Nepal: Province No. 2
Province No. 2 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 and smallest province by area. It borders with Province No. 3 to the north, Province No. 1 to the east, Province No. 3 to the west, and the international border with India to the south. It has an area of 9,661 km2 with a population of 5,404,145 per the 2011 Census of Nepal, making it most densely populated state of Nepal.
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 languages and Nepali languages.
The sub-Metropolitan City of Janakpur, also known as Janakpurdham, is a centre for religious and cultural tourism. It is also thought to have been the capital of the Videha dynasty that ruled Mithila region in ancient times.
The first urban planned municipality of Nepal, Rajbiraj is also the oldest municipality of the Terai belt of Nepal. 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 this province.
As per Cabinet Meeting of 17 January 2018, Janakpur has been declared as the interim capital of Province No. 2. Mohammad Lalbabu Raut Gaddhi is the current Chief Minister. It has been proposed to name the province Madhes or Mithila or Bhojpura, but consensus has not been achieved.
