Arunachal Pradesh is a state in the northeast of India. It stretches from the ridge of the eastern Himalaya to the foothills bordering the Brahmaputra River. It is one of India's newest states and was granted full statehood in 1987. Arunachal Pradesh shares a border of more than 800 kilometres with China and is one of India's most isolated and inaccessible territories. It is not open to foreign visitors because of its strategic location bordering Bhutan, Burma, and China.

Climate: The climate varies greatly according to altitude. The high mountain ranges in the north are permanently under snow. At the edge of the plains, average minimum temperatures are 8 °C in January, rising to 19 °C for the summer months. Average maximum temperatures range from 15 °C in January to 25 °C in May and August, the two hottest months. The annual rainfall in Itanagar (the state capital) is more than 260 centimetres, more than 80 per cent of which falls between May and October.

Tourist centers: In a major policy change in 1992, the Union Home ministry agreed to allow foreign tourists to visit Arunachal to trek , raft and fish on select natural trails.
Itanagar-Ziro-Daporiji-Paighat and Margherita-Mian-Nampadhapa are two circuits cleared. A new tourism ministry has also been formed. India's largest buddhist monastery is at Tawang.

History. The early history of Arunachal Pradesh is not known, but the area is mentioned in the body of Indian writings known as Puranas. The ruins of a palace in the Dibang valley may date from the 1100's, and Itanagar has a fort that was built in the 1300's. By then, records show that the tribes of Arunachal Pradesh were trading with the neighbouring state of Assam, and often came into conflict with Assam's Ahom rulers.

Arunachal Pradesh has many Buddhist monasteries. The Tawang monastery, the largest in India, dates from the 1600's. In 1826, the East India Company annexed Assam and slowly extended British influence into the northeast region of India. In 1912, the region now called Arunachal Pradesh became an administrative unit within Assam, called the North Eastern Frontier Tract.

British missionaries converted many tribal people to Christianity. In 1954, the area became known as the North East Frontier Agency. In 1967, the region received Indian voting rights for the first time. Arunachal Pradesh became a Union Territory in 1972, and a state in 1987.