Doti Districtडोटी जिल्ला

Doti spreads across 2,025 km² of the Seti river basin in the heart of the far-western hills. Its headquarters is the twin town of Dipayal Silgadhi — Dipayal on the Seti's banks, Silgadhi on the ridge above — which served as the administrative headquarters of the former Far-Western Development Region before the 2015 federal constitution, making it the historic government centre of the entire far west. The district's northern uplands run into Khaptad National Park, the 225 km² grassland-and-forest plateau shared with Bajhang, Bajura and Achham.

The district gives its name to the medieval Doti Kingdom, founded by the Raika dynasty that traced descent from the Katyuri kings of Kumaon; from the thirteenth century the Raikas ruled most of the far west, until Gorkhali forces annexed Doti in 1790 during Nepal's unification. That legacy survives most visibly in language: Doteli, recognised in the 2011 census as a language in its own right, is the mother tongue of about nine in ten Doti residents, the highest share anywhere. The Shaileshwari temple in Silgadhi is one of the far west's holiest shaktipiths, and one rural municipality is named for Dr. K.I. Singh, the Doti-born rebel leader who briefly served as prime minister in 1957.

The 2021 census counted 204,831 people, down from 211,746 in 2011. Doti's sex ratio of 84.16 males per 100 females is the lowest in Sudurpashchim and the fourth-lowest in Nepal — only Pyuthan, Gulmi and Arghakhanchi record deeper male absences — a direct measure of how thoroughly seasonal and long-term work in India underwrites household incomes here. Chhetris make up 59.9% of the population, with Kami (11.7%) and Damai (7.1%) following; literacy is 70.7%, second-lowest in the province after Bajhang.