The civilian region is administered by a district collector, appointed by the state government.

During the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the Nathula Pass witnessed a few skirmishes between India and China.

[5] It saw a tremendous boom in trade during 1950–1959 when the Chinese troops occupying Tibet were supplied through the pass.

Other special attractions in the Capital City Gangtok are M G Marg, Hanuman Tok, Ranka Monastery, Himalayan Zoological Park, Palzor Stadium, Tashi View Point, Pakyong Airport view Point.

River Jaldhaka originates from Kupup and flows south east towards Bhutan, West Bengal and Bangladesh.

[7] Forest Department, Government of Sikkim has also confirmed the presence of Royal Bengal Tiger in the Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary of Pakyong District in January 2019.

[4] East Sikkim has a sex ratio of 872 females for every 1000 males,[4] and a literacy rate of 84.67%.

Buddhism followed by a considerable minority, while Christianity is the third largest religion, 40% of its adherents live in Gangtok.

[10] At the time of the 2011 census, 65.59% of the population in the district spoke Nepali, 8.63% Hindi, 8.16% Sikkimese, 3.41% Lepcha, 2.25% Bhojpuri, 1.68% Bengali, 1.55% Limbu, 1.49% Tamang, 1.14% Sherpa, 0.75% Rai and 0.51% Tibetan as their first language.

In June 2021, the two subdivisions of Pakyong and Rongli were constituted as Pakyong District:[12] The major towns and cities of Gangtok District are East Sikkim is connected with wide road network managed by Border Road Organization, National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited and State PWD.