District of Nepal · Karnali Province
Humla District: land cover, map and municipalities
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Humla District, at 47.5% of its area. Forest covers 7.8% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.2%, rangeland 47.5%, built-up land 0.5%, bare land, rock and snow 43.2% and water 0.9%.
Land cover of Humla District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.5 | 0.0–1.2 | 31 |
| Agriculture land | 0.2 | 0.0–0.6 | 13 |
| Rangeland | 47.5 | 37.3–57.7 | 2,852 |
| Forest land | 7.8 | 2.8–12.7 | 466 |
| Water | 0.9 | 0.4–1.4 | 53 |
| Barren land | 43.2 | 31.2–55.1 | 2,593 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 41 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Humla District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland +7.1 points, barren land −5.4 points, forest land −1.6 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 Humla District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adanchuli | 151 | 38.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Chankheli | 1,310 | 9.2 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Kharpunath | 879 | 7.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Namkha | 2,417 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Sarkegad | 307 | 38.8 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Simkot | 785 | 4.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Tanjakot | 159 | 46.1 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Humla District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Humla District: about 202 a year on average, most in 2016 (399).
Questions about Humla District
- What is the forest cover of Humla District?
- About 7.8% of Humla District is forest (95% interval 2.8–12.7%), roughly 466 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 41 sample sites. That ranks 72nd of 77 districts.
- How much of Humla District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.5% (31.4 km²). Humla District ranks 52nd of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Humla District?
- Humla District covers 6,007 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.