| Type: | District |
| Dhanusha District | |
| Native Name: | धनुषा जिल्ला |
| Mapsize: | 300 |
| Mapsize1: | 300 |
| Map Caption1: | Dhanusha District with local level body |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Nepal |
| Subdivision Type1: | Region |
| Subdivision Name1: | Mithila |
| Subdivision Type2: | Province |
| Subdivision Name2: | Madhesh |
| Parts Type: | Municipality |
| Parts Style: | coll |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Seat Type: | Admin HQ. |
| Seat: | Janakpurdham |
| Leader Title: | Head |
| Leader Title1: | Deputy-Head |
| Leader Title2: | Parliamentary constituencies |
| Leader Title3: | Provincial constituencies |
| Government Type: | Coordination committee |
| Governing Body: | DCC, Dhanusha |
| Area Total Km2: | 1180.7 |
| Population Total: | 838084 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Rank: | auto |
| Blank Name Sec1: | Main Language(s) |
| Blank Info Sec1: | Maithili (85.8%),Nepali (4.5%) |
| Blank Name Sec2: | Major highways |
| Timezone1: | NPT |
| Utc Offset1: | +05:45 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal Codes |
| Area Code Type: | Telephone Code |
Dhanusha District, (; in Nepali pronounced as /dʱʌnusa/), a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. It is situated in the Outer Terai. The district, with Janakpurdham as its district headquarter, covers an area of and has a population (2021) of 838,084.[1]
During the elections in April 2008, the district was divided into seven constituencies. It is also the home district of the first president of Nepal, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav, who contested and won the elections from constituency 5. As a political center of the region, Dhanusha has prominent leaders like Bimalendra Nidhi (Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal), Anand Prasad Dhungana, Mahendra Yadav and Ram Krishna Yadav from the Nepali Congress, Anand Yadav (Gangaram Yadav) from the CPN-UML, Matrika Yadav from the CPN-Maoist and Ram Chandra Jha from CPN (Unified Socialist) who have been ministers at various point of time and are still active.
The most common language spoken in Dhanusha is Maithili.
Dhanusha district has an airport and the only railway system of Nepal which connects Janakpurdham with an Indian town, Jayanagar. It has several good hotels like Hotel Rama, Hotel Sita Palace, including the starred hotel, Hotel Welcome, Sitasaran Hotel and Happy Hotel.[2] It also has the Janakpur Zonal Hospital and several private hospitals.
| Climate Zone | Elevation Range | % of Area | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Tropical | below 300 meters (1,000 ft) | 92.5% | |
| Upper Tropical | 300 to 1,000 meters 1,000 to 3,300 ft. | 7.5% |
Agriculture is the major economy of the Dhanusha district. About 90% of citizens of the district are involved in the cultivation of wheat and rice. Rice is the major output. Dhanusha still relies mostly on old-age farming practices, such as the use of bullock-cart for transportation and bull plow for tilling the agriculture fields. However, there is a slow introduction to modern techniques such as a tractor for goods transportation (for agriculture purposes), thrasher, and so on. Remittances make up a large portion of its GDP.[3]
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Dhanusha District had a population of 754,777.
As their first language, 85.9% spoke Maithili, 4.4% Nepali, 3.1% Magahi, 2.4% Urdu, 1.0% Rai, 0.9% Magar, 0.3% Danuwar, 0.3% Newar, 0.2% Sunuwar, 0.1% Bhojpuri, 0.1% Hindi, 0.1% Majhi, 0.1% Rajasthani and 0.1% other languages.[5]
Ethnicity/caste: 17.5% were Yadav, 8.4% Musalman, 6.1% Kewat, 5.2% Teli, 5.1% Koiri/Kushwaha, 5.0% Dhanuk, 4.4% Sudhi, 3.8% Chamar/Harijan/Ram, 3.4% Tatma/Tatwa, 3.0% Terai Brahmin, 2.8% Bin, 2.6% Musahar, 2.5% Dusadh/Paswan/Pasi, 2.3% Khatwe, 1.8% Baraee, 1.5% Halwai, 1.4% Hill Brahmin, 1.4% Hajam/Thakur, 1.3% Chhetri, 1.3% Kurmi, 1.3% Mallaha, 1.3% other Terai, 1.2% Tamang, 1.1% Magar, 1.0% Kalwar, 1.0% Kumhar, 1.0% Sonar, 0.8% Danuwar, 0.8% Dhobi, 0.8% Kathabaniyan, 0.8% Kayastha, 0.7% Nuniya, 0.6% Gaderi/Bhedihar, 0.6% Kami, 0.6% Lohar, 0.6% Newar, 0.6% Tharu, 0.5% Rajput, 0.3% Badhaee, 0.2% Damai/Dholi, 0.2% Dhunia, 0.2% Dom, 0.2% Gharti/Bhujel, 0.2% Kanu, 0.2% Kumal, 0.2% Majhi, 0.2% Mali, 0.2% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.2% Sarki, 0.2% Sunuwar, 0.1% Amat, 0.1% Bantar/Sardar, 0.1% Bengali, 0.1% Bhote, 0.1% Dhankar/Dharikar, 0.1% Halkhor, 0.1% Jhangad/Dhagar, 0.1% Marwadi, 0.1% Punjabi/Sikh, 0.1% Rai and 0.2% others.[6]
[4] Religion: 89.3% were Hindu, 8.4% Muslim, 1.5% Buddhism, 0.1% Christian, 0.1% Prakriti and 0.6% others.[7]
Literacy: 50.4% could read and write, 3.3% could only read and 45.9% could neither read nor write.[8]
The district consists of one sub-metropolitan city, eleven urban municipalities and six rural municipalities. These are as follows: