Province No. 2

Province No. 2 प्रदेश नं० २
Province
Clockwise from top Janaki Mandir,Gateway of Nepal Birgunj, Gadhimai Temple, Chinnamasta Bhagawati Temple, and Kankalini Temple
Location of Province No. 2
Parsa Bara Rauta hat Sarlahi Maho ttari Dhanusha Siraha Saptari Bagmati Province Province No. 1 India Map of Province No. 2, Nepal
Country	Nepal
Formation	20 September 2015
Capital	Janakpur
Largest city	Birgunj
Districts	8
Government
• Type	Self governing province
• Body	Government of Province No. 2
• Governor	Hari Shankar Mishra[1]
• Chief Minister	Lalbabu Raut (PSP-N)
• High Court	Janakpur High Court
• Provincial Assembly	Unicameral (107 seats)
• Parliamentary constituency	32
Area
• Total	9,661 km2 (3,730 sq mi)
Area rank	7th
Population  (2020)
• Total	5,404,145
• Rank	2nd
• Density	560/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
• Density rank	1st
Time zone	UTC+5:45 (NST)
Area code(s)	041
Official language	Nepali (under Constitution of Nepal)
Other Official language(s)	1. Maithili 2. Bhojpuri
HDI	0.512 (low)
Literacy	57.28%
Sex ratio	101.2 ♂ /100 ♀ (2011)
GDP	4.73 billion USD
GDP rank	4th
Website	http://p2.gov.np

Province No. 2 (proposed names: Madhes or Mithila)^[2] (Nepali/Maithili: प्रदेश नं० २) is a province in the southeastern region of Nepal that was formed after the adoption of the Constitution of Nepal. It is Nepal's second most populous province,^[3] and smallest province by area. It borders Province No. 1 to the east, Bagmati Province to the north, and India to the south. It has an area of 9,661 km² (3,730 sq mi)-about 6.5% of the country's total area. It has a population of 5,404,145 as per the 2011 Census of Nepal, making it the most densely populated province of Nepal.^[4]

The Koshi River and Koshi Tappu Wildlife Reserve acts as provincial demarcation border between Province No. 2 and Province No. 1 in the east. And the demarcation line between Chitwan National Park and Parsa National Park (previously Wildlife Reserve) acts as provincial demarcation border between Province No. 2 and Bagmati Province in the west.

The province includes eight districts from Saptari District in the east to Parsa District in the west. The majority of the province's population speaks Maithili, Bhojpuri, Bajjika and Nepali.^[4]

The Capital city, a sub-metropolitan city of Janakpur, also known as Janakpurdham,^[5] is a centre for religious and cultural tourism.^[6] It is also thought to have been the capital of the Videha dynasty that ruled Mithila region in ancient times.^[5]

The first urban planned municipality of Nepal, Rajbiraj, is also the oldest municipality of the Terai belt of Nepal.^[7][8] The town is believed to have been named after the ancient Rajdevi temple, which dates back to the 1700s. The metropolitan city of Birgunj is an economically important industrial centre and the only metropolitan city in the province.^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}

As per a 17 January 2018 cabinet meeting, Janakpur has been declared as the interim capital of Province No. 2.^[15] Mohammad Lalbabu Raut Gaddhi is the current Chief Minister.^[16][17]

Presence at National level[]

As a political center of the region, its home to prominent leaders like Nepali Congress Vice-president Bimalendra Nidhi (Also Former Deputy Prime Minister of Nepal) and Pradeep Giri from the Nepali Congress, Mahantha Thakur from Terai-Madhesh Loktantrik Party, Matrika Yadav and Ram Chandra Jha from the CPN-Maoist who have been ministers at various point of time and are still active at National level.^[18] In local level, Nepali congress remains the single largest party.^[19]

Geography[]

The region is surrounded by:^[20]

• The Sunsari District of Province No. 1 to the East.
• The Chitwan District of Bagmati Province to the West.
• The Makwanpur District and Sindhuli District of Bagmati Province and Udayapur District of Province No. 1 to the North.
• India to the South.

As per Central Bureau of Statistics(CBS)^[21] the province covers about 9,661 km² (3,730 sq mi). of Nepal's total area of 147,516 km² (56,956 sq mi). with total number of 5,404,145 inhabitants(2011), it is the second most populous province in Nepal after Bagmati.^[3][22]

The province is located on flat plains of Terai, and Chure (Churiya) or the Shiwalik Hills are the natural border of the province which falls in northern side. The southern side has an international border with the India. Koshi River on its eastern side acting as a natural border with Province No. 1. Province No. 2 has eight districts in a series (parallel). Koshi River, Bagmati River, Kamla River, Lakhandei River and Bishnumati River are the main rivers of the province.

Government and Administration[]

The Governor acts as the head of the province while the Chief Minister is the head of the provincial government. The Chief Judge of the Janakpur High Court is the head of the judiciary.^[24] The present Governor, Chief Minister and Chief Judge are Hari Shankar Mishra (governor), Mohammad Lalbabu Raut (chief minister) and Udaya Prakash Chapagain.^[25][26] The province has 107 provincial assembly constituencies and 32 House of Representative constituencies.^[27]

Province No. 2 has a unicameral legislature, like all of the other provinces in Nepal. The term length of provincial assembly is five years. The Provincial Assembly of Province No. 2 is temporarily housed at the District Education Office in Janakpur.^[28]

Administrative subdivisions[]

Province No. 2 is divided into eight districts, which are listed below. A district is administrated by the head of the District Coordination Committee and the District Administration Officer. The districts are further dived to municipalities or rural municipalities. The municipalities include one metropolitan city, three sub-metropolitan cities and 73 municipalities. There are 59 rural municipalities in the province.^[29]

Demographics[]

According to the 2011 Nepal Census, Province No. 2 has a population of 5,391,349: 2,706,078 males and 2,685,271 females. The province has the second highest population in the country having 20.35%, and is the densest province in the country with a density of 640 people per square kilometer.^[30]

Ethnic groups[]

Madhesis are the largest ethnic group in the province, while Maithils (Maithili speaking people) are the largest ethnolinguistic group. Yadav is the largest group among the Madhesis in the province making up around 14.80% of the population. Muslims are the second largest group making up 11.59% of the population. Teli (5.10%), Koiri/Kushwaha (4.56%), Chamar (4.22%), Dhanuk (3.49%), Musahar (3.02%), Kurmi (2.83%), Dusadh/Paswan (2.79%), Mallaah (2.26%), Maithil Brahmin (2.2%), and Karan Kayastha (1.5%) are other Madhesi groups in the province.^[30]

Hill Brahmans and Chhetris are the largest Khas Arya group in the province making up 2.34% and 1.99% of the population respectively. Tharu (5.27%) is the largest non-Madhesi, non-Khas Arya group followed by Tamang (2.17%).^[30]

Languages[]

Maithili is spoken as the mother tongue by 45.36% of the population in the province. Bhojpuri and Bajjika are spoken by 18.59% and 14.68% of the population. Despite being the official language of the province Nepali is spoken as their mother tongue by only 6.56% of the population. Urdu (5.88%), Tharu (3.77%) and Tamang (1.94%) are other languages spoken in the province by a significant minority population.^[30]

Religion[]

Hinduism is the most followed religion in the province being followed by 84.75% of the population. Islam is the second largest religion with 11.55% of the population being Muslims and Buddhism is followed by 3.01% of the population.^[30]

v t Largest cities or towns in Province No. 2 Central Bureau of Statistics [1]
	Rank		District	Pop.	Rank		District	Pop.
Birgunj Janakpur	1	Birgunj	Parsa	240,922	11	Bardibas	Mahottari	66,354	Kalaiya Jeetpur Simara
	2	Janakpur	Dhanusha	159,468	12	Ishwarpur	Sarlahi	59,986
	3	Kalaiya	Bara	123,659	13	Lalbandi	Sarlahi	59,395
	4	Jeetpur Simara	Bara	117,496	14	Jaleshwor	Mahottari	58,549
	5	Lahan	Siraha	91,766	15	Mahagadhimai	Bara	54,474
	6	Siraha	Siraha	82,531	16	Golbazar	Siraha	51,137
	7	Chandrapur	Rautahat	72,059	17	Garuda	Rautahat	50,481
	8	Barahathwa	Sarlahi	69,822	18	Mirchaiya	Siraha	50,079
	9	Rajbiraj	Saptari	69,086	19	Simraungadh	Bara	49,939
	10	Gaushala	Mahottari	66,673	20	Manara Shiswa	Mahottari	49,692

Infrastructure[]

Transport[]

Province No. 2 has no difficult terrains still the transportation has not been well developed in the region due to lack of investments and negligence.^{[citation needed]} However Province 2 is the only province with passenger serviceable railway line in Nepal.

The only passenger train service of Nepal in Janakpur

Roadways[]

The major connecting link for the province is the Mahendra Highway (East West Highway) which runs longitudinally across the province. All major cities of the province remain disconnected from this highway. Janakpurdham, Rajbiraj , Birgunj and Gaur lie 25,10, 24 and 42 kilometres south of the Mahendra Highway, respectively.^[31] The Tribhuvan Highway does not cross as much of the province as the Mahendra Highway, but it is most important link as it connects the province to Kathmandu and to the India.^[32] The starting point of Tribhuvan Highway i.e. Birgunj is the most important International Gateway and trade way for this province and entire country and hence known as "The Gateway of Nepal". In terms of revenue generation, Birgunj custom point is the largest. Birendra highway which is connected to Mahendra highway from Headquarter of Rautahat district Gaur to the Chandranigahapur (largest city of Rautahat). which is 42 km in length.

• Mahendra Highway (East West Highway) - Part
• Postal Highway - Part
• Tribhuvan Highway - Part
• Birendra Highway - part

Railways[]

Janakpur Train Station is the largest Railway Station in Nepal

A few other railway projects are under progress in the province no. 2. All these projects are of Nepal Railways. Government of Nepal has proposed Janakpur as a Main Station for 1024 km east-west Metro Railway project and further be extended to India and China for connecting Nepal Railways with Indian Railways and China Railway for business and tourism promotion.^[33]

• Janakpur (Nepal) to Lhasa (China)
• Bardibas, Janakpur (Nepal) to Jainagar, Bihar (India)
• Janakpur (Nepal) to Kathmandu (Nepal)
• Janakpur (Nepal) to Biratnagar (Nepal)
• Janakpur (Nepal) to Nepalgunj (Nepal)
• Janakpur (Nepal) to Birgunj (Nepal)

Domestic Airports: Province No. 2 has three domestic airports in use which are the busiest among the country.

• Rajbiraj Airport in Rajbiraj
• Janakpur Airport in Janakpur
• Simara Airport in Pipara Simara (BARA) close to Kaliaya and Birgunj

International Airport:

• Nijgadh International Airport in Nijgadh is under construction.

See also[]

• Provinces of Nepal
• List of districts in Nepal

References[]