Gandaki Province (Nepali: गण्डकी प्रदेश[ɡʌɳɖʌki]) Listenⓘ), is one of the seven federal provinces established by the current constitution of Nepal which was promulgated on 20 September 2015.[1]Pokhara is the province's capital city. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region in Southwest China to the north, Bagmati Province to the east, Karnali Province to the west, and Lumbini Province and Bihar of India to the south. The total area of the province is 21,504 km2 - constituting 14.57% of Nepal's total area. According to the latest census, the population of the province was 2,479,745.[2] The newly elected Provincial Assembly adopted Gandaki Province as the permanent name by replacing its initial name Province No. 4 on 27 April 2023. Surendra Raj Pandey is the present chief minister of Gandaki Province.
Gandaki Province was named after the river Gandaki. Gandaki is a major river in the province. This river has Important links with historical Hindu civilization.[citation needed] The Gandaki river is mentioned in the ancient Sanskrit epic Mahabharata.[citation needed] It has been said that Valmiki wrote the great epic Ramayana here.[citation needed] It is also believed to be the birthplace of Luv & Kush. Its evolution is described in Shiva Purana, Kumarakhand, in the chapter of the killing of Shankhachuda.
Gandaki province was once home to the Chaubisi Rajya, the 24 kings, of which Gorkha was one. From Gorkha, Prithvi Narayan Shah arose to unify all the kingdoms and expand to include all of present-day Nepal.[citation needed] Gandaki Province was known as "Gandak Kshetra" which was established in 1956. Gandak Kshetra was composed by grouping the then 4 districts. Those 4 districts are now divided into many districts. Gandak Kshetra had total area of 5,400 square miles (14,000 km2) and total population was 12 Lakhs.[3] The four districts were:
In 1962, the administrative system was restructured again and the "Kshetras" system was canceled. The country was restructured into 75 development districts and those districts were grouped into zones.[4] In 1972 area of the Gandaki Province named Western Development Region. It had 3 zones and 16 districts.
Geography
The province has an area of 21,773 km2 which is about 14.66% of the total area of Nepal. The state extends between 27°-20' N ~ 29°-20' N latitude and 82° 52' E ~ 85°-12' E longitude. In terms of terrain, the province is spread over the Himalayan, Hilly and Terai region of Nepal; 5,919 km2 (26.8%) of the area falls under the Himalayan region, 14,604 km2 (67.2%) of the area falls under the Hilly region and 1,310 km2 (6%) of the area falls under the Terai region.[5]
Average temperatures and precipitation for selected communities in Gandaki[6]
The province has a population of 2,403,016 which is just about 9.06% of the total population of Nepal.[citation needed] The population density is about 110 persons per square kilometre. The province has a population growth rate of -0.33%. The sex ratio is 89 males for 100 females, with a total of 948,028 males and 1,144,124 females recorded in 2011. The urban population of the region is 1,452,186 (60.5%) and the rural population is 943,652 (39.5%). About 50.1% of the population in the province are independent population.[citation needed]
Hill Brahmins are the largest community with 21.26% of the population. Other aboriginal Khas communities include Khas/Chhetri (13.13%), Kami (8.66%), Sarki (4.10%), Damai (3.84%), Thakuri (1.61%) and Kumal (1.49%). The Janajati groups are Magar (18.79%), Gurung (11.30%), Newar (4.23%), Tamang (2.03%), Tharu (1.68%) and Bhujel (1.27%).
Gandaki province is divided into 11 districts, which are listed below. A district is administered by the head of the District Coordination Committee and the District Administration Officer. The districts are further divided into municipalities or rural municipalities. The municipalities include one metropolitan city and 26 municipalities. There are 58 rural municipalities in the province.[9]
The Provincial Assembly of Gandaki Province is formed under Article 175 of the Constitution of Nepal 2015 which guarantees a provincial legislative for each province in the country. The first provincial elections were conducted for all seven provinces in Nepal and the elections in Gandaki Province was conducted for 60 seats to the assembly. The first meeting of the provincial assembly was held on 4 February 2018. Netra Nath Adhikari from Maoist Centre was elected as the first speaker of the provincial assembly, and Srijana Sharma from CPN (UML) as the first deputy speaker of the provincial assembly.
Gandaki Province has a unicameral legislature, like that of the other provinces in Nepal. The tenure of the provincial assembly is of five years. The Provincial Assembly of Gandaki Province is temporarily housed at the Urban Development Training Centre in Pokhara.[15]
The economy of the province is largely dependent on tourism.
Infrastructure
Roadways
9 out of 11 districts of Gandaki Province are connected via surfaced roads. Road connections to Mustang and Manang are unsurfaced and can be impassable during the rainy season. Siddhartha Highway connects Lumbini to Gandaki. The highway starts at the Nepal-India Border in Siddharthanagar and terminates at Prithivi chowk, Pokhara. The major settlements on the highway are Siddharthanagar, Butwal, Tansen, Waling, Putalibazar, Syangja, and Pokhara.
^"गण्डकी प्रदेशको भाषिक स्थिति" [Linguistic status of Gandaki Province]. www.annapurbapost.com (in Nepali). Annapurna Post. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 7 December 2018.
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