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{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox settlement
| name = Murgo
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| nickname =
| settlement_type = Village
| image_skyline =
| image_alt =
| image_caption =
| pushpin_map = India Ladakh#India
| pushpin_label_position =
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Ladakh, India
| coordinates = {{coord|35|02|28|N|77|56|13|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and union territories of India|Union Territory]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Ladakh]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[List of districts of Ladakh|District]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Leh district|Leh]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[List of tehsils in India|Tehsil]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Nubra Valley|Nubra]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_rank =
| area_total_km2 =
| elevation_footnotes = <ref name="indian_mountaineer">{{cite book|title=Indian Mountaineer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=spE5AAAAIAAJ|year=1983|publisher=Indian Mountaineering Foundation|issue=11-12|quote=At the extreme right corner of this 6 km long ground is a place called Murgo (14,600ft), situated on the bank of a tributary known as Burtsa nalla.}}</ref>
| elevation_ft = 14600
| population_total =
| population_as_of =
| population_rank =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_demonym =
| population_footnotes =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| demographics1_info1 =
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code =
| registration_plate = [[Vehicle registration plates of India|LA]]
| website =
| iso_code = [[ISO 3166-2:IN|IN-LA]]
| footnotes =
| official_name =
}}
{{OSM Location map
| coord = {{coord|35|02|28|N|77|56|13|E|}} 
| float = right 
| zoom = 10
| width = 275
| height = 275
| caption = {{center| Murgo near the LAC }}

| label = Murgo
| mark-title = Murgo
| mark-description = hamlet, campsite and Indian border force barrack
| mark-coord = {{coord|35|02|28|N|77|56|13|E|}}
| mark = Green pog.svg 
| mark-size = 10
| mark-image =
| label-size = 10
| label-color = dark grey
| label-pos = right
| shape =
| shape-color =
| shape-outline =
}}

'''Murgo''' is a small hilly village which lies on the border of [[Leh district]] in the [[union territory]] of [[Ladakh]] in India, close to Chinese-controlled [[Aksai Chin]]. It is one of the northernmost villages of [[India]].

[[File:Depsang Plains Survey of India map 1916.png|thumb|left|Murgo in a 1916 Survey of India map of the region]]
== Name ==
The name "Murgo" means "gateway of hell" in [[Tibetic languages]].<ref name="Kapadia1999">{{cite book|last=Kapadia|first=Harish|title=Across Peaks & Passes in Ladakh, Zanskar & East Karakoram|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pl5qHu_K45kC&pg=PA229|year=1999|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-100-9|pages=229–230|quote=Once down in Ladakh even lama scholars far away at Darjeeling also gave the same interpretation of the names as a Ladakhi ... Murgo: gateway of hell. (Mur: hell, go: gate).}}</ref> Record from the 1840s indicates the Turkic name was '''Murgai''' and Tibetan name was '''Murgo-Chumik'''.<ref name="Thomson1852">{{cite book|last=Thomson|first=Thomas|title=Western Himalaya and Tibet: A Narrative of a Journey Through the Mountains of Northern India, During the Years 1847-8|url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/42146/42146-h/42146-h.htm|year=1852|publisher=Reeve and Company|pages=422–424|quote = The encamping-ground is called by the Turki merchants Murgai, by the Tibetans, Murgo-Chumik ... It was the last place at which I was to expect a sufficiency of fuel ... or grass ... A number of springs appeared to break out of the ground close to my tent}}</ref> (''Chumik'' means [[Spring (hydrology)|spring]].<ref>{{cite book|author=American Alpine Club|title=1975 American Alpine Journal|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h32HVZVyobQC&pg=PA57|publisher=The Mountaineers Books|isbn=978-1-933056-30-2|page=57|quote=Chumik: "spring" from chhu (water) + mik (eye)}}</ref>)

== History ==
Murgo was a campsite on the difficult caravan route through [[Karakoram Pass]],<ref name="thinkquest">{{cite news|author=thinkquest.org
|title=Murgo
|url=http://library.thinkquest.org/10131/ladakh_shyok_murgo.html
|access-date=2005-11-26
|website=thinkquest.org
|date=2005-11-26
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130909215725/http://library.thinkquest.org/10131/ladakh_shyok_murgo.html
|archive-date=2013-09-09
|quote=It is rightly named as the route beyond Murgo, towards the Karakoram Pass, passes through a desolate barren gorge ... Murgo is a camping site.
}}</ref> the last place with sufficient vegetation for fuel and grass.<ref name="Thomson1852"/> Czech [[paleontologist]] and biologist [[Ferdinand Stoliczka]] died here in 1874 during an expedition.<ref name="Kapadia2005">{{cite book|last=Kapadia|title=Into the Untravelled Himalaya: Travels, Treks, and Climbs|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-5l1RhMStxgC&pg=PA212|year=2005|publisher=Indus Publishing|isbn=978-81-7387-181-8|page=212|quote=There was a memorial to Ferdinand Stolickzka ... He died at Murgo on 19 July 1874, and a tower has been erected here in his memory.}}</ref> A memorial was erected for him in the Moravian cemetery at Leh.

There is a large Buddhist monastery at Murgo.

== Current status ==
The village is now inhabited by a small civilian population of [[Balti people|Baltis]].<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Chinese troops intrude into Indian territory in Ladakh, erect a tented post
| author = PTI
| work = The Economic Times
| date = Apr 19, 2013
| access-date = 2 January 2020
| url = https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/chinese-troops-intrude-into-indian-territory-in-ladakh-erect-a-tented-post/articleshow/19638804.cms
| quote = The nearest inhabited town is Murgo to the south, which has a small population of Baltis who primarily depend on apricot farming and yak rearing.
}}</ref> However, the [[Indian Armed Forces]] have significant presence in the area. The [[Darbuk–Shyok–DBO Road]] running between [[Leh]] and [[Daulat Beg Oldi]] passes through Murgo.

The temperature plummets as low as -50 C in the winters. The weather deteriorates frequently with strong icy winds lashing much of Murgo. Murgo has very little if any vegetation or wildlife. [[Telecommunication]] is only available through [[INMARSAT]] [[satellite phone]]s.

{{clear left}}
==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Ladakh}}
{{Leh district}}

[[Category:Villages in Nubra tehsil]]

{{Ladakh-geo-stub}}

Murgo - Revision history

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