Mugu District

Mugu District मुगु
District
Rara Lake
Location of Mugu District (dark yellow) in Karnali
Country	Nepal
Province	Karnali Province
Admin HQ.	Gamgadhi (today part of Chhayanath Rara Municipality)
Government
• Type	Coordination committee
• Body	DCC, Mugu
Area
• Total	3,535 km^2 (1,365 sq mi)
Population  (2011)
• Total	55,286
• Density	16/km^2 (41/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+05:45 (NPT)
Website	ddcmugu.gov.np

Mugu District (Nepali: मुगु जिल्ला Listen^ⓘ), a part of Karnali Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Gamgadhi as its district headquarters, covers an area of 3,535 km² (1,365 sq mi) and had a population (2011) of 55,286.^[1] Mugu is known for being both the most remote district in Nepal, as well as the least developed.

Geography and climate

Mugu's geography is very rugged. The biggest lake in Nepal, Rara Lake, also known as Mahendra Daha, lies in Mugu District. It is one of the biggest districts of Nepal.

Pulu is one of the more well-known villages of the Mugu district. Formerly, Pulu was a village development committee (VDC), which were local-level administrative units. In 2017, the government of Nepal restructured local government in line with the 2015 constitution and VDCs were discontinued.^[2] Similarly, Seri is another prominent village of the district, which was also a VDC prior to the new arrangements for local administration. There are several other villages nearby, including Riusa, Mooh, Mangri, Serog, and Dawra.^{[citation needed]}

Climate zone[3]	Elevation range	% of area
Subtropical	1,000 to 2,000 meters 3,300 to 6,600 ft.	5.6%
Temperate	2,000 to 3,000 meters 6,400 to 9,800 ft.	19.3%
Subalpine	3,000 to 4,000 meters 9,800 to 13,100 ft.	20.6%
Alpine	4,000 to 5,000 meters 13,100 to 16,400 ft.	17.7%
Nival	above 5,000 meters	5.3%
Trans-Himalayan[4] [5]	3,000 to 6,400 meters 9,800 to 21,000 ft.	31.2%

Tourism

The remote Mugu district is rich in natural resources. Nepal's largest Rara Lake lies in this district. Many domestic and international tourists come to visit the famous and beautiful Rara Lake. The lake is also known as the Mahendra Tal. The Lake lies at an elevation of 2,990 meters and covers about 10.8 km² (4.2 sq mi) of area. The Rara National Park protects and surrounds it.Mugu is known as underdeveloped district of Nepal.

Demographics

At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Mugu District had a population of 55,286.

As first language, 92.4% spoke Nepali, 6.7% Tamang, 0.8% Sherpa and 0.1% other languages as their first language.^[6]

Ethnicity/caste: 48.9% were Chhetri, 15.4% Thakuri, 9.5% Kami, 7.9% Khampa/Tamang, 5.9% other Dalit, 5.2% Hill Brahmin, 3.2% Damai/Dholi, 1.3% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.9% Sarki, 0.6% Bhote, 0.3% Kumal, 0.2% Lohar, 0.2% Newar, 0.1% Badi, 0.1% other Terai and 0.2% others.^[7]

Religion: 91.6% were Hindu, 8.1% Buddhist, 0.2% Christian and 0.1% others.^[8]

Literacy: 50.8% could read and write, 4.7% could only read and 44.4% could neither read nor write.^[9]

Historical population

Census year	Pop.	±% p.a.
1981	43,705	—
1991	36,364	−1.82%
2001	43,937	+1.91%
2011	55,286	+2.32%
2021	66,658	+1.89%
Source: Citypopulation[10]

Administration

The district consists of four municipalities, out of which all are rural municipalities. These are as follows:^[11]

• Chhayanath Rara Municipality
• Mugum Karmarong Rural Municipality
• Soru Rural Municipality
• Khatyad Rural Municipality

Former village development committees

Prior to the restructuring of the district, Mugu District consisted of the following municipalities and village development committees:

Map of the VDCs in Mugu District

• Bhiyi
• Dhainakot
• Dolphu
• Jima
• Gamtha
• Hyanglu
• Jima
• Kale
• Karkibada
• Kimri
• Kotdada
• Mangri
• Mugu
• Natharpu
• Photu
• Pina
• Pulu
• Rara
• Rara Kalai
• Rowa
• Ruga
• Khamale
• Seri
• Srikot
• Srinagar
• Sukhadhik

References

1. "National Population and Housing Census 2011 (National Report)" (PDF). Central Bureau of Statistics. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-05-25. Retrieved 1 November 2012.
2. "New local level structure comes into effect from today". www.thehimalayantimes.com. The Himalayan Times. 10 March 2017. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
3. The Map of Potential Vegetation of Nepal - a forestry/agroecological/biodiversity classification system (PDF), Forest & Landscape Development and Environment Series 2-2005 and CFC-TIS Document Series No.110., 2005, ISBN 87-7903-210-9, retrieved Nov 22, 2013
4. Shrestha, Mani R.; Rokaya, Maan B.; Ghimire, Suresh K. (2005). "Vegetation pattern of Trans-Himalayan zone in the North-West Nepal". Nepal Journal of Plant Sciences. 1: 129–135. Retrieved Feb 7, 2014.
5. Banerji, Gargi; Basu, Sejuti. "Climate Change and Himalayan Cold Deserts: Mapping vulnerability and threat to ecology and indigenous livelihoods" (PDF). Pragya. Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
6. NepalMap Language [1]
7. NepalMap Caste [2]
8. NepalMap Religion [3]
9. NepalMap Literacy [4]
10. "NEPAL: Administrative Division". www.citypopulation.de.
11. "स्थानिय तह" (in Nepali). Ministry of Federal Affairs and General Administration. Archived from the original on 31 August 2018. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

• "Districts of Nepal". Statoids.

29°33′N 82°10′E