About 23 major tribes and 100 sub-tribes live in the state,[citation needed] including Nocte, Adi, Nyishi, Singpho, Galo, Tagin, Apatani.

[26] Later, the second son of Gongkar Gyal, Wongme Palde who returned to Tibet owing to the poverty in Khorwong valley came back to Monyul to become its ruler.

[32] The 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso (1683–1706) was born in Tawang and died in Amdo (present-day China) on his way to Beijing after being kidnapped by the Mongol forces under Lha-bzang Khan, the last ruler of Khoshut Khanate on the approval of Kangxi Emperor of the Qing dynasty.

The third heritage site, the 400-year-old Tawang Monastery in the extreme north-west of the state, provides some historical evidence of the Buddhist tribal people.

The main archaeological sites of the state include:[34] In 1912–13, the British Indian government established the North-East Frontier Tracts.

[48] The Chinese position was that Tibet was not independent from China and could not sign treaties, so the Accord was invalid, like the Anglo-Chinese (1906) and Anglo-Russian (1907) conventions.

In 1935, a Deputy Secretary in the Foreign Department, Olaf Caroe, "discovered" that the McMahon Line was not drawn on official maps.

Following the conclusion of British rule, India gained independence in 1947, while the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded in 1949.

During the 1962 Sino-Indian War, Tawang tract of Arunachal Pradesh was captured and temporarily controlled by the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

[55] The Indian government under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, The North-East Frontier Agency was renamed Arunachal Pradesh by Bibhabasu Das Shastri, Daya Krishna Goswami and O. P. Upadhya on 20 January 1972, and it became a union territory.

[56] NB: K A A Raja, as Chief Commissioner to NEFA, under Assam, whose Capital used to be Shillong, later on went to become the first Lieuitenent Governor to the Union Territory of Arunachal Pradesh.

[59] According to the Dalai Lama, "In 1962 during the India-China war, the People's Liberation Army (PLA) occupied all these areas (Arunachal Pradesh) but they announced a unilateral ceasefire and withdrew, accepting the current international boundary".

A report that the Chinese Army had briefly invaded Arunachal Pradesh in 2016 was denied by India's Minister of State for Home Affairs, Kiren Rijiju.

[63] In 2024, The New York Times reported that, according to satellite imagery, China had constructed villages along and inside of disputed territory within Arunachal Pradesh.

[64] Arunachal Pradesh has faced threats from insurgent groups, notably the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN), who are believed to have base camps in the districts of Changlang and Tirap.

[65] These groups seek to decrease the influence of Indian government in the region and merge part of Arunachal Pradesh into Nagaland.

Under the Foreigners (Protected Areas) Order 1958 (India), Inner Line Permits (ILPs) are required to enter Arunachal Pradesh through any of its checkgates on the border with Assam.

The villages of Dong (more accessible by car, and with a lookout favoured by tourists) and Vijaynagar (on the edge of Myanmar) receive the first sunlight in all of India.

[74] The mountain slopes and hills are covered with alpine, temperate, and subtropical forests of dwarf rhododendron, oak, pine, maple and fir.

A relatively large percentage of Arunachal's population are nature worshippers (indigenous religions), and follow their own distinct traditional institutions like the Nyedar Namlo by the Nyishi, the Rangfrah by the Tangsa & Nocte, Medar Nelo by the Apatani, the Kargu Gamgi by the Galo and Donyi-Polo Dere by the Adi under the umbrella of the indigenous religion the Donyi-Polo.

Tani people are indigenous to central Arunachal Pradesh, including (moving from west to east) the Nyishi, the Apatani, the Tagin, the Galo, the Bokar, the Adi, the Padam, the Pasi, and the Minyong.

Seemingly, Khampti is a recent arrival in Arunachal Pradesh whose presence dates to 18th and/or early 19th-century migrations from northern Myanmar.

[citation needed] In addition to English, various Indo-Aryan languages Assamese, Bengali, Nepali and especially Hindi are making strong inroads into Arunachal Pradesh.

The chart below displays the trend of the gross state domestic product of Arunachal Pradesh at market prices by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation with figures in billions of Indian Rupees.

In 2008, the Arunachal Pradesh government entered into several memoranda of understanding with multiple companies, outlining around 42 hydroelectric projects intended to generate over 27,000 MW of electricity.

[101][non-primary source needed] Alliance Air operates flights to the state flying from Kolkata via Guwahati to Pasighat Airport.

This route commenced in May 2018 under the Government's Regional Connectivity Scheme UDAN following the completion of a passenger terminal at Pasighat Airport in 2017.

[113][114] On 20 February 2015 the first through train was run from New Delhi to Naharlagun, flagged off from the capital by the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.

[119] During 2017, 2021, and 2023, China compiled a list of name alterations for multiple locations in Arunachal Pradesh, in both Chinese and Tibetan languages.

[122] Namsai Organic Spices and Agricultural Producer Company Limited from Lohit, proposed the GI registration of Arunachal Pradesh Khaw Tai (Khamti Rice).