District of Nepal · Madhesh Province
Dhanusa District: land cover, map and municipalities
Agriculture land is the largest land cover in Dhanusa District, at 48.6% of its area. Forest covers 30.2% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 48.6%, rangeland 8.6%, built-up land 12.4%, bare land, rock and snow 0.0% and water 0.2%.
Land cover of Dhanusa District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 12.4 | 3.3–21.5 | 148 |
| Agriculture land | 48.6 | 20.2–77.0 | 578 |
| Rangeland | 8.6 | 0.0–26.6 | 102 |
| Forest land | 30.2 | 0.0–63.6 | 359 |
| Water | 0.2 | 0.0–0.5 | 3 |
| 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.
Dhanusa District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland −3.5 points, urban land +2.4 points, forest land +1.7 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 Dhanusa District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aurahi | 26 | 7.4 | 79.7 | 11.7 |
| Bateshwor | 32 | 17.9 | 58.4 | 18.1 |
| Bideha | 46 | 8.2 | 77.4 | 13.0 |
| Chhireshwornath | 51 | 5.3 | 70.3 | 18.5 |
| Dhanauji | 22 | 9.4 | 74.5 | 12.0 |
| Dhanushadham | 92 | 22.9 | 60.0 | 11.2 |
| Ganeshman Charnath | 244 | 66.2 | 16.3 | 3.8 |
| Hansapur | 49 | 8.7 | 78.0 | 11.2 |
| Janak Nandini | 28 | 6.4 | 71.4 | 13.3 |
| Janakpurdham | 92 | 5.6 | 61.6 | 30.4 |
| Kamala | 66 | 11.4 | 59.6 | 11.4 |
| Laxminiya | 31 | 4.1 | 79.0 | 15.9 |
| Mithila | 188 | 61.2 | 15.1 | 7.8 |
| Mithila Bihari | 38 | 7.3 | 76.9 | 14.3 |
| Mukhiyapatti Musaharmiya | 27 | 7.9 | 71.8 | 14.4 |
| Nagarain | 39 | 7.2 | 73.4 | 13.7 |
| Sabaila | 64 | 6.6 | 74.0 | 12.2 |
| Shahidnagar | 57 | 4.9 | 79.7 | 14.0 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Dhanusa District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Dhanusa District: about 206 a year on average, most in 2014 (396).
Questions about Dhanusa District
- What is the forest cover of Dhanusa District?
- About 30.2% of Dhanusa District is forest (95% interval 0.0–63.6%), roughly 359 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 8 sample sites. That ranks 58th of 77 districts.
- How much of Dhanusa District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 12.4% (148 km²). Dhanusa District ranks 15th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Dhanusa District?
- Dhanusa District covers 1,189 km² and has 18 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.