Province of Nepal
Madhesh Province: land cover, map and districts
Agriculture land is the largest land cover in Madhesh Province, at 52.0% of its area. Forest covers 24.8% (less than the national 41.4%), farmland 52.0%, rangeland 7.9%, built-up land 12.9%, bare land, rock and snow 0.9% and water 1.6%.
Land cover of Madhesh Province
Show the numbers
| Class | Share (%) | 95% interval | Area (km²) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urban land | 12.9 | 8.4–17.4 | 1,237 |
| Agriculture land | 52.0 | 42.9–61.0 | 4,984 |
| Rangeland | 7.9 | 3.8–12.1 | 761 |
| Forest land | 24.8 | 16.3–33.2 | 2,373 |
| Water | 1.6 | 0.2–2.9 | 148 |
| Barren land | 0.9 | 0.0–1.9 | 87 |
Latest high-resolution imagery (captured 2011–2026, median 2025-11). Estimated from 69 randomly placed 1.2 km sample windows classified by the Nepal-adapted U-Net; intervals are 95% confidence. How it works.
Madhesh Province year by year
Largest changes in the reference map from 2017 to 2025: agriculture land −4.5 points, urban land +3.8 points, water +0.9 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 Madhesh Province
Fires in Madhesh Province each year
Satellite fire detections (NASA FIRMS, VIIRS S-NPP) inside Madhesh Province: about 2,801 a year on average, most in 2021 (4,227).
Questions about Madhesh Province
- What is the forest cover of Madhesh Province?
- About 24.8% of Madhesh Province is forest (95% interval 16.3–33.2%), roughly 2,373 km², according to the Nepal-adapted U-Net applied to 69 sample sites. That ranks 7th of 7 provinces.
- How much of Madhesh Province is built-up or urban?
- Built-up land covers about 12.9% (1,237 km²). Madhesh Province ranks 1st of 7 provinces for built-up share.
- How big is Madhesh Province?
- Madhesh Province covers 9,591 km² and has 8 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.