Rapti is a mid-western region of Nepal. It contains five districts: Dang, Rolpa, Rukum, Salyan and Pyuthan. Salyan is a rayon of Azerbaijan. ...

Dang district comprises the inner Terai valleys Deukhuri and Dang. The Deukhuri valley is separated from the Gangeatic Plains that begin at the Indian border by one branch of the low Siwalak range, and on the north by the other branch of the Siwalaks. The Rapti River flows the length of Deukhuri after emerging from a gorge through the Mahabharat Range, eventually joining the Karnali near Gorakhpur, India.

The Dang valley lies between the more northern branch of the Siwalaks and the much higher Mahabharat Range that is generally over 2,000 meters high, occasionally reaching 3,000. Dang Valley is drained by the Babai river, another Karnali tributary.

Until a few decades ago both valleys were virtually uninhabitable except to the Tharu ethnic group who had lived in malarial regions long enough to have evolved resistance. The government began using DDT to suppress the mosquito vectors, thus this relatively level, fertile and well-watered land became useful to settlers from the hills who dispossessed and enslaved the Tharu by various stratagems.

Pyuthan, Rolpa and Salyan districts are situated north of the Mahabharat Range, in the so-called middle hills. Pyuthan district has extensive irrigated rice growing areas inhabited by Brahman-Chetri and Newar castes along Jimruk Khola, an upper tributary of the Rapti. Rolpa district mainly lies along Madi Khola, another upper Rapti tributary that is more eroded into an inner gorge and less useful for irrigation.

Pyuthan and Rolpa districts both extend north to the 3-4,000 meter ranges where Madi Khola and Jimruk Khola rise. Kham Magars live in small villages throughout these highlands up to about 2,500 meters. Since agriculture is difficult away from lowland streams, they also herd sheep, goats and cattle and sell butter, grow subtropical and temperate fruit such as citrus and asian pear, and migrate in search of employment. They also made hashish from hemp that grows wild in cloud forests at about 3,000 meters until the government got out of this business in the 1970s.

Salyan district is similar to Pyuthan in having a mix of rice-growing lowlands inhabited by caste hindus, and uplands inhabited by Kham peoples.

Rukum is the northernmost district of Rapti Zone. It lies north of the Rapti basin, from the easternmost tributaries of the Bheri up to the southern slopes of Dhaulagiri Himal. It is sparsely populated but used by Kham herdsmen in summer. There is a settlement of Tibetan Refugees at Dhorpatan in the valley of the so-called Uttar Ganga, a Bheri tributary.

Rapti Zone has a history of radical politics since the mid-20th century and in the 1990s became a center of the Maoist (maobadi) rebellion against the royal government and the fragile democracy that the late King Birendra eventually supported. Tharus from Dang-Deukhuri and Kham Magars from the hills have disproportionately served as footsoldiers, while the executive leadership is upper caste Hindu. Birendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev (December 28, 1945 - June 1, 2001) was king of Nepal from 1972 until 2001, and the son of King Mahendra, whom he succeeded. ...

Zones of Nepal

Bagmati | Bheri | Dhawalagiri | Gandaki | Janakpur | Karnali | Kosi | Lumbini | Mahakali | Mechi | Narayani | Rapti | Sagarmatha | Seti | Download high resolution version (656x800, 31 KB)Large flag of Nepal Image originally derived from the public domain flags of the CIA World Factbook. ... There are 14 zones in Nepal. ... Bagmati is a zone in Nepal which contains the capital Kathmandu. ... Bheri is one of the fourteen zones of Nepal. ... Dhawalagiri is one of the fourteen zones of Nepal. ... named after the seven tributaries that make up the gandaki river, the gandaki zone in nepal lies in the western administrative region. ... Janakpur is one of the 14 zones of Nepal. ... The Karnali River is the longest river in Nepal. ... The Kosi is a river of Nepal and India. ... Lumbini (Sanskrit; lit. ... Mahakali is one of the fourteen zones of Nepal. ... Mechi is one of the fourteen zones of Nepal. ... Narayani Zone of Nepal borders India on the south. ... Jump to: navigation, search Sagarmatha is a zone in the east of Nepal. ... Jump to: navigation, search SETI (pronounced , to rhyme with Betty) stands for Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence. ...