District of Nepal · Lumbini Province
Rukum East District: land cover, map and municipalities
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Rukum East District, at 59.6% of its area. Forest covers 31.2% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.0%, rangeland 59.6%, built-up land 0.0%, bare land, rock and snow 8.5% and water 0.6%.
Land cover of Rukum East District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.1 | 1 |
| Agriculture land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
| Rangeland | 59.6 | 35.9–83.4 | 1,003 |
| Forest land | 31.2 | 8.6–53.9 | 525 |
| Water | 0.6 | 0.0–1.6 | 11 |
| Barren land | 8.5 | 0.0–26.5 | 142 |
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.
Rukum East District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland +5.8 points, forest land −4.8 points, barren land −1.2 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 Rukum East District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhoome | 274 | 61.8 | 0.1 | 0.5 |
| Dhorpatan | 521 | 11.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Putha Uttanganga | 560 | 41.3 | 0.2 | 0.3 |
| Sisne | 327 | 39.3 | 0.4 | 1.2 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Rukum East District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Rukum East District: about 158 a year on average, most in 2016 (491).
Questions about Rukum East District
- What is the forest cover of Rukum East District?
- About 31.2% of Rukum East District is forest (95% interval 8.6–53.9%), roughly 525 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 11 sample sites. That ranks 55th of 77 districts.
- How much of Rukum East District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.0% (0.7 km²). Rukum East District ranks 69th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Rukum East District?
- Rukum East District covers 1,682 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.