District of Nepal · Koshi Province
Ilam District: land cover, map and municipalities
Forest land is the largest land cover in Ilam District, at 59.0% of its area. Forest covers 59.0% (more than the national 41.4%), farmland 8.2%, rangeland 28.6%, built-up land 3.6%, bare land, rock and snow 0.5% and water 0.1%.
Land cover of Ilam District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 3.6 | 0.0–11.2 | 61 |
| Agriculture land | 8.2 | 0.0–21.5 | 138 |
| Rangeland | 28.6 | 12.0–45.1 | 481 |
| Forest land | 59.0 | 38.2–79.8 | 994 |
| Water | 0.1 | 0.0–0.3 | 2 |
| Barren land | 0.5 | 0.0–1.6 | 9 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 11 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Ilam District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: agriculture land −6.2 points, forest land +5.2 points, urban land +4.3 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 Ilam District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chulachuli | 108 | 69.8 | 11.1 | 11.7 |
| Deumai | 191 | 80.0 | 0.0 | 2.6 |
| Fakfokathum | 108 | 72.7 | 0.0 | 1.9 |
| Illam | 173 | 77.0 | 0.0 | 6.9 |
| Mai | 263 | 83.1 | 2.7 | 1.0 |
| Mai Jogmai | 135 | 85.3 | 0.0 | 1.4 |
| Mangsebung | 172 | 88.6 | 0.0 | 0.5 |
| Rong | 155 | 89.9 | 0.0 | 0.9 |
| Sandakpur | 155 | 80.0 | 0.0 | 1.5 |
| Suryodaya | 225 | 82.9 | 0.0 | 9.7 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Ilam District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Ilam District: about 163 a year on average, most in 2014 (422).
Questions about Ilam District
- What is the forest cover of Ilam District?
- About 59.0% of Ilam District is forest (95% interval 38.2–79.8%), roughly 994 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 11 sample sites. That ranks 25th of 77 districts.
- How much of Ilam District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 3.6% (60.6 km²). Ilam District ranks 27th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Ilam District?
- Ilam District covers 1,685 km² and has 10 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.