District of Nepal · Karnali Province
Dolpa District: land cover, map and municipalities
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Dolpa District, at 51.6% of its area. Forest covers 6.5% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.1%, rangeland 51.6%, built-up land 0.0%, bare land, rock and snow 39.8% and water 2.1%.
Land cover of Dolpa District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
| Agriculture land | 0.1 | 0.0–0.2 | 5 |
| Rangeland | 51.6 | 42.4–60.9 | 4,101 |
| Forest land | 6.5 | 2.1–10.9 | 513 |
| Water | 2.1 | 0.0–4.6 | 163 |
| Barren land | 39.8 | 29.7–49.9 | 3,163 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 54 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Dolpa District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland +7.2 points, barren land −5.2 points, forest land −2.4 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 Dolpa District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chharka Tangsong | 1,965 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Dolpo Buddha | 1,180 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Jagadulla | 777 | 9.0 | 0.2 | 0.0 |
| Kaike | 467 | 4.3 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Mudkechula | 250 | 28.2 | 0.1 | 0.0 |
| Shey Phoksundo | 2,454 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Thulibheri | 458 | 12.8 | 0.3 | 0.1 |
| Tripurasundari | 394 | 16.1 | 0.5 | 0.1 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Dolpa District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Dolpa District: about 185 a year on average, most in 2016 (473).
Questions about Dolpa District
- What is the forest cover of Dolpa District?
- About 6.5% of Dolpa District is forest (95% interval 2.1–10.9%), roughly 513 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 54 sample sites. That ranks 74th of 77 districts.
- How much of Dolpa District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.0% (0.0 km²). Dolpa District ranks 72nd of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Dolpa District?
- Dolpa District covers 7,945 km² and has 8 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.