District of Nepal · Madhesh Province
Saptari District: land cover, map and municipalities
Agriculture land is the largest land cover in Saptari District, at 55.5% of its area. Forest covers 9.4% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 55.5%, rangeland 13.1%, built-up land 19.9%, bare land, rock and snow 1.1% and water 1.1%.
Land cover of Saptari District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 19.9 | 0.0–44.7 | 255 |
| Agriculture land | 55.5 | 23.9–87.2 | 712 |
| Rangeland | 13.1 | 0.0–32.4 | 168 |
| Forest land | 9.4 | 0.0–23.0 | 120 |
| Water | 1.1 | 0.0–2.8 | 14 |
| Barren land | 1.1 | 0.0–3.5 | 14 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 9 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Saptari District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: agriculture land −5.3 points, forest land +4.3 points, urban land +2.8 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 Saptari District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Agnisair Krishna Sabaran | 103 | 56.9 | 32.2 | 8.3 |
| Balan-Bihul | 33 | 4.6 | 73.0 | 12.2 |
| Bishnupur | 37 | 2.8 | 83.6 | 12.4 |
| Bode Barsain | 59 | 3.8 | 81.7 | 12.9 |
| Chhinnamasta | 39 | 3.7 | 85.4 | 10.3 |
| Dakneshwori | 69 | 3.2 | 82.7 | 11.1 |
| Hanumannagar Kankalini | 118 | 4.4 | 37.9 | 7.3 |
| Kanchanrup | 117 | 30.6 | 35.7 | 12.6 |
| Khadak | 97 | 31.3 | 52.5 | 10.5 |
| Koshi Tappu | 71 | 18.5 | 2.3 | 0.0 |
| Mahadewa | 35 | 2.7 | 81.9 | 13.5 |
| Rajbiraj | 55 | 3.1 | 71.0 | 22.9 |
| Rajgadh | 48 | 2.7 | 86.1 | 9.4 |
| Rupani | 56 | 24.3 | 61.1 | 10.5 |
| Saptakoshi | 60 | 49.4 | 29.2 | 9.5 |
| Shambhunath | 109 | 45.9 | 43.6 | 7.6 |
| Surunga | 107 | 21.6 | 53.2 | 9.5 |
| Tilathi Koiladi | 33 | 5.6 | 76.1 | 12.5 |
| Tirahut | 38 | 7.4 | 71.9 | 15.2 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Saptari District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Saptari District: about 217 a year on average, most in 2016 (400).
Questions about Saptari District
- What is the forest cover of Saptari District?
- About 9.4% of Saptari District is forest (95% interval 0.0–23.0%), roughly 120 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 9 sample sites. That ranks 70th of 77 districts.
- How much of Saptari District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 19.9% (255 km²). Saptari District ranks 7th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Saptari District?
- Saptari District covers 1,281 km² and has 19 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.