District of Nepal · Koshi Province
Sunsari District: land cover, map and municipalities
Agriculture land is the largest land cover in Sunsari District, at 40.1% of its area. Forest covers 15.2% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 40.1%, rangeland 10.1%, built-up land 22.4%, bare land, rock and snow 5.4% and water 6.7%.
Land cover of Sunsari District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 22.4 | 0.0–52.3 | 267 |
| Agriculture land | 40.1 | 2.9–77.4 | 478 |
| Rangeland | 10.1 | 0.0–27.0 | 120 |
| Forest land | 15.2 | 0.0–43.7 | 182 |
| Water | 6.7 | 0.0–17.5 | 80 |
| Barren land | 5.4 | 0.0–15.5 | 65 |
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.
Sunsari District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: urban land +4.3 points, barren land +4.3 points, agriculture land −4.0 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 Sunsari District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barahachhetra | 222 | 31.4 | 30.4 | 13.5 |
| Barju | 69 | 0.4 | 86.8 | 12.2 |
| Bhokraha Narsingh | 63 | 1.8 | 76.5 | 21.4 |
| Dewangunj | 53 | 1.3 | 76.4 | 22.3 |
| Dharan | 192 | 76.0 | 0.7 | 14.8 |
| Duhabi | 68 | 1.4 | 74.1 | 24.3 |
| Gadhi | 67 | 1.5 | 83.9 | 14.5 |
| Harinagar | 52 | 1.6 | 79.7 | 18.7 |
| Inaruwa | 78 | 1.5 | 72.6 | 25.5 |
| Itahari | 94 | 14.2 | 37.4 | 47.1 |
| Koshi | 76 | 2.3 | 59.6 | 19.2 |
| Koshi Tappu | 67 | 15.2 | 0.9 | 0.0 |
| Ramdhuni | 92 | 13.0 | 67.9 | 18.6 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Sunsari District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Sunsari District: about 99 a year on average, most in 2013 (189).
Questions about Sunsari District
- What is the forest cover of Sunsari District?
- About 15.2% of Sunsari District is forest (95% interval 0.0–43.7%), roughly 182 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 8 sample sites. That ranks 68th of 77 districts.
- How much of Sunsari District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 22.4% (267 km²). Sunsari District ranks 4th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Sunsari District?
- Sunsari District covers 1,192 km² and has 13 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.