Districts of Nepal

The new Constitution of Nepal reorganizes the country from five development regions into seven provinces. I have updated the HASC codes to show the current relationship between districts and provinces. However, two districts, Nawalparasi and Rukum, are now split between two provinces.

The Nepal Population Report 2002, on the website of the Ministry of Population and Environment, contained a table of districts with populations from the 1981, 1991, and 2001 censuses, and areas, and some other relevant tables. My table of districts on this page had 1981 and 2001 populations and areas. I ran all the data comparisons I could think of, and found numerous internal inconsistencies within the Ministry report. I found no internal inconsistencies in the data on my pages. Some of the data on the Ministry report were in agreement with mine; the ones that weren't in agreement were suspect anyway. The simplest explanation I could find was that my own data were correct; also, the 1991 census data by district on the Ministry page are probably correct, with one exception: the population of one of the districts in the Mid-Western region is 2,000 too low. Victor Bulgar writes that it is Rukum district, so I have made that change.

I have come to the conclusion that the zones of Nepal have fallen into disuse, and that the development regions are now the primary subdivisions of the country. Accordingly, I've changed the middle two letters in the HASC codes for the districts so that they now represent the region, not the zone. The last two letters of the HASC codes didn't need to be changed, because each pair is unique within Nepal. For historical purposes, I've added a column showing, for each district, which zone it used to be in.

Nepal also divides itself into ecological regions called Mountain, Hill, and Tarai. These are east-west strips. Mountain, in the north, includes the highest elevations. The southernmost strip is Tarai, with the lowest elevations. Each development region contains part of each section, and vice versa.

DistrictHASCRegPop-2011Pop-2001Pop-1991Pop-1981Area(km.²)CapitalSecZone
Achham NP.SE.ACNP.SP257,477 231,285 198,188185,2121,680MangalsenHSeti
Arghakhanchi NP.FI.ARNP.PM197,632 208,391 180,884157,3041,193SandhikharkaHLumbini
Baglung NP.FO.BGNP.PM268,613 268,937 232,486215,2281,784BaglungHDhawalagiri
Baitadi NP.SE.BTNP.SP250,898 234,418 200,716179,1361,519BaitadiHMahakali
Bajhang NP.SE.BHNP.SP195,159 167,026 139,092124,0103,422ChainpurMSeti
Bajura NP.SE.BUNP.SP134,912 * 108,781 92,01074,6492,188MartadiMSeti
Banke NP.FI.BNNP.MP491,313 385,840 285,604205,3232,337NepalganjTBheri
Bara NP.TW.BANP.MM687,708 559,135 415,718318,9571,190KalaiyaTNarayani
Bardiya NP.FI.BRNP.MP426,576 382,649 290,313199,0442,025GulariaTBheri
Bhaktapur NP.TH.BKNP.MM304,651 225,461 172,952159,767119BhaktapurHBagmati
Bhojpur NP.ON.BJNP.PW182,459 203,018 198,784192,6891,507BhojpurHKosi
Chitwan NP.TH.CHNP.MM579,984 472,048 354,488259,5712,218BharatpurTNarayani
Dadeldhura NP.SE.DDNP.SP142,094 126,162 104,64786,8531,538DadeldhuraHMahakali
Dailekh NP.SI.DLNP.MP261,770 225,201 187,400166,5271,502DailekhHBheri
Dang Deokhuri NP.FI.DANP.MP552,583 462,380 354,413266,3932,955GhorahiTRapti
Darchula NP.SE.DRNP.SP133,274 121,996 101,68390,2182,322DarchulaMMahakali
Dhading NP.TH.DHNP.MM336,067 338,658 278,068243,4011,926DhadingbesiHBagmati
Dhankuta NP.ON.DKNP.PW163,412 166,479 146,386129,781891DhankutaHKosi
Dhanusa NP.TW.DNNP.MM754,777 671,364 543,672432,5691,180JanakpurTJanakpur
Dolakha NP.TH.DONP.MM186,557 * 204,229173,236150,5762,191CharikotMJanakpur
Dolpa NP.SI.DPNP.MP36,700 * 29,545 25,01322,0437,889DunaiMKarnali
Doti NP.SE.DTNP.SP211,746 207,066 167,168153,1352,025DipayalHSeti
Gorkha NP.FO.GONP.PM271,061 288,134 252,524231,2943,610GorkhaHGandaki
Gulmi NP.FI.GUNP.PM280,160 296,654 266,331238,1131,149TamghasHLumbini
Humla NP.SI.HUNP.MP50,858 40,595 34,38320,3035,655SimikotMKarnali
Ilam NP.ON.ILNP.PW290,254 282,806 229,214178,3561,703IlamHMechi
Jajarkot NP.SI.JANP.MP171,304 134,868 113,95899,3122,230JajarkotHBheri
Jhapa NP.ON.JHNP.PW812,650 * 688,109593,737479,7431,606ChandragadhiTMechi
Jumla NP.SI.JUNP.MP108,921 * 89,427 75,96468,7972,531JumlaMKarnali
Kailali NP.SE.KLNP.SP775,709 616,697 417,891257,9053,235DhangadhiTSeti
Kalikot NP.SI.KKNP.MP136,948 * 105,580 88,80587,6381,741ManmaMKarnali
Kanchanpur NP.SE.KNNP.SP451,248 377,899 257,906168,9711,610MahendranagarTMahakali
Kapilvastu NP.FI.KPNP.PM571,936 481,976 371,778270,0451,738TaulihawaTLumbini
Kaski NP.FO.KSNP.PM492,098 380,527 292,945221,2722,017PokharaHGandaki
Kathmandu NP.TH.KTNP.MM1,744,2401,081,845675,341422,237395KathmanduHBagmati
KavrepalanchokNP.TH.KVNP.MM381,937 385,672 324,329307,1501,396DhulikhetHBagmati
Khotang NP.ON.KHNP.PW206,312 231,385 215,965212,5711,591DiktelHSagarmatha
Lalitpur NP.TH.LLNP.MM468,132 337,785 257,086184,341385PatanHBagmati
Lamjung NP.FO.LMNP.PM167,724 177,149 153,697152,7201,692BesisaharHGandaki
Mahottari NP.TW.MHNP.MM627,580 553,481 440,146361,0541,002JalesworTJanakpur
Makwanpur NP.TH.MKNP.MM420,477 392,604 314,599243,4112,426HetaudaHNarayani
Manang NP.FO.MNNP.PM6,538 9,587 5,3637,0212,246ChameMGandaki
Morang NP.ON.MONP.PW965,370 843,220 674,823534,6921,855BiratnagarTKosi
Mugu NP.SI.MGNP.MP55,286 * 43,937 36,36443,7053,535GamgadhiMKarnali
Mustang NP.FO.MSNP.PM13,452 14,981 14,29212,9303,573JomosomMDhawalagiri
Myagdi NP.FO.MYNP.PM113,641 114,447 100,55296,9042,297BeniHDhawalagiri
Nawalparasi NP.FO.NANP.PM643,508 562,870 436,217308,8282,162ParasiTLumbini
Nuwakot NP.TH.NUNP.MM277,471 288,478 245,260202,9761,121BidurHBagmati
Okhaldhunga NP.ON.OKNP.PW147,984 156,702 139,457137,6401,074OkhaldhungaHSagarmatha
Palpa NP.FI.PLNP.PM261,180 268,558 236,313214,4421,373TansenHLumbini
Panchthar NP.ON.PNNP.PW191,817 202,056 175,206153,7461,241PanchtharHMechi
Parbat NP.FO.PBNP.PM146,590 157,826 143,547128,400494KusmaHDhawalagiri
Parsa NP.TW.PRNP.MM601,017 497,219 372,524284,3381,353BirganjTNarayani
Pyuthan NP.FI.PYNP.MP228,102 212,484 175,469157,6691,309PyuthanHRapti
Ramechhap NP.TH.RMNP.MM202,646 212,408 188,064161,4451,546RamechhapHJanakpur
Rasuwa NP.TH.RSNP.MM43,300 44,731 36,74430,2411,544DhuncheMBagmati
Rautahat NP.TW.RTNP.MM686,722 545,132 414,005332,5261,126GaurTNarayani
Rolpa NP.FI.RONP.MP224,506 210,004 179,621168,1661,879LivangHRapti
Rukum NP.FI.RKNP.MP208,567 188,438 155,554132,4322,877JumlikhalangaHRapti
Rupandehi NP.FI.RPNP.PM880,196 708,419 522,150379,0961,360SiddharthanagarTLumbini
Salyan NP.SI.SLNP.MP242,444 * 213,500181,785152,0631,462SalyanHRapti
Sankhuwasabha NP.ON.SSNP.PW158,742 159,203 141,903129,4143,480KhadbariMKosi
Saptari NP.TW.STNP.PW639,284 570,282 465,668379,0551,363RajbirajTSagarmatha
Sarlahi NP.TW.SANP.MM769,729 635,701 492,798398,7661,259MalangwaTJanakpur
Sindhuli NP.TH.SINP.MM296,192 * 279,821223,900183,7052,491SindhulimadhiHJanakpur
Sindhupalchok NP.TH.SPNP.MM287,798 * 305,857261,025232,3262,542ChautaraMBagmati
Siraha NP.TW.SRNP.PW637,328 * 572,399460,746375,3581,188SirahaTSagarmatha
Solukhumbu NP.ON.SONP.PW105,886 107,686 97,20088,2453,312SalleriMSagarmatha
Sunsari NP.ON.SNNP.PW763,487 625,633 463,481344,5941,257PhidimTKosi
Surkhet NP.FI.SUNP.MP350,804 * 288,527225,768166,1962,451BirendranagarHBheri
Syangja NP.FO.SYNP.PM289,148 317,320 293,526271,8241,164SyangjaHGandaki
Tanahu NP.FO.TNNP.PM323,288 315,237 268,073223,4381,546DamauliHGandaki
Taplejung NP.ON.TPNP.PW127,461 134,698 120,053120,7803,646TaplejungMMechi
Terhathum NP.ON.TRNP.PW101,577 113,111 102,87092,454679TerhathumHKosi
Udayapur NP.ON.UDNP.PW317,532 287,689 221,256159,8052,063GaighatHSagarmatha
75 districts26,494,50423,151,42318,491,09715,022,839147,181
  • HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. The middle two letters identify
    the province. For key, see Provinces of Nepal page.
  • Reg: HASC code for development region pre-2015.
  • Pop-2011: 2011-06-22 census.
  • Pop-2001: 2001-06-22 census. Asterisk (*) denotes districts in which some of the
    villages or wards could not be enumerated, so their populations were estimated.
  • Pop-1991: 1991-06-22 census. One of the districts in NP.MP is probably low by
    2,000 (for explanation see top of page). The total is correct.
  • Pop-1981: 1981-06-22 census.
  • Sec: Section (H = Hill, M = Mountain, T = Tarai).

 

Note: Nawalparasi and Rukum districts are split between two provinces, as explained on the Provinces of Nepal page, so the middle two letters of their HASC codes only tell part of their story.

Other names of subdivisions:

  1. Arghakhachi: Arghakhanchi (variant)
  2. Bardiya: Bardia (variant)
  3. Bhaktpur: Bhaktapur (variant)
  4. Chitwan: Chitawan (variant)
  5. Dadeldhura: Dadheldhura (variant)
  6. Dang Deokhuri: Dang (variant)
  7. Dhanusa: Dhanusha (variant)
  8. Dolakha: Dolkha (variant)
  9. Kapilvastu: Kapilbastu (variant)
  10. Kavrepalanchok: Kavrepalanchowk, Kavreplanchok (variant)
  11. Lalitpur: Patan (variant)
  12. Mahottari: Mahotari (variant)
  13. Makwanpur: Makawanpur (variant)
  14. Panchthar: Panchathar (variant)
  15. Parbat: Parwat (variant)
  16. Ramechhap: Ramechap (variant)
  17. Sindhupalchowk: Sindhupalchok (variant)
  18. Solukhumbu: Solukhombu (variant)
  19. Syangja: Syanja (variant)
  20. Tanahu: Tanahun (variant)
  21. Terhathum: Terathum (variant)
  22. Udayapur: Udaypur (variant)
Back to main statoids page Last updated: 2016-01-03
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