District of Nepal · Lumbini Province
Arghakhanchi District: land cover, map and municipalities
Forest land is the largest land cover in Arghakhanchi District, at 83.4% of its area. Forest covers 83.4% (more than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.0%, rangeland 15.7%, built-up land 0.9%, bare land, rock and snow 0.0% and water 0.0%.
Land cover of Arghakhanchi District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.9 | 0.0–3.0 | 11 |
| Agriculture land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
| Rangeland | 15.7 | 9.6–21.9 | 195 |
| Forest land | 83.4 | 75.7–91.1 | 1,034 |
| Water | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
| Barren land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 8 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Arghakhanchi District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland −2.6 points, forest land +2.6 points, barren land −1.2 points.
Coloured lines: the U-Net on each year's Sentinel-2 cloudless mosaic, with 95% intervals. Grey: the independent 10 m Impact Observatory map at the same sites. Differences of a few points between years can come from how each year's mosaic was processed, and the 2016 and 2018 mosaics are read less reliably (too little built-up land, too much bare land and water); compare from 2019 on.
Municipalities and rural municipalities of Arghakhanchi District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhumikasthan | 159 | 76.0 | 0.3 | 2.2 |
| Chhatradev | 88 | 78.4 | 3.7 | 0.7 |
| Malarani | 101 | 61.9 | 0.0 | 0.3 |
| Panini | 151 | 67.6 | 0.8 | 1.9 |
| Sandhikharka | 129 | 73.3 | 2.3 | 3.9 |
| Shitaganga | 610 | 85.4 | 0.4 | 0.7 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Arghakhanchi District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Arghakhanchi District: about 497 a year on average, most in 2016 (1,187).
Questions about Arghakhanchi District
- What is the forest cover of Arghakhanchi District?
- About 83.4% of Arghakhanchi District is forest (95% interval 75.7–91.1%), roughly 1,034 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 8 sample sites. That ranks 2nd of 77 districts.
- How much of Arghakhanchi District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.9% (11.0 km²). Arghakhanchi District ranks 47th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Arghakhanchi District?
- Arghakhanchi District covers 1,239 km² and has 6 local units (municipalities and rural municipalities).
Source: Nepal-adapted U-Net (Khadka & Pradhan 2026) on Esri and EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless imagery; Impact Observatory/Esri 10 m land cover; boundaries: Survey Department of Nepal via OCHA.