District of Nepal · Bagmati Province
Kathmandu District: land cover, map and municipalities
Urban land is the largest land cover in Kathmandu District, at 85.5% of its area. Forest covers 6.6% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 1.4%, rangeland 6.3%, built-up land 85.5%, bare land, rock and snow 0.0% and water 0.2%.
Land cover of Kathmandu District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 85.5 | 68.9–100.0 | 354 |
| Agriculture land | 1.4 | 0.0–2.9 | 6 |
| Rangeland | 6.3 | 0.0–13.9 | 26 |
| Forest land | 6.6 | 0.0–16.5 | 27 |
| Water | 0.2 | 0.0–0.8 | 1 |
| Barren land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.1 | 0 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 8 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Kathmandu District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: urban land +12.9 points, rangeland −6.6 points, agriculture land −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 Kathmandu District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budhanilkhantha | 35 | 40.8 | 0.0 | 59.1 |
| Chandragiri | 44 | 41.6 | 0.0 | 57.3 |
| Dakshinkali | 43 | 49.6 | 5.3 | 29.5 |
| Gokarneshwor | 59 | 66.3 | 0.3 | 31.4 |
| Kageshwori Manahara | 27 | 15.9 | 1.0 | 80.3 |
| Kathmandu | 49 | 1.4 | 0.0 | 95.4 |
| Kirtipur | 15 | 12.4 | 0.0 | 83.6 |
| Nagarjun | 30 | 43.8 | 0.0 | 54.0 |
| Shankharapur | 60 | 48.0 | 1.0 | 34.3 |
| Tarakeshwor | 35 | 24.0 | 0.0 | 73.6 |
| Tokha | 17 | 21.5 | 0.0 | 76.4 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Kathmandu District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Kathmandu District: about 22 a year on average, most in 2016 (99).
Questions about Kathmandu District
- What is the forest cover of Kathmandu District?
- About 6.6% of Kathmandu District is forest (95% interval 0.0–16.5%), roughly 27.1 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 8 sample sites. That ranks 73rd of 77 districts.
- How much of Kathmandu District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 85.5% (354 km²). Kathmandu District ranks 1st of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Kathmandu District?
- Kathmandu District covers 414 km² and has 11 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.