Wangdue Phodrang District
27°30′N 90°10′E / 27.500°N 90.167°E
Wangdue Phodrang District
དབང་འདུས་ཕོ་བྲང་རྫོང་ཁག | |
|---|---|
District | |
Map of Wangdue Phodrang District in Bhutan | |
| Country | Bhutan |
| Headquarters | Wangdue |
| Area | |
• Total | 4,308 km2 (1,663 sq mi) |
| Population (2017) | |
• Total | 42,186 |
| • Density | 9.8/km2 (25/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+6 (BTT) |
| HDI (2019) | 0.604 medium · 15th of 20 |
| Website | www |
Wangdue Phodrang District (Dzongkha: དབང་འདུས་ཕོ་བྲང་རྫོང་ཁག་; Wylie: Dbang-'dus Pho-brang rdzong-khag; previously spelled "Wangdi Phodrang") is a Thromde and dzongkhag (district) of central Bhutan. This is also the name of the dzong (built in 1638) which dominates the district. The name is said to have been given by the Shabdrung Ngawang Namgyal who was searching for the best location for a dzong to prevent incursions from the south. The word "wangdue" means unification of Country, and "Phodrang" means Palace in Dzongkha.
Wangdue Phodrang is the largest dzongkhag in Bhutan by area and is bordered by Dagana and Tsirang dzongkhags to the south, Trongsa dzongkhag to the east, Thimphu and Punakha dzongkhag to the west, and Gasa dzongkhag and a small section of border with Tibet to the north. It is listed as a tentative site in Bhutan's Tentative List for UNESCO inclusion.