Province of Nepal
Karnali Province: land cover, map and districts
Rangeland is the largest land cover in Karnali Province, at 47.7% of its area. Forest covers 26.7% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 0.6%, rangeland 47.7%, built-up land 0.9%, bare land, rock and snow 23.0% and water 1.0%.
Land cover of Karnali Province
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 0.9 | 0.0–1.8 | 287 |
| Agriculture land | 0.6 | 0.0–1.2 | 181 |
| Rangeland | 47.7 | 43.7–51.7 | 14,619 |
| Forest land | 26.7 | 23.7–29.8 | 8,193 |
| Water | 1.0 | 0.4–1.7 | 318 |
| Barren land | 23.0 | 19.1–27.0 | 7,065 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 208 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Karnali Province year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: rangeland +4.1 points, barren land −2.7 points, forest land −1.5 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.
Districts of Karnali Province
Fires in Karnali Province each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Karnali Province: about 4,213 a year on average, most in 2021 (9,629).
Questions about Karnali Province
- What is the forest cover of Karnali Province?
- About 26.7% of Karnali Province is forest (95% interval 23.7–29.8%), roughly 8,193 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 208 sample sites. That ranks 6th of 7 provinces.
- How much of Karnali Province is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 0.9% (287 km²). Karnali Province ranks 6th of 7 provinces for built-up share.
- How big is Karnali Province?
- Karnali Province covers 30,663 km² and has 10 districts.
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.