Dharan ( ne, धरान) a sub-metropolitan city in

Sunsari District , nickname = , native_name_lang = , image_skyline = , image_size = , image_alt = , image_caption = Night view of Dharan, Itahari & Tarahara :: Barahakshetra Temple: BPKIHS, Dharan : Dharan Clock Tower , image_map = Sunsari district ...

of Province No. 1, Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal after

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Province No. 1. With a population of 242,548 as per the 2011 census, it is the largest city in the province and also the headquarters of Morang district. As per the ...

and Itahari. Dharan is the location of the former Vijayapur, the seat of a historical

Limbuwan Limbuwan is an area of the Himalayan region historically made up of 10 Limbu kingdoms, now part of eastern Nepal. Limbuwan means "abode of the Limbus" or "Land of the Limbus". In modern times, a political movement in Nepal has developed which ...

kingdom, which was later used by the Sen kings of

Makwanpur Makwanpur District( ne, मकवानपुर जिल्ला; , a part of Bagmati Province, earlier a part of Narayani Zone, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Hetauda as its district headquarter, as well as ...

. Dharan has an estimated city population of 173,096 living in 34,834 households as per

2021 Nepal census The 2021 Nepal Census was the twelfth nationwide census of Nepal conducted by the Central Bureau of Statistics. The census was originally scheduled from 8 June to 22 June 2021, but was postponed to November 2021 due to surge in COVID-19 cases. ...

. It is one of the cities of the ''Greater Birat Development Area'' which incorporates the cities of

- Itahari-Gothgau- Biratchowk-Dharan primarily located on the Koshi Highway in Eastern Nepal, with an estimated total urban agglomerated population of 804,300 people living in 159,332 households. It is the largest city in the province number one by Area. It covers 192.32 square kilometers while Biratnagar and Itahari is 2nd and 3rd biggest cities by Area

Geography

Dharan is situated on the foothills of the Mahabharat Range in the north with its southern tip touching the edge of the

Terai , image =Terai nepal.jpg , image_size = , image_alt = , caption =Aerial view of Terai plains near Biratnagar, Nepal , map = , map_size = , map_alt = , map_caption = , biogeographic_realm = Indomalayan realm , global200 = Terai-Duar savanna a ...

region at an altitude of 1148 ft (349m). The Koshi highway runs through the heart of the city thus connecting it with the provincial capital of

as well as the Itahari junction of the east–west

Mahendra highway Mahendra Highway (), also called East-West Highway () runs across the Terai geographical region of Nepal, from Mechinagar in the east to Bhim Datta in the west, cutting across the entire width of the country. It is the longest highway in Nepal ...

(lying 41 km and 17 km south, respectively), and the Nepal-China border of Kimathanka (lying 115 km north).

Demographics

Languages

At the time of the 2011 Census of Nepal, 42.5% of the population in the city spoke Nepali, 10.1% Limbu, 7.4% Newar, 5.9% Rai, 5.9% Tamang, 5.8% Bantawa, and 22.4% spoke other smaller languages as their first language.

Caste And Ethnic groups

The largest single caste/ethnic in Dharan is Rai People, Rai, who makes (20.7%) of the population, Limbu comes to second with (11.7%), Newar makes (11.1%) of population Chhetri (10.7%), Tamang (7.3%), Hill Brahmin (7.1%), Kami (6.2%) and other various ethnic groups makes (25.2%) Of the population.

Environment

A study conducted in 2016 to analyze the bacteriological quality of bottled drinking water and that of municipal

tap water Tap water (also known as faucet water, running water, or municipal water) is water supplied through a tap, a water dispenser valve. In many countries, tap water usually has the quality of drinking water. Tap water is commonly used for drinking, ...

in Dharan found that one hundred percent of the tap water samples and 87.5% of the bottled water samples were contaminated with

heterotrophic A heterotroph (; ) is an organism that cannot produce its own food, instead taking nutrition from other sources of organic carbon, mainly plant or animal matter. In the food chain, heterotrophs are primary, secondary and tertiary consumers, but ...

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were am ...

. Of the tap water samples, 55.3% were positive for total coliforms, compared with 25% of the bottled water, but no bottled water samples were positive for

fecal coliform A fecal coliform (British: faecal coliform) is a facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped, gram-negative, non-sporulating bacterium. Coliform bacteria generally originate in the intestines of warm-blooded animals. Fecal coliforms are capable of growt ...

s and fecal

streptococci ''Streptococcus'' is a genus of gram-positive ' (plural ) or spherical bacteria that belongs to the family Streptococcaceae, within the order Lactobacillales (lactic acid bacteria), in the phylum Bacillota. Cell division in streptococci occur ...

, in contrast to 21.1% and 14.5% of the tap water samples being contaminated with fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci, respectively. One hundred percent of the tap water samples and 54.2% of the bottled water samples had pH in the acceptable range.

Tourist attractions

* Budha Subba: As an important and unique religious site to Nepali Hindus, this temple holds immense cultural significance to the people of Dharan. Budha Subba temple is located a top the Bijaypur hills and the surrounding area is highly scenic. This temple holds historic significance because it is the

tomb A tomb ( grc-gre, τύμβος ''tumbos'') is a repository for the remains of the dead. It is generally any structurally enclosed interment space or burial chamber, of varying sizes. Placing a corpse into a tomb can be called ''immureme ...

of the last Limbu King, Buddhi Karnaraya Khebang. * Gurkha Memorial Park: This park was established "to preserve the legacy of Brigade of Gurkhas in Dharan for posterity before it is forgotten and lost forever", as many Nepalese men, many of whom were residents of Dharan, joined the Brigade of Gurkhas. * Dharan Clock Tower

Media and communication

*Newspapers: The people of Dharan are served by several daily local newspapers and national newspapers. There are 11 local newspapers in total. These include ''The Blast Times'' and ''The Morning Times''. National newspapers are also provided to the people of Dharan on a daily basis. National newspapers include ''

The Kathmandu Post ''The Kathmandu Post'' is a major daily newspaper published in Nepal. Founded in February 1993 by Shyam Goenka, it is one of the largest English-language newspapers in the country. The newspaper is independently owned and published by Kant ...

'', '' Kantipur'', ''Annapurna Post'', and '' Himalayan Times''. Several monthly neighborhood papers serve the town. *Radio: The state-owned Radio Nepal is broadcast on the medium wave on 648 kHz in the city. Five private local FM stations are available. They are Star FM - 95.6 MHz, Vijayapur FM - 98.8 MHz, Dantakali FM - 88.5 MHz, and Radio Dharan FM - 88.8 MHz. Radio Ganatantra FM 95.1 MHz is a

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popula ...

station. Likewise, Dharan has a BFBS Radio Relay station. It broadcasts on FM frequencies. *Television: Nepal's state-owned television broadcaster, Nepal Television's relay station is present near its border, which provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels. A mix of Nepali, Hindi, English, and other international channels are accessible via cable subscription and direct-broadcast satellite services. Dharan Cable Network broadcasts Kriti Television Channel as a local television channel that covers events in the city.

Climate

Notable people

* Bhola Rijal, Doctor and lyricist * Deep Shrestha, Singer and music composer * Deepak Limbu, Singer * Dhiraj Rai, Singer * Govinda Subba, First governor of province no. 1 (Nepal) * Hari Nath Bastola, Politician * Harka Raj Rai, Current mayor of Dharan, social activist, and leader of public mobilization movement. * Krishna Kumar Rai, Politician *

Malina Joshi Malina Joshi ( ne, मलिना जोशी) (born 27 January 1989) is a Nepali actress and Miss Nepal 2011. Joshi won the coveted title, beating Gurung, when she delivered an impressive answer about women's dominance to the judges, that s ...

, Miss Nepal 2011 * Malvika Subba, Miss Nepal 2002 * Minendra Rijal, Politician & MP * Namrata Shrestha, Actress * Raju Kaji Shakya, Former captain of national football team * Sabin Rai, Singer * Subin Limbu, Miss Nepal 2014

References

{{Authority control Populated places in Sunsari District Sunsari District Municipalities in Province No. 1 Nepal municipalities established in 1962 Submetropolitan municipalities of Nepal Municipalities in Sunsari District