Ukhrul district, Ukhrul

Ukhrul District is an administrative district of the state of Manipur in India with its headquarters at Ukhrul, that is Hunphun. The district occupies the north-eastern corner of the state and it extends between latitudes of 24° 29′ and 25° 42′ N and longitudes 94° 30′ and 94° 45′ E approximately. It shares an international boundary with Myanmar on its eastern side and is bounded by Nagaland state in the north, Senapati district and Kangpokpi district in the west and Kamjong district in the south. It has the distinction of being the highest hill station of Manipur. The terrain of the district is hilly with a varying heights of 913 m to 3114 m. Ukhrul, the district HQ. at an altitude of 2020 m is linked with Imphal, the state capital by NH 202 which is about 84 kilometres apart. The district covers an area of 4,544 square kilometres including Kamjong district making it the second largest district of the state after Churachandpur district and has a population of almost 1,83,998 according to Census of India 2011 comprising about 6.44 per cent of the total state population. The Tangkhul Naga tribe constitute the major bulk of the population with other communities such as Kukis, Nepalese and other non-tribals constituting a small percentage of the district population. Administratively, the district which comprises around 200 villages was divided into five sub-divisions, where their boundaries were coterminous with that of the Tribal Development Blocks. There was no statutory town in the district except one census town which was formed in 2011 Census. Recently, Kamjong district was carved out from Ukhrul District as a separate district. Ukhrul District has three assembly constituencies before the bifurcation of the district which are Phungyar Assembly Constituency, Ukhrul Assembly Constituency and Chingai Assembly Constituency. The district is best introduced by its rare Shirui Lily,. Also, the district has provided two of Manipur's chief ministers and the only from amongst the hill districts of Manipur, Yangmaso Shaiza the first tribal chief minister of Manipur and Rishang Keishing who is also the first MP from Outer Manipur. William Pettigrew, an educationist and a Scottish-British Christian Missionary pioneered the western system of education and introduced the Christianity faith among the Tangkhal Naga tribe. Phungyo Baptist Church, Tangrei, Ukhrul, the oldest and the first Christian church of Manipur which still stands today is a testament to his passion for missionary work. ()