Provinces of Nepal

The provinces of Nepal (Nepali: नेपालका प्रदेशहरू, romanized: Nepālkā Pradeśharū) were formed on 20 September 2015 in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing districts. The current system of seven provinces replaced an earlier system where Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones which were grouped into five development regions.

Provinces of Nepal
नेपालको प्रदेशहरू
Nepal ko Pradesh haru
CategoryFederated state
LocationFederal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Created
  • 20 September 2015
Number7
PopulationsSmallest: Karnali, 1,694,889
Largest: Madhesh, 6,126,288
AreasSmallest: Madhesh, 9,661 square kilometres (3,730 sq mi)
Largest: Karnali, 27,984 square kilometres (10,805 sq mi)
DensitiesSmallest: Karnali, 61
Largest: Madhesh, 630
Government
Subdivisions
This article is part of a series on
Administrative divisions of Nepal
Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal (since 2015)
Provinces: 7 (First level)
Districts: 77 (Second level)
Local-level body: 753 (Third level)
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Politics of Nepal
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History
Main articles: Administrative divisions of Nepal and List of districts in Nepal

A committee was formed to restructure administrative divisions of Nepal on 23 December 1956 and in two weeks, a report was submitted to the government. In accordance with The Report On Reconstruction Of Districts Of Nepal, 2013 (Nepali: नेपालको जिल्ला प्रशासन पुनर्गठनको रिपोर्ट, २०१३, romanized: Nepalko Jilla Prashasan Punargathanko Report, 2013), the country was first divided into seven Kshetras (areas).[1]

  1. Koshi
  2. Madhesh
  3. Bagmati
  4. Gandaki
  5. Lumbini
  6. Karnali
  7. Sudurpashchim

In 1962, all Kshetras were dissolved and the country was restructured into 75 development districts; those districts were further grouped into 14 zones.[2] In 1972, all 14 zones were grouped into 4 development regions; later in 1981, they were rearranged into the following 5 development regions.

  1. Eastern Development Region
  2. Central Development Region
  3. Western Development Region
  4. Mid-Western Development Region
  5. Far-Western Development Region

The provinces of Nepal were formed according to Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing districts; two districts, namely Nawalparasi and Rukum, were split between two provinces. Each district has local units. Local level bodies in Nepal include six metropolises, 11 sub-metropolises, 276 municipal councils and 460 village councils.[3] The current system of seven provinces replaced an earlier system where Nepal was divided into 14 administrative zones which were grouped into five development regions.

In January 2016 the Government of Nepal announced temporary headquarters of the seven provinces.[4] According to Article 295 (2), the permanent names of the provinces will be determined by a two-thirds vote of the respective province's legislature.

Government

The executive power of the provinces, pursuant to the constitution and laws, is vested in the council of ministers of the province. The executive power of the province shall be exercised by the province head (governor) in case of absence of the province executive in a state of emergency or enforcement of the federal rule. Every province has a ceremonial head as the representative of the federal government. The President appoints a governor for every province. The governor exercises the rights and duties as to be performed specified in the constitution or laws. The governor appoints the leader of the parliamentary party with the majority in the provincial assembly as the chief minister and the council of ministers are formed under the chairpersonship of the chief minister.

Assemblies
Main article: Provincial Assembly (Nepal)

The Pradesh Sabha is the unicameral legislative assembly of each of the seven federal provinces.[5] The term for the members of the provincial assemblies is five years, except when dissolved earlier.

Candidates for each constituency are chosen by the political parties or stand as independents. Each constituency elects one member under the first past the post system of election. Since Nepal uses a parallel voting system, voters cast another ballot to elect members through the party-list proportional representation. The current constitution specifies that sixty percent of the members should be elected by the first past the post system and forty percent through the party-list proportional representation system. Women should account for one-third of total members elected from each party and if one-third percentage are not elected, the party that fails to ensure so shall have to elect one-third of total number as women through the party-list proportional representation.[6]

A party with an overall majority (more seats than all other parties combined) following an election forms the government. If a party has no outright majority, parties can seek to form coalitions.

List of provinces of Nepal
Province Capital Governor Chief Minister Districts Area Pop.
(2022)		 Density
(/km2)		 HDI
(2019)		 GDP per capita
(USD; 2021)		 Map
KoshiBiratnagarParshuram KhapungHikmat Karki1425,905 km24,972,0211920.597 1,298
MadheshJanakpurHari Shankar MishraSaroj Kumar Yadav89,661 km26,126,2886350.538 882
BagmatiHetaudaYadav Chandra SharmaShalikram Jamkattel1320,300 km26,084,0423000.673 2,640
GandakiPokharaPrithvi Man GurungSurendra Raj Pandey1121,504 km22,479,7451160.631 1,348
LumbiniDeukhuriAmik SherchanDilli Bahadur Chaudhary1222,288 km25,124,2252300.583 1,209
KarnaliBirendranagarTilak PariyarRajkumar Sharma1027,984 km21,694,889610.568 1043
SudurpashchimGodawariDev Raj JoshiKamal Bahadur Shah919,915 km22,711,2701360.579 1135
Nepal Kathmandu President
Ram Chandra Paudel		 Puspa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’ 77 147,516 km2 30,192,480 198 0.602 1,372

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Provinces of Nepal.

References
  1. "नेपालको जिल्ला प्रशासन पुनर्गठनको रिपोर्ट, २०१३" (PDF) (in Nepali).
  2. "Memorial Step of King Mahendra in 1st Poush 2017 BS". reviewnepal.com. 13 December 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2018.
  3. Kathmandu Post (2017). "744 new local units come into effect". Kanntipur Publications Pvt. Ltd.
  4. "Govt fixes temporary state HQs, guvs". Kathmandu: Kathmandu Post. 2018.
  5. "CA approves ceremonial prez, bicameral legislature". Kanptipur Media Group. 16 September 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2017. Provincial parliaments will be unicameral. "The CA also approved a mixed electoral system for parliamentary election with 60 percent directly elected and 40 percent proportionally elected."
  6. "NEPAL: Diluted proportional electoral system". scoop.co.nz. Scoop world. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
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