District of Nepal · Karnali Province
Mugu District: land cover, map and municipalities
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Mugu District, at 45.7% of its area. Forest covers 21.2% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.2%, rangeland 45.7%, built-up land 0.0%, bare land, rock and snow 31.1% and water 1.8%.
Land cover of Mugu District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.1 | 1 |
| Agriculture land | 0.2 | 0.0–0.5 | 6 |
| Rangeland | 45.7 | 31.2–60.3 | 1,479 |
| Forest land | 21.2 | 9.9–32.4 | 684 |
| Water | 1.8 | 0.5–3.1 | 58 |
| Barren land | 31.1 | 12.8–49.4 | 1,005 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 22 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Mugu District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: forest land −3.2 points, rangeland +2.3 points, agriculture land +1.3 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 Mugu District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chhayanath Rara | 480 | 39.0 | 0.2 | 0.1 |
| Khatyad | 281 | 44.9 | 0.7 | 0.4 |
| Mugumakarmarog | 2,106 | 3.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Soru | 366 | 43.0 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Mugu District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Mugu District: about 165 a year on average, most in 2016 (362).
Questions about Mugu District
- What is the forest cover of Mugu District?
- About 21.2% of Mugu District is forest (95% interval 9.9–32.4%), roughly 684 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 22 sample sites. That ranks 66th of 77 districts.
- How much of Mugu District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.0% (1.2 km²). Mugu District ranks 68th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Mugu District?
- Mugu District covers 3,233 km² and has 4 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.