District of Nepal · Karnali Province
Surkhet District: land cover, map and municipalities
Forest land is the largest land cover in Surkhet District, at 67.6% of its area. Forest covers 67.6% (more than the national 41.4%), farmland 4.9%, rangeland 20.5%, built-up land 7.0%, bare land, rock and snow 0.0% and water 0.1%.
Land cover of Surkhet District
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 7.0 | 0.0–18.3 | 174 |
| Agriculture land | 4.9 | 0.0–12.6 | 123 |
| Rangeland | 20.5 | 11.1–29.8 | 509 |
| Forest land | 67.6 | 52.7–82.4 | 1,679 |
| Water | 0.1 | 0.0–0.2 | 2 |
| Barren land | 0.0 | 0.0–0.0 | 0 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 17 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Surkhet District year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: agriculture land −3.8 points, urban land +3.6 points, forest land +0.1 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 Surkhet District
| Local unit | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barahatal | 455 | 73.8 | 1.4 | 0.6 |
| Bheriganga | 256 | 74.0 | 6.1 | 4.6 |
| Birendranagar | 245 | 49.1 | 6.4 | 14.4 |
| Chaukune | 380 | 71.0 | 3.6 | 0.4 |
| Chingad | 170 | 44.3 | 1.1 | 1.0 |
| Gurbhakot | 228 | 53.4 | 8.4 | 6.6 |
| Lekabeshi | 181 | 55.4 | 5.2 | 4.4 |
| Panchapuri | 329 | 66.6 | 4.2 | 1.8 |
| Simta | 241 | 44.6 | 2.2 | 1.4 |
Local-unit land cover is from the 10 m Impact Observatory map (2025), clipped to each boundary.
Fires in Surkhet District each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Surkhet District: about 1,580 a year on average, most in 2021 (3,546).
Questions about Surkhet District
- What is the forest cover of Surkhet District?
- About 67.6% of Surkhet District is forest (95% interval 52.7–82.4%), roughly 1,679 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 17 sample sites. That ranks 13th of 77 districts.
- How much of Surkhet District is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 7.0% (174 km²). Surkhet District ranks 25th of 77 districts for built-up share.
- How big is Surkhet District?
- Surkhet District covers 2,486 km² and has 9 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.