Province of Nepal
Koshi Province: land cover, map and districts
Forest land is the largest land cover in Koshi Province, at 41.6% of its area. Forest covers 41.6% (about the same as the national 41.4%), farmland 12.6%, rangeland 29.3%, built-up land 5.2%, bare land, rock and snow 10.4% and water 0.9%.
Land cover of Koshi Province
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 5.2 | 3.3–7.2 | 1,364 |
| Agriculture land | 12.6 | 9.5–15.7 | 3,285 |
| Rangeland | 29.3 | 25.5–33.1 | 7,638 |
| Forest land | 41.6 | 36.7–46.5 | 10,828 |
| Water | 0.9 | 0.3–1.5 | 237 |
| Barren land | 10.4 | 6.9–13.9 | 2,709 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 182 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Koshi Province year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: urban land +2.0 points, agriculture land −1.7 points, barren land −1.2 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 Koshi Province
| District | Area (km²) | Forest % | Farmland % | Built-up % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bhojpur | 1,524 | 68.9 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Dhankuta | 899 | 51.6 | 3.9 | 9.1 |
| Ilam | 1,685 | 59.0 | 8.2 | 3.6 |
| Jhapa | 1,604 | 10.9 | 63.6 | 22.3 |
| Khotang | 1,589 | 44.3 | 0.0 | 0.4 |
| Morang | 1,822 | 30.6 | 42.1 | 22.2 |
| Okhaldhunga | 1,076 | 39.7 | 0.0 | 2.3 |
| Panchthar | 1,248 | 70.5 | 0.0 | 0.2 |
| Sankhuwasabha | 3,470 | 44.4 | 9.6 | 1.9 |
| Solukhumbu | 3,354 | 31.3 | 0.1 | 1.2 |
| Sunsari | 1,192 | 15.2 | 40.1 | 22.4 |
| Taplejung | 3,632 | 33.9 | 0.0 | 0.1 |
| Terhathum | 671 | 52.6 | 0.0 | 0.0 |
| Udayapur | 2,297 | 53.2 | 22.1 | 2.2 |
Fires in Koshi Province each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Koshi Province: about 2,794 a year on average, most in 2024 (5,107).
Questions about Koshi Province
- What is the forest cover of Koshi Province?
- About 41.6% of Koshi Province is forest (95% interval 36.7–46.5%), roughly 10,828 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 182 sample sites. That ranks 5th of 7 provinces.
- How much of Koshi Province is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 5.2% (1,364 km²). Koshi Province ranks 3rd of 7 provinces for built-up share.
- How big is Koshi Province?
- Koshi Province covers 26,062 km² and has 14 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.