District of Nepal · Koshi Province
Dhankuta District: land cover, map and municipalities
Forest land is the largest land cover in Dhankuta District, at 51.6% of its area. Forest covers 51.6% (more than the national 41.4%), farmland 3.9%, rangeland 35.5%, built-up land 9.1%, bare land, rock and snow 0.0% and water 0.0%.
Land cover of Dhankuta District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 9.1 | 0.0–18.9 | 81 |
| Agriculture land | 3.9 | 0.0–11.2 | 35 |
| Rangeland | 35.5 | 19.3–51.6 | 319 |
| Forest land | 51.6 | 31.0–72.3 | 464 |
| 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.
Dhankuta District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland −2.7 points, urban land +1.9 points, forest land +0.8 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 Dhankuta District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chaubise | 147 | 72.6 | 0.0 | 2.7 |
| Chhathar Jorpati | 103 | 68.3 | 1.2 | 4.8 |
| Dhankuta | 111 | 57.1 | 0.0 | 15.8 |
| Mahalaxmi | 129 | 70.0 | 0.6 | 0.9 |
| Pakhribas | 144 | 66.6 | 0.2 | 3.5 |
| Sangurigadhi | 166 | 74.6 | 0.1 | 1.4 |
| Shahidbhumi | 99 | 60.8 | 0.0 | 0.8 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Dhankuta District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Dhankuta District: about 187 a year on average, most in 2021 (445).
Questions about Dhankuta District
- What is the forest cover of Dhankuta District?
- About 51.6% of Dhankuta District is forest (95% interval 31.0–72.3%), roughly 464 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 8 sample sites. That ranks 34th of 77 districts.
- How much of Dhankuta District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 9.1% (81.4 km²). Dhankuta District ranks 22nd of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Dhankuta District?
- Dhankuta District covers 899 km² and has 7 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.