Dhankuta Districtधनकुटा जिल्ला

Dhankuta is a compact mid-hill district of 891 km², rising from around 300 m to 2,500 m between the Tarai and the high east. Its namesake headquarters carries more administrative history than its size suggests: in 1962 Dhankuta was made the headquarters of Nepal's Eastern Development Region, and the town remains a services and education hub for the eastern hills. Above it, the ridge-top bazaar of Hile is a long-standing trade stop now known for its tea gardens and Himalayan viewpoints, while Pakhribas hosts one of Nepal's best-known agricultural research centres.

The economy rests on hill farming — maize, rice and millet as staples — layered with cash crops that made the district's name: citrus fruit (Dhankuta oranges are famous across Nepal), cauliflower, cabbage and ginger, with tea expanding in recent years. The population is a hill mosaic of Rai (21%), Chhetri (15%), Limbu (12.8%) and Magar (10.3%) communities, and at 81.4% the district's literacy rate is among the higher in the province.

Like most of the eastern hills, Dhankuta is slowly losing people — from 163,412 in 2011 to 150,599 in 2021, a decline of 0.78% a year — though its seven local levels (three municipalities, four rural municipalities) and relatively good road access have kept the fall gentler than in neighbouring Bhojpur or Terhathum.