Land cover
Land cover of Nepal
Forest land is the largest land cover in Nepal, at 41.4% of its area. Forest covers 41.4%, farmland 9.8%, rangeland 31.8%, built-up land 4.2%, bare land, rock and snow 11.9% and water 0.8%. These figures come from a U-Net deep-learning model that labels every pixel of satellite imagery, published by Khadka & Pradhan (2026) and adapted to Nepal.
Nepal today
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 4.2 | 3.5–4.9 | 6,166 km² |
| Agriculture land | 9.8 | 8.7–10.9 | 14,488 km² |
| Rangeland | 31.8 | 30.3–33.4 | 46,969 km² |
| Forest land | 41.4 | 39.6–43.3 | 61,189 km² |
| Water | 0.8 | 0.6–1.0 | 1,213 km² |
| Barren land | 11.9 | 10.6–13.3 | 17,628 km² |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11); 1038 stratified random sample sites; 95% intervals in the table.
Year by year
Each year in detail: 2016 · 2018 · 2019 · 2020 · 2021 · 2022 · 2023 · 2024 · 2025
Coloured: the U-Net on each year's Sentinel-2 cloudless mosaic with 95% intervals; grey: the independent 10 m Impact Observatory map. Year-to-year differences of a few points can come from mosaic processing; the 2016 and 2018 mosaics are read less reliably (too little built-up land, too much bare land and water), so compare from 2019 on.
Across the districts
Highest: Nawalparasi East 87%, Arghakhanchi 83%, Palpa 78%, Gulmi 74%, Parbat 74%.
Highest: Kathmandu 85%, Bhaktapur 80%, Lalitpur 32%, Sunsari 22%, Jhapa 22%.
Highest: Sarlahi 70%, Bara 64%, Jhapa 64%, Rupandehi 61%, Saptari 56%.
Each district's share from the U-Net on the latest high-resolution imagery (8 or more sample sites per district).
By province and district
Bagmati Province — forest 52.7%, built-up 6.8%
Gandaki Province — forest 43.4%, built-up 0.8%
Karnali Province — forest 26.7%, built-up 0.9%
Koshi Province — forest 41.6%, built-up 5.2%
- Bhojpur forest 69%
- Dhankuta forest 52%
- Ilam forest 59%
- Jhapa forest 11%
- Khotang forest 44%
- Morang forest 31%
- Okhaldhunga forest 40%
- Panchthar forest 70%
- Sankhuwasabha forest 44%
- Solukhumbu forest 31%
- Sunsari forest 15%
- Taplejung forest 34%
- Terhathum forest 53%
- Udayapur forest 53%
Lumbini Province — forest 56.8%, built-up 5.0%
- Arghakhanchi forest 83%
- Banke forest 62%
- Bardiya forest 54%
- Dang forest 70%
- Gulmi forest 74%
- Kapilbastu forest 25%
- Nawalparasi West forest 49%
- Palpa forest 78%
- Pyuthan forest 64%
- Rolpa forest 61%
- Rukum East forest 31%
- Rupandehi forest 23%
Madhesh Province — forest 24.8%, built-up 12.9%
Sudur Paschim Province — forest 43.4%, built-up 3.8%
- Achham forest 43%
- Baitadi forest 32%
- Bajhang forest 27%
- Bajura forest 35%
- Dadeldhura forest 70%
- Darchula forest 33%
- Doti forest 69%
- Kailali forest 57%
- Kanchanpur forest 33%
The seven classes
- Urban land
- Man-made, built-up areas with human artifacts.
- Agriculture land
- Farms, planned plantation, cropland, orchards, vineyards, nurseries and horticulture.
- Rangeland
- Any non-forest, non-farm green land: grass and shrubs.
- Forest land
- Land with tree-crown cover, including clear-cuts.
- Water
- Rivers, lakes, wetlands and ponds.
- Barren land
- Mountain, rock, sand, river bars and other land without vegetation.
Source: Nepal-adapted U-Net (Khadka & Pradhan 2026) on Esri World Imagery and EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless; reference: Impact Observatory/Esri 10 m land cover.