Itahari () is a sub-metropolitan city in the Sunsari District of

Koshi Province Koshi Province () is an autonomous Provinces of Nepal, province of Nepal adopted by the Constitution of Nepal on 20 September 2015. It covers an area of , about 17.5% of the country's total area. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its cap ...

Nepal Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China Ch ...

. Itahari city has grown as an important business hub of eastern Nepal. It is the second most populous city in eastern Nepal after

Biratnagar Biratnagar () is a List of cities in Nepal, metropolitan city in Nepal, which serves as the capital of Koshi Province. With a Metropolitan Urban Agglomeration population of 244,750 as per the 2021 Nepal census, 2021 census, it is the largest c ...

. Situated 25 kilometres north of the provincial capital of

, 16 kilometres south of

Dharan Dharan () is a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Koshi Province, in eastern 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 and I ...

and 92 kilometres west of Kakarbhitta, Itahari serves as a junction point of the east-west

Mahendra Highway Mahendra Highway or NH01 (previously: H01) (), 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 th ...

and the north–south

Koshi Highway Koshi Highway or NH08 (previously: H08) () is a 390 km long highway located in Koshi Province. It is a north-south highway which is understood to be the shortest highway connecting India to China across the Himalayan mountains in Nepal. Ran ...

. Itahari has an estimated city population of 200000 living in 40,207 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 a surge in COVID-19 case ...

. It is one of the fastest-growing cities in Eastern Nepal. It is one of the cities of the ''Greater Birat Development Area'' which incorporates the cities of

-Itahari-Gothgau- Biratchowk-

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. According to the Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Itahari has an area of with 140,517 people living in 33,794 individual households as of Census of Nepal 2011. The town is divided into a total of 20 wards. The municipality was established in 1997 and became a sub-metro in 2014.

Climate

In the winter season, the temperature of Itahari is 10–18 °C, it increases to 30–45 °C during the summer season. About 2007 mm of precipitation falls annually. There is 4 mm of precipitation in December. In July, the precipitation reaches its peak, with an average of 571 mm.

Education

* Itahari International College * SOS Hermann Gmeiner Higher Secondary School * Fujisan Sagarmatha Boarding School, Itahari-19

Demographics

Languages

At the time of the 2011 Census of Nepal, 52% of the population in the City spoke Nepali, 18% Tharu, 7% Maithili, 6% Rai, 4%

Limbu Language Limbu (Limbu: , ''yakthuṅ pan'') is a Sino-Tibetan language spoken by the Limbu people of Nepal and Northeastern India (particularly West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam and Nagaland) as well as expatriate communities in Bhutan. The Limbu refer to the ...

, 2%

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

, and 11% spoke other languages as their first language.

Ethnic groups

The largest ethnic group is Tharu, who makes 19% of the population, Hill Brahman and

Chhetri Chhetri (Kshetri, Kshettri, Kshetry or Chhettri), ( ; IAST: ''Kṣetrī'') historically called Kshettriya or Kshetriya or Khas are Nepali language, Nepali speaking people historically associated with the warrior class and administration, some of ...

comes to second and third with 15% each. Other groups in Itahari includes the Rai (13%), Limbu (5%),

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

(3%) and others various ethnic groups makes(30%) of the population.

Local Level Election

Local Level Election 2079

Notable people

* Ritesh Thapa, a national level football player *

References

External links

ItahariChowk.com
* {{Koshi Province topics, state=collapsed Populated places in Sunsari District Municipalities in Koshi Province Nepal municipalities established in 1997 Submetropolitan municipalities of Nepal Municipalities in Sunsari District