| Phakphokthum | |
| Native Name: | फाकफोकथुम गाउँपालिका |
| Settlement Type: | Rural Municipality |
| Pushpin Map: | Nepal Province1#Nepal |
| Pushpin Mapsize: | 300 |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Province No. 1 |
| Pushpin Relief: | 1 |
| Coordinates: | 26.9849°N 87.7195°W |
| Subdivision Name: |  Nepal |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Koshi Province |
| Subdivision Type2: | District |
| Subdivision Name2: | Ilam |
| Subdivision Type3: | Wards |
| Subdivision Name3: | 7 |
| Government Type: | Village Council |
| Leader Title: | Chairperson |
| Leader Name: | Mr. Ram Shrestha (NC) |
| Leader Title1: | Vice-chairperson |
| Leader Name1: | Mrs. Saraswati Rai (NCP) |
| Established Title: | Established |
| Established Date: | 10 March 2017 |
| Seat Type: | Seat |
| Seat: | Phakphok |
| Area Total Km2: | 108.79 |
| Population As Of: | 2011 |
| Population Total: | 21619 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Population Blank1 Title: | Ethnicities |
| Timezone: | Nepal Standard Time |
| Utc Offset: | +5:45 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal Code |
| Area Code: | 027 |
| Website: | official website |
Phakphokthum (ne|फाकफोकथुम) is a rural municipality (ne|गाउँपालिका; gaunpalika), one of six located in Ilam District of Koshi Province of Nepal. A total of 10 municipalities are found in Ilam, of which 4 are urban and 6 are rural.
According to Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development, Phakphokthum has an area of 108.79km2 and the population of the municipality is 21,619 as of the 2011 Nepal census.[1] [2]
It has 7 wards. Phakphok is the municipal headquarters.
Phakphokthum was a village development committee named Phakphok located in the Mechi Zone. Fulfilling the requirement of the new Constitution of Nepal 2015, Ministry of Federal Affairs and Local Development converted all VDCs and Municipalities into 753 new local level bodies. Phakphok turned into a rural municipality as Phakphokthum and the adjoining village development committees added to this. The adjoining VDCs added to this were: Amchok, Phuyatappa, Lumde, Ektappa and Chamaita.
The major occupation of the people in this rural municipality is agriculture.
Phakphokthum lies in constituency number 2 of Ilam district. Subash Nemwang was elected as a member of parliament in the election of 2017. This is one of the most remote villages of the District.
The Damak-Rabi Phagunanda road connects the municipality through shortest way with the southern plains. The span of the highway is about 45 km.
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census Phakphokthum Rural Municipality had a population of 21,619. Of these, 40.3% spoke Nepali, 20.7% Limbu, 11.5% Rai, 11.4% Magar, 5.4% Bantawa, 3.7% Tamang, 2.8% Newar, 1.4% Sunwar, 0.6% Gurung, 0.2% Bhujel, 0.2% Chamling, 0.2% Sampang, 0.1% Hindi, 0.1% Kulung, 0.1% Maithili, 0.1% Sherpa and 1.0% other languages as their first language.[3]
In terms of ethnicity/caste, 21.0% were Limbu, 19.6% Chhetri, 18.4% Rai, 11.8% Magar, 11.7% Hill Brahmin, 3.8% Kami, 3.8% Tamang, 3.2% Newar, 1.6% Damai/Dholi, 1.5% Sunuwar, 1.0% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.8% Gharti/Bhujel, 0.7% Gurung, 0.4% Sarki, 0.1% Bote, 0.1% Terai Brahmin, 0.1% Sherpa and 0.5% others.[4]
In terms of religion, 47.0% Hindu, 38.1% Kirati, 14.0% Buddhist, 0.5% Christian, 0.1% Prakriti and 0.2% others.[5]
In terms of literacy, 75.4% could read and write, 2.7% could only read and 21.8% could neither read nor write.[6]