District of Nepal · Bagmati Province
Dolakha District: land cover, map and municipalities
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Dolakha District, at 40.4% of its area. Forest covers 29.6% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.1%, rangeland 40.4%, built-up land 3.5%, bare land, rock and snow 25.3% and water 1.2%.
Land cover of Dolakha District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 3.5 | 0.0–9.2 | 75 |
| Agriculture land | 0.1 | 0.0–0.2 | 1 |
| Rangeland | 40.4 | 19.5–61.3 | 867 |
| Forest land | 29.6 | 9.8–49.4 | 635 |
| Water | 1.2 | 0.0–2.5 | 26 |
| Barren land | 25.3 | 2.1–48.5 | 542 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 15 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Dolakha District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland +5.8 points, barren land −5.2 points, forest land −1.0 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 Dolakha District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baiteshwor | 80 | 67.1 | 1.1 | 6.4 |
| Bhimeshwor | 132 | 60.4 | 0.7 | 6.2 |
| Bigu | 613 | 32.4 | 0.1 | 0.2 |
| Gaurishankar | 681 | 30.8 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Jiri | 211 | 55.7 | 0.3 | 1.3 |
| Kalinchowk | 132 | 62.1 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| Melung | 87 | 57.3 | 0.7 | 4.4 |
| Shailung | 129 | 66.1 | 0.4 | 6.5 |
| Tamakoshi | 82 | 57.5 | 0.4 | 3.3 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Dolakha District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Dolakha District: about 146 a year on average, most in 2021 (497).
Questions about Dolakha District
- What is the forest cover of Dolakha District?
- About 29.6% of Dolakha District is forest (95% interval 9.8–49.4%), roughly 635 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 15 sample sites. That ranks 59th of 77 districts.
- How much of Dolakha District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 3.5% (74.5 km²). Dolakha District ranks 28th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Dolakha District?
- Dolakha District covers 2,147 km² and has 9 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.