Jhapa District (; ) is a

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

of Koshi Province in eastern

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 ...

named after a Rajbanshi Surjapuri language word "Jhapa", meaning "to cover" (verb). The 2021 Nepal Census, puts the total population of the district at 994,090. The total area of the district is 1,606 square kilometres.

History

The lowlands of Limbuwan (present-day terai lands of Sunsari, Morang, and Jhapa) were collectively known as Morang since the time of King Mawrong of 7th century. In the beginning of 1400 AD, Morang Kingdom patriated from Kingdom of Ilam and Kingdom of Mikluk Bodhey (Choubise) and started ruling on its own.

Location

Jhapa is the easternmost district of Nepal and lies in the fertile

Terai The Terai or Tarai is a lowland region in parts of southern Nepal and northern India that lies to the south of the outer foothills of the Himalayas, the Sivalik Hills and north of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. This lowland belt is characterised by ...

plains. It is part of the Outer Terai. Jhapa borders with Ilam in the north, Morang in the west, the Indian state of

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

in the south and the Indian state of

West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...

to the southeast and east. Geographically, it covers an area of and lies on 87°39’ east to 88°12’ east longitude and 26°20’ north to 26°50’ north latitude.

Climate and geography

Jhapa receive 250 to 300 cm of rainfall a year, and mostly during the monsoon season in the summer, and its hilly northern area receives more rainfall than the south. The maximum temperature recorded is 42.5 °C in summer and 1 °C in winter. The lowest elevation point is 58 meters which is the lowest land in Nepal and the highest elevation point is 500 meters from mean sea level.

Administrative divisions

Jhapa consists of 15 administrative divisions including eight

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

and seven rural municipalities. Each division has wards according to the demographic and geographic size. These are:

Municipalities

* Mechinagar Municipality * Bhadrapur Municipality * Birtamod Municipality * Arjundhara Municipality * Kankai Municipality * Shivasatakshi Municipality * Gauradaha Municipality * Damak Municipality

Rural municipalities

* Buddhashanti Rural Municipality * Haldibari Rural Municipality * Kachankawal Rural Municipality * Barhadashi Rural Municipality * Jhapa Rural Municipality * Gauriganj Rural Municipality * Kamal Rural Municipality

Villages

* Hattikilla

Demographics

At the time of the 2021 Nepal census, Jhapa District had a population of 998,054. 7.32% of the population is under 5 years of age. It has a literacy rate of 82.83% and a sex ratio of 1085 females per 1000 males. 704,357 (70.57%) lived in municipalities. Jhapa District has average population density of around 619 per square kilometer. The district population growth rate is 1.93%. However, the growth is balanced and in-migration is rapidly increasing day to day into the district. At the time of the 2021 Nepal census, Jhapa District had a population of 994,090 making it the 4th largest district in Nepal after

Kathmandu Kathmandu () is the capital and largest city of Nepal, situated in the central part of the country within the Kathmandu Valley. As per the 2021 Nepal census, it has a population of 845,767 residing in 105,649 households, with approximately 4 mi ...

, Morang and Rupandehi. Being at the cross-roads of the eastern hills and the eastern Terai, Jhapa has huge ethnic diversity with 110 castes/ethnic groups represented. The largest communities are

Bahun Bahun (), also known as Hill Brahmins, are a Brahmin varna among the Khas of Nepal. They are a sub-caste of the Kanyakubja Brahmin while their origins are from Kannauj and the Himalayan belt of South Asia. According to the 2011 Nepal censu ...

and Chhetri. Other communities include the Janajati Limbu and other Kirati peoples, Dalit communities like Kami and Damai, as well as Tamang, Newar and Magar and Adivasi communities like the Rajbanshi/Tajpuriya, Gangai or Ganesh, Santal, Tharu and Dhimal in the Terai. As their first language, 61.47% of the population spoke Nepali, 8.54% Rajbanshi, 5.43% Limbu, 4.18% Maithili, 3.22% Santali, 2.01% Tamang, 1.82% Rai, 1.79% Gangai, 1.31% Tajpuriya and 1.06% Magar as their first language. In 2011, Nepali was spoken by 55.82% of the population as their first language. Religion: 79.10% were

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

, 9.38% Kirati, 4.94%

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

, 3.33%

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 ...

, 2.60%

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

, 0.63% Prakriti and 0.02% others.

International Borders

Jhapa borders the Indian state of

to the south and the Indian state of

to the east. Jhapa is an eastern entry point of Nepal from India. Kakarbhitta-Mechinagar border lies in Jhapa and is an important trade point for Nepal.

Education

Among 77 districts, Jhapa has a literacy rate of 75.2%, higher than the national average. There are enough primary schools, secondary schools, high schools and colleges available both from private sector and the government.

Notable people

Jhapa district is home to notable personalities including one former prime minister and two former deputy prime ministers. * KP Sharma Oli, former prime minister of Nepal and chairman of CPN (UML) * Bishwa Prakash Sharma, general secretary of

Nepali Congress The Nepali Congress ( ; Abbreviation, abbr. NC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a Social democracy, social democratic List of political parties in Nepal, political party in Nepal and the largest party in the country ...

* Rajendra Prasad Lingden, chairman of Rastriya Prajatantra Party * Krishna Prasad Sitaula, former Home minister and senior leader of

* Radha Krishna Mainali, senior Communist leader * CP Mainali, chairman of CPN (ML) and former Deputy prime minister of Nepal * Ananta Tamang, National Football Player, All Nepal Football Association

References

External links

* Districts of Koshi Province Districts of Nepal established in 1962 {{Coord, 27.917373, N, 84.193726, E, region:NP-GA_type:adm2nd_source:dewiki, display=title