Eastern Development Region, Nepal

**Eastern Development Region** () was one of Nepal's five development regions. It was at the eastern end of the country. Its headquarters were at Dhankuta.

## Geography

The Eastern Development Region had Sikkim and West Bengal (India) to the east, Bihar (India) to the south, the Central Development Region to the west and the Tibet Autonomous Region (People's Republic of China) to the north.

The Eastern Region was the third largest Development Region of Nepal with an area of . It was the second in population with 5,811,555 (21.9% of total) people living there in 2011. Its population density was 204.2 persons/km<sup>2</sup>.

The region had three ecological zones: the high mountains, the hills and the Terai.

The highest mountain in the region, and in the world, is **Mount Everest**. It is in the Solukhumbu District, Sagarmatha Zone. The lowest point of Nepal, **Kechana Kalan** is also here, in the Jhapa district. It is near the Mechi river and close to the border with India.

The most important rivers in the Eastern Development Region were the **Kosi**, tributary of the Ganges river; and the **Mechi**, tributary of the Mahananda River. Nepal's largest river system (the Kosi) and its highest waterfall (the **Hyatrung** in the Terhathum district) were found in this region. The Hyatrung waterfall () is  high.

The region is rich in biodiversity. There are 28 species of _Rhododendron_ (out of the 31 species available in Nepal) in the Tinjure-Milke-Jaljale area.

## Cities

The major cities of this region were Biratnagar, Dharan, Dhankuta, Itahari, Rajbiraj, Birtamod Urlabari and Damak. Other notable places are Namche Bazaar (the town near the base camp of Mt. Everest), Gaighat, Lahan, Ilam, etc.

## Administrative subdivisions

The Eastern Development Region had 3 Zones, parallel to each other, with a total of 16 Districts, 893 Village Development Committees (VDCs), 1 Sub-metropolitan city, and 13 Municipalities; the zones and districts were:

|rowspan="2"|Zone|rowspan="2"|Population (2011)|rowspan="2"|Area  (km²)|rowspan="2"|Pop. density (inh/km²)|colspan="2"|Districts|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|Kosi|2,335,047|9,669|241.5|6|Bhojpur, Dhankuta, Morang, Sankhuwasabha, Sunsari, Terhathum|||||
|Mechi|1,422,182|8,196|173.5|4|Ilam, Jhapa, Panchthar, Taplejung|||||
|Sagarmatha|2,054,326|10,591|194.0|6|Khotang, Okhaldhunga, Saptari, Siraha, Solukhumbu, Udayapur|||||
|**Total**|**5,811,555**|**28,456**|**204.2**|**16**||||||

## References

5. growing dental services in kathmandu

## Related pages

- Development regions of Nepal
- Districts of Nepal
- Zones of Nepal

## Other websites

- Administrative Division of Nepal - Geonames
- Purvāñcala
- Nepalese Army: Eastern Division

## Infobox (settlement)

- **name**: **पूर्वाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र**
- **native name**: Purwānchal Bikās Kshetra
- **image map**: EDR locater map.png
- **map caption**: Location of EDR
- **image map1**: Map of EaDR.png
- **type**: Development Regions of Nepal, Regions
- **subdivision type**: List of sovereign states, Country
- **subdivision type1**: Development Regions of Nepal, Region
- **subdivision name1**: Eastern Development Region
- **seat type**: Headquarters
- **seat**: Dhankuta, Kosi Zone
- **seat1 type**: Largest city
- **seat1**: Biratnagar
- **established title**: Established
- **established date**: 1972
- **founder**: Mahendra of Nepal, King Mahendra
- **established title1**: Disestablished
- **established date1**: 2015
- **parts type**: Zones of Nepal, Zones
- **parts style**: coll
- **p1**: Mechi Zone
- **p2**: Kosi Zone
- **p3**: Sagarmatha Zone
- **p4**: (Now parts of Province No. 1 and Province No. 2)
- **government type**: Regional Administration
- **governing body**: Eastern Development Regional Administration
- **elevation max m**: 8848
- **elevation min m**: 59
- **population demonym**: Purbeli
- **blank name sec1**: Languages of Nepal, Official language
- **blank info sec1**: Nepali language, Nepali
- **area total km2**: 28,456
- **population total**: 5,811,555
- **population as of**: 2011 Census
- **population note**: pop. note
- **timezone1**: Nepal Time, NPT
- **utc offset1**: +5:45