Dharan

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Sub-Metropolitan City in Koshi Province

title: "Dharan" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["populated-places-in-sunsari-district", "sunsari-district", "municipalities-in-koshi-province", "nepal-municipalities-established-in-1962", "submetropolitan-municipalities-of-nepal", "municipalities-in-sunsari-district"] description: "Sub-Metropolitan City in Koshi Province" topic_path: "general/populated-places-in-sunsari-district" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dharan" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Sub-Metropolitan City in Koshi Province ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox settlement"]

Field	Value
official_name	Dharan
native_name	धरान उपमहानगरपालिका
settlement_type	Sub-Metropolitan City
motto	"To build an environmentally sound city, functioning as the centre of education, health, tourism and business with fully developed infrastructure"
image_skyline	{{Photomontage
image_size	300
spacing	1
color	white
color_border	black}}
imagesize	300
image_caption	From Top:
View of Dharan city, Dharan Clock tower
flag_size	300px
pushpin_map	Koshi#Nepal
pushpin_label_position	bottom
pushpin_mapsize	300
subdivision_type	Country
subdivision_name	Nepal
subdivision_type1	Province
subdivision_name1	Koshi
subdivision_type3	District
subdivision_name3	Sunsari
established_title	First Settled
established_date	1902
established_title1	Established
established_date1	1958
established_title2	Upgraded to Sub-metropolitan city
established_date2	2017
founder	Sete Kaji Shrestha
parts_type	No. of Wards
parts	20
leader_title	Mayor
leader_name	Vacant
leader_title1	Deputy Mayor
leader_name1	Aindra Begha Limbu (Maiost)
unit_pref	Imperial
area_total_km2	192.61
area_land_km2
area_water_km2	4.4
area_blank1_sq_mi	108,600
population_as_of	2022
population_total	166,531
population_rank	15th (Nepal)
3rd (Koshi Province)
population_density_km2	auto
population_density_urban_sq_mi
population_blank1_title	Ethnicities
population_blank1	Rai(19.4%), Limbu(13.01%), Newar(11.1%), Chhetri(10.7%), Tamang(7.3%), Bahun(7.1%), Kami(6.2%), Marwadi(3.1%), kushwaha(1.1%), yadav(0.96), Tharu(0.55%), Others (20.69%)
demographics_type1	Languages
demographics1_title1	Official
demographics1_info1	Nepali
demographics1_title2	Additional
demographics1_info2	English , Limbu
	timezone
utc_offset	+5:45
coordinates
elevation_footnotes	tags--
elevation_max_point	Near Bhedetar
elevation_max_m	1778
elevation_min_point	at Tarahara
elevation_min_m	119
	postal_code_type
postal_code	56700 (Sunsari), 56702 (Mangalbare)
area_code_type	Telephone code
area_code	025
blank_name	Climate
blank_info	Cwa
website
::

| official_name = Dharan | native_name = धरान उपमहानगरपालिका | nicknames = | settlement_type = Sub-Metropolitan City | motto = "To build an environmentally sound city, functioning as the centre of education, health, tourism and business with fully developed infrastructure" | image_skyline = {{Photomontage |photo1a =Dharan Clock tower.jpg | image_size = 300 | image_alt = | spacing = 1 | color = white | color_border = black}} | imagesize = 300 | image_caption = From Top: View of Dharan city, Dharan Clock tower | flag_size = 300px | pushpin_map = Koshi#Nepal | pushpin_label_position = bottom | pushpin_map_caption = | pushpin_mapsize = 300 | subdivision_type = Country | subdivision_name = Nepal | subdivision_type1 = Province | subdivision_name1 = Koshi | subdivision_type3 = District | subdivision_name3 = Sunsari | established_title = First Settled | established_date = 1902 | established_title1 = Established | established_date1 = 1958 | established_title2 = Upgraded to Sub-metropolitan city | established_date2 = 2017 | founder = Sete Kaji Shrestha | parts_type = No. of Wards | parts = 20 | government_footnotes = | government_type = | governing_body = | leader_title = Mayor | leader_name = Vacant | leader_title1 = Deputy Mayor | leader_name1 = Aindra Begha Limbu (Maiost) | area_magnitude = | unit_pref = Imperial | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = 192.61 | area_land_km2 = | area_water_km2 = 4.4 | area_total_sq_mi = | area_land_sq_mi = | area_water_sq_mi = | area_water_percent = | area_urban_km2 = | area_urban_sq_mi = | area_metro_km2 = | area_metro_sq_mi = | area_blank1_title = | area_blank1_km2 = | area_blank1_sq_mi = 108,600 | population_as_of = 2022 | population_footnotes = | population_note = | population_total = 166,531 | population_rank = 15th (Nepal) 3rd (Koshi Province) | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_sq_mi = | population_metro = | population_density_metro_sq_mi = | population_urban = | population_density_urban_km2 = | population_density_urban_sq_mi = | population_blank1_title = Ethnicities | population_blank1 = Rai(19.4%), Limbu(13.01%), Newar(11.1%), Chhetri(10.7%), Tamang(7.3%), Bahun(7.1%), Kami(6.2%), Marwadi(3.1%), kushwaha(1.1%), yadav(0.96), Tharu(0.55%), Others (20.69%) | demographics_type1 = Languages | demographics1_title1 = Official | demographics1_info1 = Nepali | demographics1_title2 = Additional | demographics1_info2 = English , Limbu | timezone = NST | utc_offset = +5:45 | timezone_DST = | utc_offset_DST = | coordinates = | elevation_footnotes = tags-- | elevation_max_point = Near Bhedetar | elevation_max_m = 1778 | elevation_min_point = at Tarahara | elevation_min_m = 119 | postal_code_type = Postal Code | postal_code = 56700 (Sunsari), 56702 (Mangalbare) | image_seal = | area_code_type = Telephone code | area_code = 025 | blank_name = Climate | blank_info = Cwa | website = | footnotes = Dharan () is a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Koshi Province, in eastern Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and Itahari. The Nepali word "dharan" means a saw pit.

In 1960, a British Gurkha camp was also established near the city. The use of the camp by British Gurkhas finished in the mid-1990s. Dharan has an estimated city population of 173,096 living in 34,834 households as per the 2021 Nepal census. It is one of the cities of the Greater Birat Development Area which incorporates the cities of Biratnagar-Itahari-Gothgau-Biratchowk-Dharan primarily located on Koshi Highway in eastern Nepal, with an estimated total urban agglomerated population of 804,300 people living in 159,332 households. It is the largest city in the Koshi Province by area, at 192.61 square kilometres, and Biratnagar and Itahari are the second- and third-largest cities by area respectively.

Geography

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1b/Dharan.jpg" caption="Dharan top view" alt=""] ::

Dharan is situated on the foothills of the Mahabharat Range in the north with its southern tip touching the edge of the Terai plains. The city sits at an altitude of 1148 ft (349 m). Dharan Bazaar grew up near Phusre, where the old walking route to Dhankuta and a large part of the Eastern hills left the plains with the ascent of Sanghuri Danra. Historically, hill villagers made annual treks to the plains for trade, making this a natural location for a marketplace at the junction of the hills and the Terai. In 1952, the construction of the Kosi barrage began and a narrow gauge railway was built to take stone from Phusre, loaded at a locality now known as "Railway", to the site of the barrage near the Indian border.

Koshi Highway runs through the city, connecting Dharan to Biratnagar and Itahari, where it links to the east–west Mahendra Highway. The highway also extends north to Kimathanka at the Nepal-China border. The road from Dharan to Dhankuta was funded by the United Kingdom under the Overseas Development Administration aid scheme. The construction began in 1976 and was substantially completed by mid-1982. The road, which measures 51 km in length, was largely built by hand using local labor, with as many as 15,000 workers employed at the height of the project.

History

Dharan served as the capital of the Morang Kingdom, a Limbu-ruled state in the lowlands of Limbuwan. It was ruled by Limbu King Buddhi Karna Raya Khebang Limbu. From 1584 to 1774 AD, Dharan-Bijaypur was the capital of the Morang Kingdom of Limbuwan. In August 1774, the Gorkha King Prithivi Narayan Shah's representatives Abhiman Singh Basnet, Parath Bhandari, Kirti Singh Khawas and Bali Baniya met the ministers of Morang. They agreed to accept the Gorkha monarch as Maharaja and retained self‑government rights for the Limbu rulers under a treaty, which also pledged the land's autonomy.

Demographics

Languages

Caste and ethnic groups

The largest single caste/ethnic in Dharan is Rai, who make (19.4%) of the population, Limbu comes to second with (13.01%), Newar makes (11.1%) of population Chhetri (10.7%), Tamang (7.3%), Hill Brahmin (7.1%), Kami (6.2%) and other various ethnic groups makes (25.2%) Of the population.

::data[format=table title="Broad Caste and Ethnicity category (2021 Census)"]

Broad Ethnic Category	Sub Category	Linguistic Family	Population Percentage
Janajati (Hill Ethnic Groups)	Magar, Tamang, Gurung, Sherpa, Rai, Limbu, Yakkha, Sunuwar etc		37.74
Khas (Hill/Pahari Caste Groups)	Khas Brahmin, Chhetri, Kami, Damai Sarki, Sanyasi/Dasnami	Indo-Aryan	24.8
Newar (Kathmandu Valley Caste Groups)	Newari Brahmin, Shrestha, Tamrakar, Newar Buddhist, Maharjan, Rajkarnikar etc	Indo-Aryan And Indigenous people of nepal	11.1%
Madeshi (Terai Caste Groups)	Yadav, Maithil Brahmins, Chamar, Kushwaha, Musahar, Kurmi, Dhanuk etc	Indo-Aryan	11.0%
Marwadi, Bengalis	-	Indo-Aryan	3.4%
Adibasi (Terai Indigenous Groups)	Tharu, Rajbanshi, etc	Indo-Aryan And Indigenous people of Nepal	2.3%
Muslim	-	Indo-Aryan	1.3%
Others	-	-	3.1%
::

Environment

A study conducted in 2016 to analyze the bacteriological quality of bottled drinking water and that of municipal tap water in Dharan found that one hundred percent of the tap water samples and 87.5% of the bottled water samples were contaminated with heterotrophic bacteria. Of the tap water samples, 55.3% were positive for total coliforms, compared with 25% of the bottled water, but no bottled water samples were positive for fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci, in contrast to 21.1% and 14.5% of the tap water samples being contaminated with fecal coliforms and fecal streptococci, respectively. One hundred percent of the tap water samples and 54.2% of the bottled water samples had pH in the acceptable range.

Media and communication

Newspapers: The people of Dharan are served by several daily local newspapers and national newspapers. There are 11 local newspapers in total. These include The Blast Times and The Morning Times. National newspapers are also provided to the people of Dharan on a daily basis. National newspapers include The Kathmandu Post, Kantipur, Annapurna Post, and Himalayan Times. Several monthly neighborhood papers serve the town.
Radio: The state-owned Radio Nepal is broadcast on the medium wave on 648 kHz in the city. Five private local FM stations are available. They are Star FM - 95.6 MHz, Vijayapur FM - 98.8 MHz, Dantakali FM - 88.5 MHz, and Radio Dharan FM - 88.8 MHz. Radio Ganatantra FM 95.1 MHz is a community radio station. Likewise, Dharan has a BFBS Radio Relay station. It broadcasts on FM frequencies.
Television: Nepal's state-owned television broadcaster, Nepal Television's relay station is present near its border, which provides two free-to-air terrestrial channels. A mix of Nepali, Hindi, English, and other international channels are accessible via cable subscription and direct-broadcast satellite services. Dharan Cable Network broadcasts Kriti Television Channel as a local television channel that covers events in the city.

Climate

|metric first=y |single line=y |location = Dharan, elevation 310 m, (1991–2020 normals, extremes 1998–2017) |Jan record high C = 29.5 |Feb record high C = 32.7 |Mar record high C = 36.7 |Apr record high C = 38.8 |May record high C = 37.5 |Jun record high C = 37.9 |Jul record high C = 38.7 |Aug record high C = 37.4 |Sep record high C = 35.9 |Oct record high C = 35.8 |Nov record high C = 33.0 |Dec record high C = 29.9 |Jan record low C = 3.5 |Feb record low C = 6.6 |Mar record low C = 7.6 |Apr record low C = 11.6 |May record low C = 15.2 |Jun record low C = 18.3 |Jul record low C = 19.5 |Aug record low C = 20.2 |Sep record low C = 19.6 |Oct record low C = 15.0 |Nov record low C = 11.2 |Dec record low C = 5.2 |Jan high C = 22.8 |Feb high C = 26.0 |Mar high C = 30.4 |Apr high C = 32.8 |May high C = 32.7 |Jun high C = 32.4 |Jul high C = 31.9 |Aug high C = 32.3 |Sep high C = 31.9 |Oct high C = 31.0 |Nov high C = 28.4 |Dec high C = 25.0 |year high C = 29.8 |Jan mean C = 17.0 |Feb mean C = 20.2 |Mar mean C = 24.2 |Apr mean C = 27.1 |May mean C = 27.7 |Jun mean C = 28.3 |Jul mean C = 28.2 |Aug mean C = 28.5 |Sep mean C = 27.8 |Oct mean C = 26.0 |Nov mean C = 22.7 |Dec mean C = 19.2 |year mean C = 24.7 |Jan low C = 11.2 |Feb low C = 14.3 |Mar low C = 17.9 |Apr low C = 21.3 |May low C = 22.7 |Jun low C = 24.1 |Jul low C = 24.5 |Aug low C = 24.6 |Sep low C = 23.7 |Oct low C = 20.9 |Nov low C = 16.9 |Dec low C = 13.3 |year low C = 19.6 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 10.4 |Feb precipitation mm = 14.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 29.9 |Apr precipitation mm = 71.5 |May precipitation mm = 162.3 |Jun precipitation mm = 317.8 |Jul precipitation mm = 547.6 |Aug precipitation mm = 461.0 |Sep precipitation mm = 344.5 |Oct precipitation mm = 121.2 |Nov precipitation mm = 12.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 3.9 |year precipitation mm = 2097 |source 1 = Department of Hydrology and Meteorology{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231014124305/https://nepalindata.com/media/resources/items/0/bPRECIPITATION_NORMAL_MM_1991-2020.pdf | archive-date = 14 October 2023 | url = https://nepalindata.com/media/resources/items/0/bPRECIPITATION_NORMAL_MM_1991-2020.pdf | title = PRECIPITATION NORMAL (MM) (1991–2020) | publisher = Department of Hydrology and Meteorology | access-date = 14 October 2023}}{{cite web | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20231014213207/https://nepalindata.com/media/resources/items/13/bANNUAL_EXTREME_TEMPERATURES.pdf | archive-date = 14 October 2023 | url = https://nepalindata.com/media/resources/items/13/bANNUAL_EXTREME_TEMPERATURES.pdf | title = Annual Extreme Temperatures | publisher = Department of Hydrology and Meteorology | access-date = 15 October 2023}}

Notable people

Bhola Rijal, Doctor and lyricist
Deep Shrestha, Singer and music composer
Deepak Limbu, Singer
Govinda Subba, First governor of Koshi Province
Hari Nath Bastola, Politician
Harka Raj Rai, Former mayor of Dharan, social activist, and leader of a public mobilization movement.
Krishna Kumar Rai, Politician
Malina Joshi, Miss Nepal 2011
Malvika Subba, Miss Nepal 2002
Minendra Rijal, Politician & MP
Prashna Shakya, Singer
Namrata Shrestha, Actress
Miruna Magar, Actress
Raju Kaji Shakya, Former captain of national football team
Sabin Rai, Singer
Subin Limbu, Miss Nepal 2014

References

References

(2018). "Nepali Brihat Shabdakosh". Pragya Pratisthan.
Nepal and the Gurkhas, (1965) Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, UK. p 135.
"Capital of Province 1 to be scattered in various districts".
"Census Nepal 2021".
"धरान उप-महानगरपालिकाको वस्तुगत विवरण | धरान उपमहानगरपालिका, नगर कार्यपालिकाको कार्यालय".
"Dharan (Sub-Metropolis, Nepal) - Population Statistics, Charts, Map and Location".
Benson. J. (1975) The Kosi Project Railway, Industrial Railway Society Record no 6, August, pp 65-71. Industrial Railway Society, Greenford, Middlesex, UK.
"Dharan Dhankuta Road Project".
Chemjong, Imanshing. (2014-04-15). "Kirat History and Culture". Amar Nembang.
"NepalMap profile: Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City".
"NepalMap profile: Dharan Sub-Metropolitan City".
(7 June 2016). "Bacteriological quality of bottled drinking water versus municipal tap water in Dharan municipality, Nepal". Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition.

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