas-yul) referred to in the prophecies of Guru Rinpoche in the East Himalayas from the mid-seventeenth century came south over the Doshong La pass, to seek the particular location of one of these earthly paradises called Padma bkod (written variously Pema köd, Pemakö and Pemako), literally 'Lotus Array' in the region. The region became administered by British India with the Simla Accord of 1914 and the demarcation of the McMahon Line, though China considers it part of South Tibet.

The district was formed in 1999 when it was split from East Siang district.

The district headquarters are located at Yingkiong. Upper Siang district occupies an area of 6,118 square kilometres (2,362 sq mi),

The district is the location of the massive Upper Siang Hydroelectric Project.

The 2,000-kilometre-long (1,200 mi) proposed Mago-Thingbu to Vijaynagar Arunachal Pradesh Frontier Highway along the McMahon Line, (will intersect with the proposed East-West Industrial Corridor Highway) and will pass through this district, alignment map of which can be seen here and here.

There are two Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly constituencies in this district: Tuting-Yingkiong and Mariyang-Geku. Both are part of Arunachal East Lok Sabha constituency.

Administrative circles include Yingkiong, Jengging, Mariyang, Geku, Katan, Mopom, Tuting, Gelling, Singa, Palling, Migging.