Udayapur Districtउदयपुर जिल्ला

Udayapur is an inner-Tarai (bhitri madhesh) district of 2,063 km² folded between the Mahabharat range, which covers about 60% of its area, and the Chure hills, with valley floors from about 360 m rising to 2,310 m. Forest blankets some 67% of the district. The headquarters Gaighat lies in Triyuga Municipality, the most populous of four municipalities that sit alongside four rural municipalities; the western tip of the Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve, Nepal's first Ramsar site, extends into the district's southeastern corner.

Udayapur hosts one of Nepal's flagship state industries: Udayapur Cement Industries at Jaljale, established on 14 June 1987, built by a Japanese consortium (Onoda Engineering design; Kawasaki Heavy Industries and Tomen construction), feeding on local limestone delivered by a 13.8 km ropeway and selling under the 'Gaida' brand — one of the few government-owned factories in Nepal to have accumulated profits. Together with farming in the Triyuga and Tawa valleys, the plant makes Udayapur one of only four Koshi districts whose population grew between 2011 and 2021 (+0.68% a year, to 340,721).

The district's history reaches back to the eastern Sen kingdoms: the hill fort of Chaudandigadhi — now the name of a municipality — fell to the Gorkha army on 16 July 1773 during Nepal's unification campaign. Today's population is led by hill Janajati communities (about 44% combined, with Rai the largest group, followed by Magar and Tamang), and the sacred pond and Mahadev temple at Rauta, in Rautamai Rural Municipality, is the district's best-known pilgrimage site.