Rasuwa Districtरसुवा जिल्ला

Rasuwa is a high-Himalayan district on the Tibetan border north of Kathmandu, rising from about 614 m in the Trishuli gorge to 7,227 m at Langtang Lirung. Most of its territory lies inside Langtang National Park, the 1,710 km² park established in 1976 — the first Himalayan national park in Nepal — which also reaches into neighbouring Nuwakot and Sindhupalchok. The Langtang trekking valley, the alpine lake cluster around the sacred Gosainkunda (a major monsoon pilgrimage destination for Hindus and Buddhists alike), and a string of 4,000 m passes make Rasuwa one of the most visited mountain districts close to the capital.

With 46,689 people at the 2021 census, Rasuwa has the smallest population of any Bagmati district, spread across just five rural municipalities — it is one of the few districts in Nepal with no urban municipality at all. Tamangs make up 68.8% of the population, giving the district a distinctly Tamang Buddhist culture of mani walls, gompas and stone villages. The headquarters Dhunche sits at the park entrance about 120 km from Kathmandu on the Pasang Lhamu Highway, which continues to the Rasuwagadhi fort and border crossing to Kerung (Gyirong) in China — Nepal's principal overland trade route to China since the old Kodari crossing was crippled in 2015.

The April 2015 earthquake struck Rasuwa harder, relative to its size, than almost anywhere: a massive earthquake-triggered avalanche and rock fall obliterated Langtang village at the height of the trekking season, killing more than 300 residents, guides and foreign trekkers. The valley has since been rebuilt above the debris field, and trekking — together with herding, potatoes and trade along the China road — again anchors the district economy, which grew 0.72% per year over the census decade against the hill-district trend.