Rupandehi District

Rupandehi District (रुपन्देही जिल्ला; ɾu.pʌn.de.i; -e.ɦi), a part of Lumbini Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal and covers an area of . The district headquarter is Bhairahawa. As per the national census 2011, the population of Rupandehi was 880,196. Rupandehi is named after Rupadevi, the queen of King Suddhodana. Lumbini, birthplace of Buddha, lies in Rupandehi district. Devdaha, the birthplace of Mayadevi (mother of Buddha), also lies in Rupandehi district. At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Rupandehi District had a population of 880,196 (432,193 male, 448,003 female) in 163,916 households. As their first language, 36.8% spoke Bhojpuri, 36.6% Nepali, 6.4% Awadhi, 6.3% Tharu, 4.2% Magar, 3.6% Maithili, 2.6% Urdu, 1.3% Newari, 1.2% Gurung, 0.5% Hindi, 0.1% Doteli, 0.1% Tamang and 0.1% other languages. Ethnicity/caste: 15.9% were Hill Brahmin, 10.7% Magar, 9.7% Tharu, 8.3% Musalman, 7.4% Yadav, 6.8% Chhetri, 3.7% Chamar/Harijan/Ram, 3.1% Kami, 2.9% Lodh, 2.5% Kewat, 2.3% Kahar, 2.1% Newar, 2.0% Dhobi, 2.0% Gurung, 2.0% Kurmi, 2.0% Mallaha, 1.6% Kathabaniyan, 1.5% Dusadh/Pasawan/Pasi, 1.4% Teli, 1.1% Damai/Dholi, 0.9% Koiri/Kushwaha, 0.8% Baraee, 0.8% Hajam/Thakur, 0.7% other Terai, 0.7% Thakuri, 0.6% Terai Brahmin, 0.5% Kalwar, 0.5% Lohar, 0.5% Sanyasi/Dasnami, 0.5% Sarki, 0.4% Gaderi/Bhedidar, 0.4% Halwai, 0.4% Kumal, 0.2% Badhaee, 0.2% Bengali, 0.2% other Dalit, 0.2% Kayastha, 0.2% Marwadi, 0.2% Musahar, 0.2% Tamang, 0.1% Badi, 0.1% Chhantyal, 0.1% Dhandi, 0.1% Dhankar/Darikar, 0.1% Dhunia, 0.1% foreigners, 0.1% Gharti/Bhujel, 0.1% Majhi, 0.1% Mali, 0.1% Rai, 0.1% Rajbhar, 0.1% Rajput, 0.1% Thakali and 0.1% others. Religion: 86.2% were Hindu, 8.2% Muslim, 4.6% Buddhist, 0.7% Christian, 0.1% Bon and 0.1% others. Literacy: 69.6% could read and write, 2.3% could only read and 28.0% could neither read nor write. Rupandehi is divided into 16 local level units, in which 6 are urban municipality and 10 are Rural Municipality. Butwal is considered as a Sub-Metropolitan municipality.