Electoral Constituencies of Nepal by District (165 HoR + 330 PA)

Nepal is divided into 165 electoral constituencies (nirwachan kshetra) for direct election to the federal House of Representatives (Pratinidhi Sabha), and 330 constituencies for the seven Provincial Assemblies. These are the first-past-the-post (FPTP) seats, where the candidate with the most votes in each constituency wins. They are counted separately from the proportional-representation (PR) seats, which are filled from party lists across a single nationwide list (for the HoR) or province-wide lists (for the Provincial Assemblies).

The relationship between the two tiers is fixed and simple: each of the 165 HoR constituencies is subdivided into exactly two Provincial Assembly constituencies, which is why 165 multiplied by two equals 330. This means that when people ask 'how many constituencies are in Kathmandu', the answer differs by tier — Kathmandu district has 10 HoR constituencies but 20 Provincial Assembly constituencies.

This structure was established by the Constitution of Nepal 2072 (2015), which replaced the earlier 240-seat FPTP arrangement used in the Constituent Assembly elections. Under the current federal system introduced after the 2015 constitution, the FPTP constituencies described here have been in continuous use for the 2017, 2022 and 2026 general elections.

The current constituencies were drawn by the Constituency Delimitation Commission (CDC), which submitted its report to the government on 31 August 2017 (Bhadra 2074 BS). The commission was chaired by former Supreme Court justice Kamal Narayan Das, with members Madhav Adhikari, Bishwakalyan Parajuli and Ganesh Raj Karki. Its recommendations were then published in the Nepal Gazette to become legally binding.

The commission worked from constitutional criteria set out in Article 286 of the Constitution of Nepal, which requires delimitation to consider population density, geographical specificity, administrative and transport convenience, and the community and cultural character of an area. In practice the commission reported assigning roughly 90 percent weight to population and about 10 percent to geography, a balance that drew some criticism for underweighting Nepal's difficult mountain terrain.

A key rule shaped the whole map: every one of the 77 districts must receive at least one HoR constituency, guaranteeing a minimum voice for even the smallest and remotest districts. With 77 seats used up by that floor, the remaining 88 HoR constituencies were distributed among more populous districts on the basis of population and geography — producing the wide range from one seat in small hill and mountain districts to ten in Kathmandu.

The Constitution gives these boundaries unusual permanence. Under the delimitation provisions, the constituencies are not to be altered for 20 years (that is, until roughly 2037), and the commission's delineation cannot be challenged in any court of law. This is intended to insulate the electoral map from repeated political redrawing between elections.

Because the map follows population, Nepal's largest urban and Tarai (plains) districts carry the heaviest representation. Kathmandu, the capital district, tops the list with 10 HoR constituencies and therefore 20 Provincial Assembly constituencies — by far the most of any district. Morang in the eastern Tarai is second with 6 HoR seats (12 PA), reflecting its large and dense population around Biratnagar.

A cluster of three districts share third place with 5 HoR constituencies each: Jhapa (far-eastern Tarai), Rupandehi (Lumbini Province, around Butwal and Siddharthanagar) and Kailali (Sudurpashchim Province, around Dhangadhi). These are followed by Sunsari with 4 HoR seats, and by the eight districts of Madhesh Province — Bara, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Parsa, Rautahat, Saptari, Sarlahi and Siraha — which each have 4.

At the other end of the scale, 35 districts have only a single HoR constituency and a further 21 districts have exactly two. Most single-seat districts are sparsely populated mountain and high-hill districts such as Manang, Mustang, Dolpa, Humla, Mugu, Rasuwa and Rukum East. This is why a voter in a small mountain district and a voter in Kathmandu both elect one member from their constituency, but Kathmandu as a whole sends ten members to the House of Representatives.

The 165 HoR constituencies are distributed unevenly across the seven provinces, from a high of 33 in Bagmati Province to a low of 12 in Karnali Province. The lists below give the HoR FPTP constituency count for every district; to obtain the Provincial Assembly count for any district, simply double the HoR figure. Province totals are shown in parentheses.

Koshi Province (28 HoR / 56 PA): Morang 6; Jhapa 5; Sunsari 4; Ilam 2; Udayapur 2; and one each for Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Panchthar, Sankhuwasabha, Solukhumbu, Taplejung and Terhathum. Madhesh Province (32 HoR / 64 PA): each of the eight districts — Bara, Dhanusha, Mahottari, Parsa, Rautahat, Saptari, Sarlahi and Siraha — has exactly 4.

Bagmati Province (33 HoR / 66 PA): Kathmandu 10; Chitwan 3; Lalitpur 3; two each for Bhaktapur, Dhading, Kavrepalanchok, Makwanpur, Nuwakot, Sindhuli and Sindhupalchok; and one each for Dolakha, Ramechhap and Rasuwa. Gandaki Province (18 HoR / 36 PA): Kaski 3; two each for Baglung, Gorkha, Nawalpur (Nawalparasi East), Syangja and Tanahun; and one each for Lamjung, Manang, Mustang, Myagdi and Parbat.

Lumbini Province (26 HoR / 52 PA): Rupandehi 5; three each for Banke, Dang and Kapilvastu; two each for Bardiya, Gulmi, Parasi (Nawalparasi West) and Palpa; and one each for Arghakhanchi, Pyuthan, Rolpa and Rukum East. Karnali Province (12 HoR / 24 PA): two each for Dailekh and Surkhet; and one each for Dolpa, Humla, Jajarkot, Jumla, Kalikot, Mugu, Rukum West and Salyan. Sudurpashchim Province (16 HoR / 32 PA): Kailali 5; Kanchanpur 3; Achham 2; and one each for Baitadi, Bajhang, Bajura, Dadeldhura, Darchula and Doti.

On election day a voter in any district casts votes for both federal and provincial representatives. For the House of Representatives, the voter marks one FPTP ballot for a candidate in their HoR constituency and one PR ballot for a party. For the Provincial Assembly, the voter marks one FPTP ballot for a candidate in the smaller PA constituency and one PR ballot for a party at the provincial level.

Because each HoR constituency splits into two PA constituencies, the provincial FPTP seats are geographically smaller and more local than the federal ones. For example, Kathmandu Constituency No. 1 (a single HoR seat) contains two Provincial Assembly seats commonly labelled 1(A) and 1(B). This 'A/B' subdivision is the standard way Nepal identifies provincial constituencies nested inside a federal one.

The total number of members each body sends is larger than the FPTP count because of the proportional seats. The House of Representatives has 275 members in all — 165 FPTP plus 110 elected by proportional representation from a nationwide list. The seven Provincial Assemblies together have 550 members — 330 FPTP plus 220 chosen by proportional representation from province-wide lists. This article's counts refer specifically to the FPTP constituencies, which are the ones tied to districts.

The distribution of constituencies directly shapes political power. Districts with more constituencies — the large Tarai districts and Kathmandu Valley — send more directly elected members and are heavily contested by every major party. Understanding how many MPs a district elects is therefore central to reading Nepal's election results, from the 2017 and 2022 polls to the general election held in 2026.

The fixed 20-year term of the current map means these same 165 HoR and 330 PA constituencies are expected to remain in force through multiple election cycles, barring a constitutional amendment. Voters, candidates, journalists and election observers can rely on the boundaries drawn in 2017 rather than expecting a redraw before each poll. The next scheduled delimitation would fall around 2037, after which population changes recorded in future censuses could shift seats between districts.

For anyone researching a specific place, the practical takeaway is straightforward: find the district, note its HoR constituency count from the lists above, double it for the Provincial Assembly count, and consult the Election Commission of Nepal's district-wise constituency map for the exact geographic boundaries and constituency numbers within that district.