District of Nepal · Madhesh Province
Parsa District: land cover, map and municipalities
Agriculture land is the largest land cover in Parsa District, at 46.7% of its area. Forest covers 40.9% (about the same as the national 41.4%), farmland 46.7%, rangeland 2.5%, built-up land 7.4%, bare land, rock and snow 1.9% and water 0.7%.
Land cover of Parsa District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 7.4 | 0.7–14.0 | 104 |
| Agriculture land | 46.7 | 16.6–76.7 | 656 |
| Rangeland | 2.5 | 0.0–6.4 | 35 |
| Forest land | 40.9 | 8.1–73.8 | 576 |
| Water | 0.7 | 0.0–1.7 | 10 |
| Barren land | 1.9 | 0.0–6.2 | 27 |
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.
Parsa District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: urban land +1.9 points, agriculture land −1.3 points, barren land −1.1 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 Parsa District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bahudarmai | 32 | 1.0 | 81.6 | 17.2 |
| Bindabasini | 26 | 2.7 | 84.0 | 12.8 |
| Birgunj | 132 | 12.7 | 57.9 | 28.0 |
| Chhipaharmai | 25 | 0.7 | 87.7 | 11.1 |
| Chitawan | 147 | 97.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Dhobini | 24 | 0.2 | 90.0 | 9.4 |
| Jagarnathpur | 45 | 0.4 | 90.2 | 9.2 |
| Jirabhawani | 55 | 27.1 | 64.7 | 6.6 |
| Kalikamai | 24 | 0.2 | 88.4 | 10.8 |
| Pakaha Mainpur | 21 | 0.7 | 87.0 | 11.2 |
| Parsa | 475 | 97.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Parsagadhi | 100 | 41.4 | 52.1 | 5.7 |
| Paterwa Sugauli | 64 | 33.0 | 59.0 | 5.6 |
| Pokhariya | 33 | 1.2 | 86.3 | 12.2 |
| Sakhuwa Prasauni | 74 | 24.4 | 68.3 | 5.8 |
| Thori | 129 | 57.7 | 28.9 | 4.0 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Parsa District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Parsa District: about 1,112 a year on average, most in 2021 (1,895).
Questions about Parsa District
- What is the forest cover of Parsa District?
- About 40.9% of Parsa District is forest (95% interval 8.1–73.8%), roughly 576 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 10 sample sites. That ranks 46th of 77 districts.
- How much of Parsa District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 7.4% (104 km²). Parsa District ranks 24th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Parsa District?
- Parsa District covers 1,407 km² and has 16 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.