Mechi ( ) was one of the fourteen zones of

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 ...

until the restructuring of zones to

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

, comprising four districts; namely Ilam,

Jhapa Jhapa District (; ) is a district of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal 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 a ...

Panchthar Panthar District () is one of Districts of Province No. 1, 14 districts of Koshi Province in the eastern hilly region of Nepal. It is a Geography of Nepal#The Hill Region, Hill districts of Nepal, district of eastern Nepal. The district covers of ...

and

Taplejung Taplejung District ( ) is one of List of districts of Nepal, seventy-seven districts of Nepal and one of the Districts of Province No. 1, 14 districts of Koshi Province. It is located deep in the Himalayas in Eastern Nepal with Tibet, བོད ...

. Its headquarters are at Ilam. It comes under the Eastern Development Region of Nepal. 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 ...

is to the south,

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 ...

and

Sikkim Sikkim ( ; ) is a States and union territories of India, state in northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Koshi Province of Nepal in the west, and West Bengal in the ...

in the east and

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...

to the north. The largest town is

Damak Damak ( Nepali: दमक) is one of the oldest municipalities in Jhapa District of Koshi Province in eastern Nepal. It is situated between the Ratuwa River in the east and the Maawa River in the west. It has Sivalik Hills in its north and ends ...

in the

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 ...

. The majority of the population in Mechi are Limbu, Chettri, Bharmin,

Maithil Maithils (Devanagari: मैथिल), also known as Maithili people, are an Indo-Aryan cultural and ethno-linguistic group from the Indian subcontinent, who speak the Maithili language as their native language. They inhabit the Mithila regio ...

and Meche.

Administrative subdivisions

Mechi was divided into four districts; since 2015 these districts have been redesignated as part of

Province No. 1 Koshi Province () is an autonomous 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 capital, the province i ...

. Among the four districts, Jhapa is in the Terai and it is more developed than the other three districts. Ilam and Panchthar are in the hilly region. Ilam is also in a developing stage, with many tourists visiting annually. Kanyam is popular for its tea garden. At Antu the rising sun can be viewed. Taplejung is the least developed of the four districts. Taplejung is in the mountainous zone. There are two airports within Mechi: one in Bhadrapur and one in Taplejung.

Agriculture and industry

Mechi is famous for

microcredit Microcredit is the extension of very small loans (microloans) to impoverished borrowers who typically do not have access to traditional banking services due to a lack of collateral (finance), collateral, steady employment, and a verifiable credi ...

development. The Small Farmer Development Programme (SFDP) was the first rural and micro-financing program in Mechi. The Agricultural Development Bank started this SFDP in 1988. It started in a few VDCs and spread. After lifting many people out of poverty, the SFDP was handed over to the local people and the new institution was named Small Farmer Cooperative Ltd (SFCL). There are 13 SFCLs in Mechi, each of which covers a single VDC. It is one of the major districts for the production of tea and rice. Budhabare is on the northern side of the Mahendra Highway and is one of the most fertile lands of Nepal. Mechi as a district is popular for the bittle nuts (Supari). Several large tea estate are in Mechi. Giri Bandhu Tea Estate, Burne Tea State, Tokla Tea Estate, Himalaya Tea State, Damak, Sattighatta Tea Estate are the major ones. Mechi has different sorts of communication medium.

Lists of Monuments

* List of Monuments in Ilam District * List of Monuments in Jhapa District * List of Monuments in Panchthar District * List of Monuments in Taplejung District

References

Zones of Nepal Koshi Province 2015 disestablishments in Nepal {{Province1NP-geo-stub

Administrative subdivisions

Agriculture and industry

Lists of Monuments

See also

References