Mahottari District


Mahottari District, a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters, covers an area of and had a population of 553,481 in 2001, 627,580 in 2011 and 705,838 in 2021 census. Its headquarters is located in Jaleshwar, a neighbouring town of the historical city of Janakpur. The name Jaleshwar means 'God in Water'. One can find a famous temple of Lord Shiva in Water there. Jaleshwar lies at a few kilometres distance from the Nepal-India border and has a majority Maithili population.

Geography and climate

Climate ZoneElevation Range% of Area
Lower Tropicalbelow 300 meters 85.0%
Upper Tropical300 to 1,000 meters
1,000 to 3,300 ft.		15.0%

Demographics

At the time of the 2021 Nepal census, Mahottari District had a population of 706,994. 10.65% of the population is under 5 years of age. It has a literacy rate of 59.77% and a sex ratio of 1025 females per 1000 males. 523,133 lived in municipalities.
The Madheshis are the largest group. Yadavs are the largest caste. Muslims are the second largest community.
Religion: 84.2% were Hindu, 13.3% Muslim, 2.0% Buddhist, 0.1% Christian and 0.2% others.
Maithili is the largest language. Nepali is the second-largest language. Urdu and Tharu are spoken by a small minority.

Notable people

List ordered alphabetically

Administration

The district consists of ten urban municipalities and five rural municipalities. These are as follows:

Former Village Development Committees (VDCs) and Municipalities

The 2011 National Population and Housing Census by the government of Nepal identifies 77 municipalities and village development committees within the Mahottari District.