Kaski Districtकास्की जिल्ला

Kaski packs one of the steepest elevation gradients on Earth into 2,017 km²: from about 450 m in the Seti Gandaki lowlands to Annapurna I (8,091 m) on its northern rim, with mountains above 6,000 m visible unobstructed from lakeside terraces at around 800 m. The pyramid of Machhapuchhre (6,993 m), the 'Fishtail' peak that has never been officially climbed and remains closed to mountaineering, dominates the skyline of Pokhara, the district headquarters and capital of Gandaki Province. The Pokhara valley holds a cluster of nine lakes, led by Phewa (4.43 km², Nepal's second largest) and Begnas (3.73 km²), and the Seti river runs beneath the city through narrow slot gorges.

With 600,051 people in 2021 — up from 492,098 in 2011, growing 1.90% a year while most hill districts shrank — Kaski is by far the most populous district of the province, yet it has only five local levels: Pokhara Metropolitan City and four rural municipalities. Its literacy rate of 87.7% is the highest in Gandaki Province and among the highest in Nepal. The economy runs on tourism, services, remittances and the British and Indian Gurkha tradition rooted in the surrounding Gurung villages; Lakeside Pokhara is the country's biggest tourist hub, with paragliding from Sarangkot, Davis Falls and a string of caves and viewpoints filling out the city's attractions.

Kaski was one of the Chaubisi (twenty-four) hill principalities, ruled from the Kaskikot ridge before the Shah conquest. Today it is the gateway to the Annapurna Conservation Area — at 7,629 km² Nepal's largest protected area, launched in 1986 as the country's first conservation area and its most popular trekking region — with trailheads at Ghandruk, Lwang and Sikles leading toward Annapurna Base Camp and the Poon Hill circuit. Tourism revenue collected here funds community-managed conservation across five districts.