Mid-Western Development Region, Nepal

मध्य-पश्चिमाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र Madhya-Pashchimānchal Bikās Kshetraa
Regions
Country	Nepal
Region	Mid-Western Development Region
Headquarters	Birendranagar, Surkhet District, Bheri Zone
Area
• Total	42,378 km^2 (16,362 sq mi)
Population (2011 Census)
• Total	3,546,682
	pop.note
Time zone	NPT (UTC+5:45)

The Mid-Western Development Region (Nepali: मध्य-पश्चिमाञ्चल विकास क्षेत्र, Madhya-Pashchimānchal Bikās Kshetra) is largest and one of Nepal's five development regions. Westward from the Central region surrounding Kathmandu are the Western, Mid-Western and finally Far-Western regions. Counter-intuitively, Mid-Western lies west of Western.^[1]

It comprises three zones:

• Karnali
• Bheri
• Rapti

There are 15 districts in this region. The main rivers of this region are Karnali, Bheri, West Rapti River and Babai. Mt. Kanjiroba, Mt. Sisne, Mt. Patarasi are the main mountains of the Mid-Western Development Region. Banke National Park, Bardiya National Park, Shey Phoksundo National Park and Rara National Parks are some of the conservation areas of Mid-Western Development Region which are helping to attract more number of tourists. It occupies 29.2% of the total land of Nepal.

Bhutias, Brahmin, Chhetri, Magar, Tharu, Awadhi and Thakuri are the main ethnicities. They are involved in different occupations like farming, animal husbandry, tourism, and service. Ghorahi, Nepalgunj, Birendranagar are the major trade centres of Mid-Western Development Region. There are various types of industries such as steel manufacturing and a garment industry. Different types of cultural sites such as Swargadwari lies in this development region. Peoples of this development region celebrate numbers of festivals like Dashain, Tihar, Lhosar etc. They grow different types of food such as rice, maize, pulse, wheat, and paddy. Banke and Bardiya National Park, Dhorpatan Hunting Reserve, Rara National Park, Rara Lake, Swargadwari and other sacred places are in this development region. In addition, the Gorakh, Kanti and Mukti Himal are also located in this region. ^[2]

References

1. An Overview of the Mid Western Region of Nepal
2. http://www.kullabs.com/class-10/social-10/we-our-community-and-nation/mid-western-development-region

Coordinates: 28°36′N 81°38′E / 28.600°N 81.633°E