District of Nepal · Karnali Province
Rukum West District: land cover, map and municipalities
Forest land is the largest land cover in Rukum West District, at 52.6% of its area. Forest covers 52.6% (more than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.0%, rangeland 45.3%, built-up land 0.6%, bare land, rock and snow 1.3% and water 0.3%.
Land cover of Rukum West District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.6 | 0.0–1.7 | 8 |
| Agriculture land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
| Rangeland | 45.3 | 25.6–64.9 | 549 |
| Forest land | 52.6 | 33.2–71.9 | 638 |
| Water | 0.3 | 0.0–0.7 | 4 |
| Barren land | 1.3 | 0.0–4.2 | 16 |
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.
Rukum West District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: forest land −1.3 points, urban land +0.9 points, rangeland +0.7 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 West District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aathabisakot | 560 | 40.0 | 0.8 | 1.0 |
| Banphikot | 190 | 48.2 | 0.5 | 2.2 |
| Chaurjahari | 107 | 52.9 | 6.9 | 3.9 |
| Musikot | 136 | 59.8 | 0.5 | 6.8 |
| Sanibheri | 134 | 52.3 | 0.1 | 0.7 |
| Tribeni | 86 | 61.4 | 0.2 | 3.4 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Rukum West District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Rukum West District: about 195 a year on average, most in 2021 (606).
Questions about Rukum West District
- What is the forest cover of Rukum West District?
- About 52.6% of Rukum West District is forest (95% interval 33.2–71.9%), roughly 638 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 8 sample sites. That ranks 33rd of 77 districts.
- How much of Rukum West District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.6% (7.5 km²). Rukum West District ranks 50th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Rukum West District?
- Rukum West District covers 1,213 km² and has 6 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.