Medziphema
| Medziphema | |
|---|---|
| Town | |
 | |
| Country |
 India |
| Population | 13,225 |
Medziphema is a sub-division in Dimapur district, Nagaland state, India. and was formerly known as Ghaspani which literally would mean 'water from the plant/tree'. Even now it is commonly used by people of this region to refer to this locality and around. Medziphema Town and Medziphema Village are situated few kilometers apart, the village stands on a hill top to the north of the near-valley Town. It is located 44 km from the Capital City of Kohima and 33 km from Dimapur. National highway no. 39 runs right through the Town area.
Geography
Medziphema spreads over a very wide beautiful landscape and its altitude is about 360 m above the sea level. It is neither a hill nor a valley and it gently slope down towards the southern region from the north-eastern side of the town. This town actually represents an interface of the Hilly Nagaland and the valleys as the actual hill region more or less starts after this town as we move up towards Kohima and it overlooks the valley of Dimapur district. The temperature during summer ranges between 28-32 °C and winter from 10 to 15 °C. The total population of this town is around 9,000-10,000.
Other villages in and around Medziphema Town are Pherima, Phiphema, Molvom, Jhornapani, Kukidolong, Khaibung, Serima, Vihokhu, Zuikhu, New Shouba, Razaphema, Tenyiphe I, Tenyiphe Ii etc. Medziphema Pin Code is 797106
Demographics
The population is a conglomerate of all the tribes of Nagaland. Angami, the tribe that solely inhabit Medziphema Village dominates even the Town area and may consist close to 40-45% of the population. Other major inhabitants includes the tribes of Lotha, Sema, Ao, Chakhesang, Kuki, Rengma and Nepali and to a lesser extent the tribes of Zeliangrong, Pochury, Sangtam, etc. . Most of these tribes have their own tribal churches which forms the fundamental structure of the society along with the Hohos ( the Tribal Unions).
About 90-95% of the population is Christian by faith like in any other part of the State. Mostly the Christians are Baptist who were evangelised by the American Missionaries in the 1800s.
Schools
The School of Agricultural Sciences and Rural Development (SASRD), Nagaland University, Medziphema campus where is the hall mark of this small town. Added to this a new Central Institute of Horticulture (CIH) is coming up which will become fully functional soon. There are several small training centers like Veterinary training center, CTC, IECTC, etc. to boost human resources developments. There are also talks of an engineering college and a Veterinary college coming up in this town in the near future.
Agriculture
Medziphema is also known for its pineapples. There are several villages around this town that cultivate pineapples at a large scale; some are even called as pineapple villages for their mass cultivation. Though not confirmed it is said that pineapples of Medziphema are the sweetest in the world. In peak seasons one can find a lot of sells on the road sides of the highway at very low prices.