District of Nepal · Koshi Province
Jhapa District: land cover, map and municipalities
Agriculture land is the largest land cover in Jhapa District, at 63.6% of its area. Forest covers 10.9% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 63.6%, rangeland 1.6%, built-up land 22.3%, bare land, rock and snow 0.6% and water 0.9%.
Land cover of Jhapa District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 22.3 | 8.2–36.4 | 358 |
| Agriculture land | 63.6 | 49.7–77.6 | 1,021 |
| Rangeland | 1.6 | 0.0–4.3 | 26 |
| Forest land | 10.9 | 1.3–20.6 | 175 |
| Water | 0.9 | 0.0–2.5 | 14 |
| Barren land | 0.6 | 0.0–1.4 | 10 |
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.
Jhapa District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: urban land +11.7 points, agriculture land −4.9 points, rangeland −3.8 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 Jhapa District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arjundhara | 110 | 29.4 | 33.1 | 30.1 |
| Barhadashi | 80 | 4.3 | 78.2 | 16.0 |
| Bhadrapur | 96 | 18.4 | 46.0 | 31.4 |
| Birtamod | 78 | 6.0 | 56.7 | 37.0 |
| Buddhashanti | 80 | 39.8 | 16.5 | 34.6 |
| Damak | 71 | 15.3 | 39.3 | 41.4 |
| Gauradaha | 149 | 2.0 | 85.0 | 11.1 |
| Gauriganj | 101 | 1.6 | 84.0 | 10.6 |
| Haldibari | 117 | 50.1 | 41.6 | 7.8 |
| Jhapa | 94 | 2.8 | 80.5 | 12.9 |
| Kachanakawal | 109 | 11.3 | 76.4 | 10.9 |
| Kamal | 104 | 14.2 | 61.7 | 19.0 |
| Kankai | 79 | 24.4 | 47.3 | 22.9 |
| Mechinagar | 192 | 27.6 | 38.2 | 28.1 |
| Shivasatakshi | 145 | 21.2 | 54.9 | 17.7 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Jhapa District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Jhapa District: about 102 a year on average, most in 2024 (148).
Questions about Jhapa District
- What is the forest cover of Jhapa District?
- About 10.9% of Jhapa District is forest (95% interval 1.3–20.6%), roughly 175 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 11 sample sites. That ranks 69th of 77 districts.
- How much of Jhapa District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 22.3% (358 km²). Jhapa District ranks 5th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Jhapa District?
- Jhapa District covers 1,604 km² and has 15 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.