Province No. 1


Province No. 1 is the easternmost of the seven provinces established by the new constitution of Nepal which was adopted on 20 September 2015. With the industrial city of Biratnagar as its headquarter, the province covers other major eastern towns including Damak, Dharan, Itahari, Inarua and Birtamod and includes several mountains including the Everest, Kanchenjunga, and Ama Dablam. Koshi - the largest river of the nation, circumvents the province's western boundary. Adhering to the first-past-the-post voting system issued by the Constituency Delimitation Commission, the province hosts 28 parliamentary seats and 56 provincial seats.
The province is bordered by the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, the Indian states of Sikkim and West Bengal to the east, and Bihar to the south, and Bagmati Pradesh and Province No. 2 to the west. According to the 2011 census, there are around 4.5 million people in the province, with a population density of 175.6 per square kilometer.

History

At the end of Rana regime, Nepal was divided into 32 districts. Eastern Nepal contained following districts:
In 1956, eastern districts of Nepal grouped in a region named "Arun Kshetra". Arun Kshetra was composed by grouping the then 5 districts. Those 5 districts are now divided into many districts. Arun Kshetra had total area of and total population was 11 Lakhs.
The five districts were:
  1. Biratnagar District
  2. Dhankuta District
  3. Taplejung District
  4. Mechi District
  5. Bhojpur District
In 1962, administrative system restructured and the "Kshetras" system cancelled and the country restructured into 75 development districts and those districts were grouped into zones. In 1972 area of the Province No. 1 named Eastern Development Region. It had 3 zones and 16 districts.
As per the cabinet meeting held on 17 January 2018, the city of Biratnagar was declared the interim capital of Province No. 1. It was later declared as the permanent capital on 6 May 2019 when two-third of the provincial assembly's MLAs voted in favor of Biratnagar.

Geography

Province No. 1 covers an area of 25,905 km2. The Province has three-fold geographical division: Himalayan in the north, Hilly in the middle and Terai in the southern part of Nepal, varying between an altitude of 70 m and 8,848 m. Terai, extended from east to west, is made up of alluvial soil. To the west of Koshi River, in between Mahabharat Range and Churia Range, there elongates a valley called Inner Terai. Churai Range, Mahabharat Range and other hills of various height, basins, tars and valleys form the hilly region. Some parts of this region are favorable for agriculture but some other parts are not. Himalayan region, in the north, consists of many mountains ranges. Mahalangur, Kumbhakarna, Umvek, Lumba Sumba and Janak being some of them. The highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest ; and the third highest mountain, Kangchenjunga also lie in this Province.
Nepal's lowest point, Kechana Kawal at 70 m, is located in Jhapa district of this Province. There are many river basins and gentle slopes as well. Chure, Mahabharat, many basins, tars and valleys form the Terai region. Between the Churia and Mahabharat a low land of inner Terai exists. The Koshi river flows through the region with its seven tributaries; Indrawati, Likhu, Tamur, Dudh Kosi, Arun, Tamakoshi and Bhote Koshi. Tundra vegetables, coniferous forest, deciduous monsoon forests and sub-tropical evergreen woods are vegetations found here. Sub-tropical, temperate, sub-temperate, and alpine and tundra types of climates are found here.
Province No. 1 also includes the snow fall capped peaks including Mt. Everest, Kangchenjunga, Makalu with Solukhumbu, Sankhuwasabha, and Taplejung districts towards the north, the jungle clad hill tracts of Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Bhojpur, Tehrathum, Ilam and Panchthar in the middle and the alluvial fertile plains of Udayapur, Sunsari, Morang and Jhapa. Province 1 includes places like Haleshi Mahadev Temple, Pathivara Temple and Barahachhetra, which are the famous religious shrines for Hindus.

Climate

Climatic conditions of Nepal vary from one place to another in accordance with their geographical features. Province no. 1 has three geographical folds: the low-land of Terai, the hilly region and the highlands of the Himalayas. The low land altitude is 59 m, whereas the highest point is 8848 m.
In the north, summers are cool and winters severe, while in the south, summers are tropical and winters are mild. Climatically, the southern belt of the province, the Terai, experiences a warm and humid climate. Eastern Nepal receives approximately 2,500 millimeters of rain annually. Province no. 1 has five seasons: spring, summer, monsoon, autumn and winter.
LocationAugust
August
January
January
Annual
Precipitation
Damak94 / 8234 / 2874 / 4723 / 82618 /103.07
Dharan85.1/72.329.5/22.468.4/44.420.2/6.91416/55.7
Biratnagar83.128.460.8161549.8/61
Bhadrapur82.227.961.216.22351.9/92.6
Dhankuta76.524.754.512.51809.5/71.2
Khandbari74.823.85211.12040.7/80.3
Ilam71.822.150.910.52551.5/100.5
Bhojpur69.120.646.88.22290.4/90.2
Khumbu Pasang Lhamu56.1/38.313.4/3.533.8/-0.81/-18.2645/25.4

Mountains

Northern part of Province No. 1 has the highest mountain of the world. Here is a list of mountains in Province No. 1.
Mountain/PeakmetresfeetSectionNotes

Rivers

There are many rivers in the region which flow towards south from the Himalayas which are tributaries of other large rivers which joins Ganga River. Sapt Koshi or the Koshi is the main river of the region. Seven tributaries join the Koshi so it called Saptkoshi.
The major rivers in the province are:
There are total 137 local administrative units in this province, in which there is 1 metropolitan city, 2 sub-metropolitan cities, 46 municipalities and 88 rural municipalities.

Districts

The province is made up of the 14 following districts:

Municipality

Cities and villages are governed by municipalities in Nepal. A district may have one or more municipalities. Province No. 1 has two types of municipalities.
  1. Urban Municipality
  2. # Metropolitan city
  3. # Sub-metropolitan city and
  4. # Municipality
  5. Rural Municipality
The government of Nepal has set out a minimum criteria to meet city and towns. These criteria include a certain population, infrastructure and revenues.

Administration

The first provincial assembly elections in Nepal were held on 26 November and 7 December 2017.
After the results of the recent election in Province No. 1 the biggest party is CPN which wins 51 seats out of 93 seats and second biggest party is Nepali Congress which wins 21 seats and third biggest party is CPN which wins 15 seats in first Provincial Assembly election.
There are 56 FPTP and 37 PR seats in the province.
In a meeting on 17 January 2018 government of Nepal finalized the temporary capital of Province No. 1, the meeting also appointed Govinda Subba as the Governor.
Sher Dhan Rai was elected as Chief Minister of Province No. 1 on February 14, 2018. He was a former Minister for Information and Communications. He was appointed as the chief minister, according to Article 168 of the Constitution of Nepal.

Provincial Assembly

The first meeting of the provincial assembly was held on 5 February 2018 in Biratnagar and was chaired by Om Prakash Sarbagi. Pradeep Kumar Bhandari was elected unopposed as the Speaker of the Provincial Assembly on 11 February 2018. Saraswoti Pokharel was also elected unopposed to the post of Deputy Speaker on 15 February 2018.

Cabinet

Transportation

All provinces of Nepal except Province No. 2 have difficult geographic features. Only three districts out of fourteen of Province No. 1 falls in terai and one district falls in inner terai. Elevation from lowest point of Nepal, Kechana to the highest point of world, Everest lies in this province, so maintaining consistent road network is one of the most challenging. Despite of those challenges, all districts are connected via road networks. Air services are available. Rail services are under construction.

Roadways

Almost all districts are connected by roads in Province No. 1, although some roads in high altitudes are not paved and conditions of those roads worsen during the rainy season. In the hills and mountain regions, the traffic is much lighter compared to Terai regions like Jhapa and Morang due to difficult terrain.
Main Highways of Province No. 1 which connects Terai to the high altitude regions. There are Feeder Roads too for inter-district and in-district commute.
  1. Mechi Highway: 268 km long2 lanes freeway which connects Jhapa to Taplejung. The main destinations along the highway include Prithivinagar, Bhadrapur, Duhagadhi, Budhabare, Kanyam, and Phikkal.
  2. Koshi Highway: 2 lanes of road and 159 km long, starts from Biratnagar and connects Myanglung with it. Itahari, Dharan, Dhankuta, Bhedetar, Hile etc. are the destinations along with highway.
  3. Sagarmatha Highway: 2 lanes, 265 km long highway starts from Kadmaha of Province No. 2 and connects Solukhumbu with it. Gaighat, Saune etc. are the destinations along with highway.
  4. Mahendra Highway The major East-West Highway of Nepal starts from Kakarbhitta of Province No. 1.

    Airways

Many domestic airports and air services are available in the region including one of the most geographically challenging airport, Lukla airport.
Airports in Province No. 1:
  1. Bhojpur Airport
  2. Biratnagar Airport
  3. Kangel Danda Airport
  4. Man Maya Airport
  5. Thamkharka Airport
  6. Lamidanda Airport
  7. Tenzing-Hillary Airport
  8. Phaplu Airport
  9. Rumjatar Airport
  10. Syangboche Airport
  11. Taplejung Airport
  12. Tumlingtar Airport
  13. Bhadrapur Airport
  14. Dharan Airport

    Railways

There is a 13 KM. Railway track which has been laid in Nepal by Indian Railways is connected to Bathnaha railway station. Bathnaha is a village situated at Araria district of Bihar state of India. Budhanagar is the first railway station of Forbesganj–Biratnagar section in Nepal which is at distance of 18 KM from Bathnaha Railway Station. The railway track is further being constructed to connect Biratnagar city.

Demographics

Total population of Province No. 1 is 4,543,943 in which female comprises 52% of the total population. There are 992,445 households

Religion

Hinduism is the major religion of the province. Buddhism is the second major religion of the province. 67% of the total population are Hindus, 17% are Kirantis, 9% Buddhists, 4% Muslims and 1% others.

Language

Nepali language is lingua franca of the province and it is the mostly spoken language. Maithili language is second largest spoken language. About 43% people of the province speak Nepali language, Maithili language is spoken by 11% of population. Limbu, Tamang and Tharu are also spoken here.

Ethnicity

Chetri is the largest ethnic group in the province, 15% of the total population are Chetri. Second largest ethnic group is Hilly Brahmins Bahun which comprises 12% of the total population of the province. Rai, Limbu, Tamang and others 16%.

Education

71.22% of the total population of the province can read and write mean educated.