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Updates: 

Steven Verbanck sent me a link to the new Constitution of Nepal. It reorganizes the country from five development regions into seven provinces. The constitution calls them simply Province No. 1 to Province No. 7. Clive Carpenter sent me a link to source [11], which shows "proposed" provinces and names. The former districts have been preserved; however, two districts, Nawalparasi and Rukum, are now split between two provinces.

ISO 3166-2 Newsletter number II-1, dated 2010-02-03, has changes to the listing for Nepal, but nothing that affects data reported on this site. The only change is adding the prefix NP- explicitly to each development region code.

A bill passed by the interim legislature-parliament on 2007-12-28 declared Nepal a democratic federal republic, effective as of 2008-05-28. The monarchy has been abolished. This affects the official name of the country, which has been updated in ISO 3166-1 by Newsletter VI-3, published on 2008-09-09.

In "Administrative Subdivisions of Countries", I showed aanchal (zones) as the primary subdivisions. The zones could be grouped together to form five vikas kshetra (development regions). I added, "recent publications of the Central Bureau of Statistics of Nepal list development region and district names, but not zone names. The zones are probably less significant than the districts." Source [8], a profile of Nepal on a government website, doesn't even mention the zones, and I believe they're no longer in use.

Country overview: 

Short name	NEPAL
ISO code	NP
FIPS code	NP
Language	Nepali (ne)
Time zone	+5:45
Capital	Kathmandu

 

Nepal has been independent during the entire 20th century.

Other names of country: 

1. Danish: Nepal
2. Dutch: Nepal
3. English: Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (formal)
4. Finnish: Nepal
5. French: République f fédérale démocratique du Népal m
6. German: Nepal n
7. Italian: Nepal m
8. Nepali: Sanghiya Loktantrik Ganatantra Nepal (formal)
9. Norwegian: Nepal
10. Portuguese: Nepal
11. Russian: Федеративная Демократическая Республика Непал (formal)
12. Spanish: Nepal
13. Swedish: Nepal
14. Turkish: Nepal

Primary subdivisions: 

Nepal is divided into seven provinces.

Province	HASC	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Proposed
One	NP.ON	4,534,943	25,905	10,002	Koshi
Two	NP.TW	5,404,145	9,661	3,730	Janakpur
Three	NP.TH	5,529,452	20,300	7,838	Bagmati
Four	NP.FO	2,413,907	21,504	8,303	Gandaki
Five	NP.FI	4,891,025	22,288	8,605	Lumbini
Six	NP.SI	1,168,515	27,984	10,805	Karnali
Seven	NP.SE	2,552,517	19,539	7,544	Far West
7 provinces		26,494,504	147,181	56,827
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. Population: 2011-06-22 census. Proposed: Proposed name (source [11]).

 

Note: Populations and areas calculated by adding the component districts. For the two districts that are split between provinces (Rukum and Nawalparasi), I arbitrarily assigned half of their data to each of those provinces.

Postal codes: 

Nepal uses five-digit postal codes. The first digit represents a region; the first three digits represent a district. The codes are rarely used.

Further subdivisions:

See the Districts of Nepal page.

Nepal also divides itself into ecological regions called Mountain, Hill, and Tarai. These are east-west strips. Mountain, in the north, includes the highest elevations. The southernmost strip is Tarai, with the lowest elevations. Most of the provinces contain part of each section. Exceptions: Two is all in Tarai, Five is all in Hill and Tarai, Six is all in Hill and Mountain.

The provinces are subdivided into districts, which are further subdivided into villages.

Territorial extent: 

The UN LOCODE page  for Nepal lists locations in the country, some of them with their latitudes and longitudes, some with their ISO 3166-2 codes for their subdivisions. This information can be put together to approximate the territorial extent of subdivisions.

Origins of names: 

Dhawalagiri: Nepalese dhaval: white, giri: mountain

Change history: 

In the 1950s, Nepal consisted of 34 districts.

District	Population	Area(mi.²)
Bagllung	100,000	1,300
Baitadi	150,000	1,500
Banke and Bardia	150,000	800
Bara, Parsa, and Rautahat	514,556	1,388
Chisapani	150,000	2,000
Chitwan and Nawalpur	150,000	1,000
Dailekh and Surkhet	300,000	1,200
Dandeldhura	60,000	850
Dang and Deokhuri	150,000	1,100
Dhankuta	531,396	3,817
Doti	300,248	3,000
East No. 1 Chautara	370,000	1,493
East No. 2 Ramechhap	250,447	1,291
East No. 3 Okhaldhunga	275,503	2,037
East No. 4 Bhojpur	238,533	926
Gulmi	50,000	1,000
Ilam	115,057	530
Jhapa	79,482	457
Jumla and Humla	160,000	5,000
Kailali and Kanchanpur	100,000	1,400
Khajhani and Syuraj	150,000	500
Mahottari and Sarlahi	700,000	1,200
Morang	228,946	1,080
Palhi Majhkhand	250,000	600
Palpa	400,000	5,000
Pyuthan	150,000	1,000
Sallyan and Jajarkot	450,000	3,000
Saptari and Siraha	431,599	912
Sindhuli	102,101	902
Udaipur	90,593	927
West No. 1 Nuwakot	400,000	2,200
West No. 2 Gorkha	200,000	1,100
West No. 3 Pokhara	450,000	2,500
West No. 4 Pallo Nauwakot	400,000	1,500
34 districts	8,598,407	54,510
Population: 1952 estimate. Source: Encyclopædia Britannica World Atlas, 1957 edition.

 

1962-02: Nepal reorganized into the following 14 zones.

Zone	ISO	FIPS	Population	Area(km.²)	Reg	Capitals
Bagmati	BA	NP01	2,250,805	9,428	1	Kathmandu
Bheri	BH	NP02	1,103,043	10,545	2	Nepalganj, Surkhet
Dhawalagiri	DH	NP03	490,877	8,148	3	Baglun
Gandaki	GA	NP04	1,266,128	12,275	3	Pokhara
Janakpur	JA	NP05	2,061,816	9,669	1	Sindhulimadi, Ramechhap
Karnali	KA	NP06	260,529	21,351	2	Jumla
Kosi	KO	NP07	1,728,247	9,669	4	Biratnagar, Dharan
Lumbini	LU	NP08	2,013,673	8,975	3	Butawal, Bhairawa
Mahakali	MA	NP09	664,952	6,989	5	Dadeldhura, Patan
Mechi	ME	NP10	1,118,210	8,196	4	Ilam
Narayani	NA	NP11	1,871,334	8,313	1	Hetauda (Bhimphedi), Birgunj
Rapti	RA	NP12	1,046,842	10,482	2	Tulsipur, Sallyana
Sagarmatha	SA	NP13	1,600,292	10,591	4	Rajbiraj
Seti	SE	NP14	1,014,349	12,550	5	Dhangarhi, Silgadhi
14 zones			18,491,097	147,181
ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. FIPS: Codes from FIPS PUB 10-4. Population: 1991-06-22 census. Reg: ISO code for development region (see below) Capitals: Sources disagree about the identities of the zone capitals. I wasn't able to explain the discrepancies as moves from one city to another, so I have listed all the capitals named by more than one independent source, giving the most frequently cited capital first. These may be summer and winter capitals.

 

~1995: Zones fell into disuse, so the already existing five vikas kshetra (development regions) effectively became the primary subdivisions.

Region	HASC	ISO	Population	Area(km.²)	Area(mi.²)	Nepali name	Capital
Central	NP.MM	1	9,656,985	27,410	10,583	Madhyamanchal	Hetauda
Eastern	NP.PW	4	5,811,555	28,456	10,987	Purwanchal	Dhankuta
Far-Western	NP.SP	5	2,552,517	19,539	7,544	Sudur Pashchimanchal	Dipayal
Mid-Western	NP.MP	2	3,546,682	42,378	16,362	Madhya Pashchimanchal	Birendranagar
Western	NP.PM	3	4,926,765	29,398	11,351	Pashchimanchal	Pokhara
5 regions			26,494,504	147,181	56,827
HASC: Hierarchical administrative subdivision codes. ISO: Codes from ISO 3166-2. Population: 2011-06-22 census.

1. 2015-09-20: Under the new constitution, Central development region split into two parts, one forming province Three, and the other, with the addition of two districts from Eastern region, forming province Two; province One formed by taking fourteen districts from Eastern development region; Far-Western development region renamed province Seven; Mid-Western development region split into provinces Five and Six, with part of Rukum district going to each of the two provinces; Western development region renamed province Four. In addition, the part of Nawalparasi district west of Bardaghat Susta annexed to province Five. Except as mentioned, each district remained intact within one of the provinces.

Other names of subdivisions: 

In some transcriptions from Nepali, long vowels are marked, but not always consistently.

1. Dhawalagiri: Dhaulagiri (variant)
2. Kosi: Koshi (variant)
3. One: Sagarmatha (variant)

Population history:

Region	1981-06-22	1991-06-22	2001-06-22	2011-06-22
Central	4,909,357	6,183,955	8,031,629	9,656,985
Eastern	3,708,923	4,446,749	5,344,476	5,811,555
Far-Western	1,320,089	1,679,301	2,191,330	2,552,517
Mid-Western	1,955,611	2,410,414	3,012,975	3,546,682
Western	3,128,859	3,770,678	4,571,013	4,926,765
Total	15,022,839	18,491,097	23,151,423	26,494,504

Sources: 

1. [1] Library of Congress country study  (retrieved 1999).
2. [2] Dutt, Ashok K., and M. Margaret Geib. Fully Annotated Atlas of South Asia. Westview Press, Boulder and London, 1987.
3. [3] Schmidt, Karl J. "An Atlas and Survey of South Asian History". M.E. Sharpe, Armonk, N.Y., 1995.
4. [4] Statistical Pocket Book, Nepal, 1990. Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu.
5. [5] National Population and Housing Census 2011 . Central Bureau of Statistics, Kathmandu, November, 2012 (retrieved 2012-12-07).
6. [6] Nepal Population Report 2002, Ministry of Population and Environment (http://www.mope.gov.np/population/chapter1.php, dead link, retrieved 2005-10-12).
7. [7] Table 1, 2001 census report, Nepal's Central Bureau of Statistics (http://www.cbs.gov.np/pop/Webpage/html/tab1.htm, dead link, retrieved 2004-02-16).
8. [8] Profile of Nepal (http://www.nepalhmg.gov.np/country.html, dead link, retrieved 2004-02-16).
9. [9] República (http://archives.myrepublica.com/portal/index.php?action=news_details&news_id=14563, dead link, retrieved 2015-08-25).
10. [10] Constitution of Nepal, 2015 , Unofficial translation (retrieved 2015-10-19).
11. [11] "Making Tarai Separate Province Harmful ," People's Review (dated 2014-11-05, retrieved 2015-11-26).