User:MarkH21/Demchok

Demchok (, historical: bDe-mChog ) is a village and military encampment in the disputed Demchok sector between China and India. The village is claimed by India as part of the Nyoma tehsil in the Leh district of Ladakh by India, and claimed by China as part of the Ngari Prefecture in the Tibet Autonomous Region. The combined village had a population of about 150 in 2005.

The Line of Actual Control (LAC) passes through the village, following the Charding Nullah upstream from the nearby Indus River. The part of the village on the northwestern bank of the river is administered by India, while the part of the village on the southeastern bank of the river is administered by China. The Indian-claimed border extends 3 mi southeast of Demchok, while the Chinese-claimed border extends 10 mi northwest of Demchok.

Description
The village lies 36.5 km east of Ukdungle (32.6015°N, 78.9651°W). The world’s highest motorable road passing through the Umling La pass (32.6964°N, 79.2842°W) in Ladakh at a height of 19300 ft connects to Demchok. The village was described by Hugh Edward Richardson and Alastair Lamb as being divided by the Charding Nullah into two halves.

The combined village had a population of about 150 in 2005.

History
The Chronicles of Ladakh mention that, at the conclusion of the Tibet–Ladakh–Mughal War in 1684, Tibet and Ladakh agreed on the Treaty of Tingmosgang. The Chronicles describe the treaty as fixing the boundary at "the Lhari stream at Demchok".

During the British colonial period, there were villages on both the sides of the delta, going by the name "Demchok". The southern village appears to have been the main one, frequently referred to by travelers. A British boundary commission in 1846–1847 on the borders of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir described the village as: "[Demchok] is a hamlet of half a dozen huts and tents, not permanently inhabited, divided by a rivulet (entering the left bank of the Indus) which constitutes the boundary of this quarter between Gnari ... [in Tibet] ... and Ladakh." The Governor of Ladakh, who visited the border area in 1904–05 mentioned that the southern Tibetan village at Demchok had 8 or 9 huts, while the northern Ladakhi village at Demchok had only two.

Demchok was on an old route linking Ladakh and Tibet along the bank of the Indus River that is closed as of 2012. Though the Kailash Lake Manasarovar is 300 km away, the route there is mostly through plains.

Village on the northwestern bank
The Indian-administered part of Demchok had 31 households and a population of 78 according to the 2011 Census of India. The effective literacy rate (i.e. the literacy rate of population excluding children aged 6 and below) is 42.47%. According to the sarpanch of Demchok in 2019, the village had a population of 69 people who are mostly nomads. She said that residents of Demchok were moving to the town of Leh due to a lack of infrastructure and jobs.

Village on the southeastern bank
Dêmqog lies a kilometer southeast from the western village across the Charding Nullah. Prior to the 1962 Sino-Indian War, India had established a border post called the "New Demchok post" on the southeastern bank of the Charding Nullah. As the war progressed, the post was evacuated and the Chinese forces occupied it. Travel writer Romesh Bhattacharji states they expected to set up a trading village, but India never renewed trade after the war. He states that the southern Dêmqog village has only commercial buildings whereas the northern village has many security-related buildings.