Provinces of Nepal

This article is about Provinces of Nepal. For Provinces of various countries, see Pradesh.

Provinces of Nepal नेपालका प्रदेशहरू Nepalka Pradeshharu
Category	Federated state
Location	Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
Created	20 September 2015
Number	7
Populations	Smallest: Karnali, 1,570,418 Largest: Bagmati, 5,529,452
Areas	Smallest: Province No. 2, 9,661 square kilometres (3,730 sq mi) Largest: Karnali, 27,984 square kilometres (10,805 sq mi)
Government	Provincial government
Subdivisions	Districts

The Provinces of Nepal (Nepali: नेपालका प्रदेशहरू; Nepalka Pradeshaharu) 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.

History

Main article: Administrative divisions of Nepal

Main article: List of districts of Nepal

A committee was formed to reconstruct the districts of Nepal on 23 December 1956 and after two weeks of duration a report was submitted to government. According to the Nepalko Jilla Prashasan Punargathanko Report, 2013 (A report of reconstruction of districts of Nepal, 1956), Nepal was first time divided into total 7 Kshetras (area). These were the following Kshetras:

1. Arun Kshetra
2. Janakpur Kshetra
3. Kathmandu Kshetra
4. Gandak Kshetra
5. Kapilavastu Kshetra
6. Karnali Kshetra
7. Mahakali Kshetra

In 1962, all Kshetras cancelled and the country restructured into 75 development districts and those districts were grouped into 14 zones. In 1972 all 14 zones grouped into 4 devlopment regions, later in 1981 rearranged the zones into 5 following 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 on 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. Nepal includes six metropolises, 11 sub-metropolises, 276 municipal councils and 460 village councils. 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. 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 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: Pradesh Sabha

A Pradesh Sabha or Provincial Assembly is the unicameral legislative assembly for a federal province. The term for the Provincial Assembly 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 from 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.

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

Sudurpashchim

Karnali

Lumbini

Gandaki

Bagmati

Madhesh

Koshi

Province	Capital	Governor	Chief Minister	Districts	Area (km²)	Population (2011)	Density (people/km²)	Human Development Index	Map
Province No. 1	Biratnagar	Somnath Adhikari	Sher Dhan Rai	14	25,905 km²	4,534,943	175	0.553
Province No. 2	Janakpur	Tilak Pariyar	Mohammad Lalbabu Raut	8	9,661 km²	5,404,145	559	0.485
Bagmati Pradesh	Hetauda	Bishnu Prasad Prasain	Dormani Poudel	13	20,300 km²	5,529,452	272	0.560
Gandaki Pradesh	Pokhara	Amik Sherchan	Prithvi Subba Gurung	11	21,504 km²	2,403,757	112	0.567
Province No. 5	Butwal	Dharmanath Yadav	Shankar Pokharel	12	22,288 km²	4,499,272	219	0.519
Karnali Pradesh	Birendranagar	Govinda Prasad Kalauni	Mahendra Bahadur Shahi	10	27,984 km²	1,570,418	41	0.469
Sudurpashchim Pradesh	Godawari	Sharmila Kumari Panta	Trilochan Bhatta	9	19,915 km²	2,552,517	130	0.478
Nepal	Kathmandu	President Bidhya Devi Bhandari	Prime Minister Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli	77	147,557 km²	26,494,504	180	0.579

See also

• List of districts of Nepal
• Administrative divisions of Nepal