District of Nepal · Lumbini Province
Palpa District: land cover, map and municipalities
Forest land is the largest land cover in Palpa District, at 78.5% of its area. Forest covers 78.5% (more than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.2%, rangeland 21.1%, built-up land 0.2%, bare land, rock and snow 0.0% and water 0.1%.
Land cover of Palpa District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.2 | 0.0–0.3 | 2 |
| Agriculture land | 0.2 | 0.0–0.5 | 2 |
| Rangeland | 21.1 | 10.3–31.9 | 309 |
| Forest land | 78.5 | 67.6–89.3 | 1,147 |
| Water | 0.1 | 0.0–0.3 | 2 |
| Barren land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 10 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Palpa District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: forest land +1.2 points, agriculture land −1.2 points, urban land −0.8 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 Palpa District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baganaskali | 84 | 62.6 | 5.9 | 3.3 |
| Mathagadhi | 216 | 68.9 | 3.2 | 2.0 |
| Nisdi | 195 | 70.8 | 0.4 | 0.5 |
| Purbakhola | 138 | 65.4 | 0.2 | 0.7 |
| Rainadevi Chhahara | 176 | 69.3 | 0.1 | 1.6 |
| Rambha | 94 | 61.8 | 1.4 | 3.4 |
| Rampur | 123 | 63.2 | 8.1 | 10.5 |
| Ribdikot | 125 | 62.5 | 0.0 | 3.6 |
| Tansen | 110 | 60.7 | 2.1 | 12.3 |
| Tinau | 202 | 71.6 | 0.4 | 1.3 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Palpa District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Palpa District: about 287 a year on average, most in 2021 (764).
Questions about Palpa District
- What is the forest cover of Palpa District?
- About 78.5% of Palpa District is forest (95% interval 67.6–89.3%), roughly 1,147 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 10 sample sites. That ranks 3rd of 77 districts.
- How much of Palpa District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.2% (2.1 km²). Palpa District ranks 62nd of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Palpa District?
- Palpa District covers 1,462 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.