Overview of Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde.

Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde is located in the south-eastern foothills of the country bordering the Indian state of Assam. The altitude ranges from 143 meters to 926 meters above sea level and climatically hot in summer and warm in winter. It has six Demkhongs with an area of 4.47 sq. km and a resident population of 9325 (PHCB, 2017) with 2379 households and also it is the smallest Thromde ‘A’ in terms of area and population.

Samdrup Jongkhar Thromde is a self governing municipality with an elected Thrompon, Thromde Thuemis, and a Thromde Tshogde in place since January 2011. Additionally, the town houses the headquarter of the District Administration, with Dzong being located within the town. Also, several government organizations of the Royal Government of Bhutan house their Eastern Regional headquarters, and some other NGO offices also being set up here. With the addition of Dewathang within the Thromde boundary, additional areas housing the Jigme Namgyal Polytechnic and a large area belonging to the Royal Bhutan Army are also included in the Thromde limits.

Samdrup Jongkhar town is only entry point to eastern Bhutan consisting of six District of Pemagatshel, Tashigang, Trashi Yangtse, Mongar, Lhuentse, and Samdrupjongkhar. The Samdrupjongkhar Thromde by virtue of its remote location and the natural physical conditions and terrain of Bhutan, it has better accessibility to the plains of Assam than to the hills of central Bhutan. As a result, connectivity by road to other parts of Bhutan is limited and through difficult terrain within inland Bhutan, Samdrupjongkhar town thus connects by roads to Central, Eastern, and Capital city of Bhutan Thimphu, through India by Asian Highway running along the southern border of Bhutan in India and entering Bhutan through the other border towns of Gelephu and Phuntsholing and with the connectivity of this town by Border Road Organization (BRO), road from Rangia Asian Highways makes us easier to get access to the nearest airport of Guwahati International Airport in India and the nearest railway station at Rangia.

However, with necessity of crossing the international border to connect to other parts of Bhutan has become a hindrance to the Development of the region, as political unrest in the bordering Indian State of Assam, Directly affects traffic movement in the corridor, thereby influencing trade and commerce through the Samdrup Jongkhar entry point.