Koshi Province


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 includes the towns of Birtamod, Sundar Haraincha, Damak, Dharan, Itahari, Triyuga Municipality and Mechinagar, and Mount Everest, Kangchenjunga and Ama Dablam. Koshi River, the largest river of the nation, forms the province's western boundary. Under the First-past-the-post voting system issued by the Constituency Delimitation Commission, Nepal, the province hosts 28 parliamentary seats and 56 provincial assembly 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, Bihar to the south, and Bagmati Province and Madhesh Province to the west. According to the 2021 Nepal census, there are around five million people in the province, with a population density of 190 per square kilometre. In the 2011 Nepal census, the province had approximately 4.5 million people.

Etymology

The province is named Koshi after the Koshi River, which is the largest river in the country. On 1 March 2023 the former temporary name of the province, Province No. 1, was changed to Koshi Province.
The Kosi River is significantly and culturally an important river of Nepal. The Koshi River is called Kausika in the Rigveda and Kausiki in the Mahabharata.The Kosi is associated with many ancient spiritual stories. It is mentioned in the Bal Kand section of Valmiki's Ramayana as the Kausiki who is the form assumed by Satyavati after her death. In the Markandeya Purana, the Kosi is described as the primal force. Due to the violent nature of the Kosi in monsoon season, legend says that Parvati, the wife of Shiva, after defeating the demon Durg, became known as the warrior goddess Durga who transformed into Kaushiki. In Ramayana, the river Ganges is depicted as her elder sister. According to Mahabharata epic, the God of death took the form of a woman and resides on the banks of the river to limit population growth. Kosi resonates with the folklore of Mithila. The most important depictions of Kosi folklore are Kosi as a virgin absolutely carefree and full of energy, and as a frustrated wife of old hermit Richeek wandering in the Himalayas. Koshi river is also invoked as the mother: 'Kosi Ma'.

History

When King Mung Mawrong Hang came to prominence in the Terai lands of Limbuwan, he cleared much of the forest area in present-day Rangeli, east of Biratnagar, and built a town there. He named his Kingdom Morang after his name and rose to power.
Meanwhile, King Prithvi Narayan Shah was on a campaign to conquer all the hill kingdoms into his Empire. He attacked Limbuwan on two fronts. After the Limbuwan–Gorkha War from 1771 to 1774 AD, the Limbu ministers of Morang, and Limbu rulers of the ten principalities came to an agreement with the King of Gorkha. With the Limbuwan Gorkha treaty of 1774, Limbuwan was annexed to the Kingdom of Nepal.
The term district has been used in various ways throughout the modern history of Nepal.
At the end of the Rana regime, Nepal was divided into 32 districts. Eastern Nepal was composed of the following districts:
  • Morang District
  • Udayapur District
  • Ilam District
  • Dhankuta District
  • Bhojpur District
  • Okhaldhunga District
In 1956, the eastern districts of Nepal were grouped together into a region called the Aruṇ Kshetra or Arun Region, after the Arun River which flows through it. Arun Kshetra was made by combining the then five districts; it had total area of and a total population of 1.1 million people.
The five districts were:
In 1962, the administrative system once again was changed, abolishing the kshetra system. The country was restructured into 75 development districts and those districts were grouped together into zones. In 1972, what is now called Koshi Province was called the Eastern Development Region that was composed of 16 districts which were grouped into three zones: Koshi, Mechi and Sagarmatha.
In 2015, the Constitution was adopted which made 14 districts into an autonomous province which was temporarily named Province No. 1. At the cabinet meeting held on 17 January 2018, the city of Biratnagar was declared the interim capital of Province No. 1. On 6 May 2019, it was declared the permanent capital by a vote of two-thirds of the provincial Member of legislative assembly. On March 1, 2023, the province was named Koshi Province on passage of the bill in Parliament. Later, some protested the name "Koshi".

Geography

Koshi Province 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 heights, basins, tars, and valleys form the hilly region. Some parts of this region are favorable for agriculture but some other parts are not. The 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 forests, 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.
Koshi Pradesh also includes the snow fall capped peaks including Mount 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 No. 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. Koshi Pradesh has three geographical folds: the lowland of Terai, the hilly region, and the Himalayas' highlands. 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. Koshi Pradesh 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
Itahari8227.859.515.31414.8/55.7
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

The northern part of Koshi Pradesh has the highest mountain in the world. Here is a list of mountains in Koshi Pradesh.
Mountain/peakmetresfeetSectionNotes

Rivers

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