Geography Superlatives by Province: Highest Peak, Rivers, Lakes and Parks

Nepal was restructured into a federal republic with seven provinces on 20 September 2015 (4 Ashwin 2072 BS) under the new constitution. From east to west these are Koshi, Madhesh, Bagmati, Gandaki, Lumbini, Karnali and Sudurpashchim. Each province cuts across Nepal's three broad physiographic belts wherever geography allows: the flat Terai plains in the south, the middle Chure (Siwalik) and hill ranges, and the High Himalaya in the north. This north-south grain is why a single province can contain both sub-tropical jungle and 8,000-metre ice.

Because the belts run east-west while the provinces are stacked side by side, the mountain provinces (Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki, Karnali, Sudurpashchim) each reach the snow line, while Madhesh sits almost entirely in the lowland Terai. Lumbini straddles the Terai, hills and a slice of high mountain in its far north. This section organises Nepal's existing peak, river, lake and protected-area datasets by province so that searches such as 'highest peak in Gandaki Province' or 'national parks in Lumbini Province' land on a single answer.

The figures below are drawn from Nepal government primary sources: the Survey Department and Nepal Himal Peak Profile for mountains, the Department of National Parks and Wildlife Conservation (DNPWC) for protected areas, and the National Statistics Office (formerly Central Bureau of Statistics) for the 2021 census province structure. Where a peak, river or park straddles a provincial boundary, that is noted.

Koshi Province (capital Biratnagar, 14 districts) is Nepal's mountaineering heartland. Its highest peak is Mount Everest / Sagarmatha (8,848.86 m), the highest point on Earth, in Solukhumbu district. The province also holds Kanchenjunga (8,586 m), the world's third-highest mountain, on the Taplejung-Sikkim border, plus Lhotse (8,516 m), Makalu (8,485 m) and Cho Oyu (8,188 m). Five of the world's fourteen 8,000-metre peaks therefore lie wholly or partly within Koshi.

The province is drained by the Sapta Koshi ('seven Koshis') system, one of Nepal's three great river basins, fed by tributaries such as the Arun, Tamor and Dudh Koshi. Protected areas include Sagarmatha National Park (established 1976, a UNESCO World Heritage Site around Everest), Makalu Barun National Park (1992), Kanchenjunga Conservation Area (1997) and, in the Terai, Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve (1976), a Ramsar wetland famous for wild water buffalo (arna) and migratory birds.

Koshi borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and the Indian states of Sikkim, West Bengal and Bihar to the east and south. Within Nepal it borders Province No. 1's neighbours Madhesh and Bagmati. Solukhumbu and Taplejung are its highest districts; the Terai districts of Jhapa, Morang and Sunsari sit lowest, some under 100 m near the Indian border.

Madhesh Province (capital Janakpur, 8 districts) is Nepal's smallest province by area (9,661 sq km) and its most densely populated, lying almost entirely in the Terai and inner Terai. It has no snow peaks; its high ground is the low Chure hills, and its lowest land is fertile plain generally below 100 m. Its major rivers are Terai-flowing waters such as the Bagmati (in its lower course), Kamala, Bagmati tributaries and the Koshi at its eastern edge. Protected areas within Madhesh are the western part of Parsa National Park and the eastern edge of Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve; the province borders the Indian state of Bihar to the south.

Bagmati Province (capital Hetauda, 13 districts) contains the national capital, Kathmandu, and a large stretch of the central Himalaya and hills. Its highest peak is Langtang Lirung (7,234 m) in Rasuwa district, the tallest of the Langtang Himal. Other high summits include Dorje Lakpa and the Gaurishankar massif on the Tibetan border. The Bagmati and Trishuli rivers rise here, and the province holds Nepal's first national park, Chitwan National Park (established 1973, a UNESCO World Heritage Site and rhino and tiger stronghold), Langtang National Park (1976, Nepal's first Himalayan park), Shivapuri Nagarjun National Park (2002) and Gaurishankar Conservation Area (2010).

Bagmati's highest districts are Rasuwa, Sindhupalchok and Dolakha along the northern border with China's Tibet; its lowest is Chitwan and the southern edge of Makwanpur, dropping into the inner Terai below 200 m. Chitwan National Park itself, on the Bagmati-Nawalpur boundary, ranges from roughly 100 m to 800 m.

The highest peak in Gandaki Province (capital Pokhara, 11 districts) is Dhaulagiri I (8,167 m), the world's seventh-highest mountain, in Myagdi and Mustang districts. Gandaki is unusually rich in 8,000-metre giants for a single province: it also contains Annapurna I (8,091 m), the first 8,000 m peak ever climbed (1950), and Manaslu (8,163 m), the eighth-highest in the world, in Gorkha district. Between Dhaulagiri and Annapurna lies the Kali Gandaki gorge, often described as one of the world's deepest.

The province is drained by the Gandaki (Narayani) system, including the Kali Gandaki, Marsyangdi, Seti Gandaki, Budhi Gandaki and Trishuli. Its largest lake is Phewa Lake (about 5.7 sq km) at Pokhara, the largest lake within Gandaki and one of Nepal's most visited; Begnas and Rupa lakes lie nearby. Gandaki's flagship protected areas are the Annapurna Conservation Area (established 1992, Nepal's largest protected area) and the Manaslu Conservation Area (1998), with the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Nepal's only hunting reserve, straddling the Gandaki-Lumbini boundary.

Mustang and Manang are the highest districts, sitting in the arid trans-Himalayan rain shadow behind Dhaulagiri and Annapurna, while Nawalpur in the south drops to the Terai around 200 m. Gandaki borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and the provinces of Karnali and Lumbini to the west and south and Bagmati to the east; it does not touch India directly.

Lumbini Province (capital Deukhuri/Butwal area, 12 districts) is best known as the birthplace of the Buddha at Lumbini, but it also anchors western Nepal's tiger conservation. Its national parks are Bardiya National Park (established 1988, the largest and least-disturbed national park in the Terai at 968 sq km) and Banke National Park (2010), which together with Bardiya form the Tiger Conservation Unit and a key corridor for the Royal Bengal tiger, one-horned rhino and Gangetic dolphin. The province also contains the Blackbuck Conservation Area in Bardiya, established to protect Nepal's small native blackbuck (krishnasaar) population.

The north of Lumbini reaches into the high mountains of eastern Rukum, where the Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve (1987) protects blue sheep, musk deer and cheer pheasant across alpine and sub-alpine terrain; the reserve is shared with Gandaki. Lumbini has no 8,000-metre peaks, but its far-northern hills and the eastern Rukum highlands give it real elevation range, from Terai plains near 100 m up to over 6,000 m at Putha Hiunchuli on the Dhaulagiri massif's western edge.

The province is watered by the Rapti (West Rapti), Babai and lower Bheri rivers and, in the far west, the Karnali as it exits the hills. Lumbini borders the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh to the south, Gandaki to the north-east and Karnali to the north-west. Its lowest districts are Kapilvastu, Rupandehi and Nawalparasi (West) in the Terai; Rukum East is its highest.

Karnali Province (capital Birendranagar/Surkhet, 10 districts) is Nepal's largest province by area (about 27,984 sq km) and its most sparsely populated. It is named after the Karnali River, Nepal's longest river at roughly 507 km, which rises near Mount Kailash in Tibet and flows through Humla and the far west before reaching the Terai. Its main tributaries within and around the province include the Mugu Karnali, Humla Karnali, Tila, and the Bheri (about 264 km, formed by the Thuli Bheri from Dolpa and the Sani Bheri from Rukum/Rolpa). The West Seti also drains part of this catchment.

Karnali holds Nepal's largest lake, Rara Lake (about 10.8 sq km, up to 167 m deep) in Mugu and Jumla districts, a Ramsar site and the centrepiece of Rara National Park. The province also contains Shey Phoksundo Lake in Dolpa, one of Nepal's deepest lakes (around 145 m), inside Shey Phoksundo National Park (established 1984), Nepal's largest national park. Rara National Park was established in 1976; both parks protect trans-Himalayan and alpine ecosystems.

The province is high and dry: its highest peaks lie on the Kanjiroba Himal and the northern Dolpa-Humla frontier (Kanjiroba around 6,883 m), and Dolpa, Humla and Mugu are its highest districts. There are no 8,000 m peaks. Karnali borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and, within Nepal, Gandaki and Lumbini to the east and south and Sudurpashchim to the west; it does not directly border India.

Sudurpashchim (Far-Western) Province (capital Godawari/Dhangadhi area, 9 districts) occupies Nepal's far-western corner. Its highest peak is Api (7,132 m) in Darchula district, the tallest mountain of the far-western Himalaya, with Saipal (about 7,031 m) in Bajhang nearby. Both lie within the Api Nampa Conservation Area (established 2010), which protects the province's high mountain ecosystems along the Chinese border. There are no 8,000 m peaks in the province.

The two national parks of Sudurpashchim are Shuklaphanta National Park (a Terai grassland park in Kanchanpur, upgraded from wildlife reserve to national park in 2017, famous for the world's largest herd of swamp deer, or barasingha) and Khaptad National Park (established 1984), a mid-mountain plateau park spanning Bajhang, Bajura, Achham and Doti that is also a Hindu pilgrimage site. The province is drained by the Mahakali (Sharada) River, which forms Nepal's western border with India, plus the Seti and lower Karnali.

The question 'which countries border Sudurpashchim Province' has a clear answer: it borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and India to the west and south. Specifically it adjoins the Indian states of Uttarakhand (across the Mahakali River to the west) and Uttar Pradesh (to the south). Within Nepal it borders only Karnali, to its east. Darchula and Bajhang are its highest districts; Kanchanpur and Kailali in the Terai are lowest, near 100-200 m.