Lumbini province

socialstudies

1. LUMBINI PROVINCE 05 Prepared by: Zainab Moyiz Ebrahimjee Checked and edited by: Bishnu Karki

2. INTRODUCTION Lumbini Province is one of the seven provinces established by the constitution of Nepal 2072. The province is Nepal's fourth most populated province and third largest province by area. Lumbini is bordered by Gandaki Province and Karnali Province to the north, Sudurpashchim Province to the west, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar to the south. Deukhuri is the state capital of the province, other major cities in this province are Butwal , Nepalgunj , Tulsipur and more. The Provincial Assembly adopted Lumbini Province as the permanent name after the holy pilgrimage site of Lumbini in Rupandehi District , birthplace of Lord Buddha and replaced its initial name Province No. 5 on 6 October 2020.

3. Lumbini, with an area of 22,288 square kilometers covers about 15.1% of the country's total area. Lumbini Province mainly consists of Terai plains , Hills and Valleys . It has a lot of river basins for example the eastern boundary of the province is formed by the Kali Gandaki River other river basins include Karnali , East Rapti , Babai , Gandaki and Tinau which act as reliable sources of water for the population and are potential opportunities for hydro-power generation and downstream irrigation. Half of the province is also covered by dense forestation, from this 29% land is cultivatible and is used for agriculture and 14% of the land is utilized for housing purposes. Lumbini has a humid subtropical climate and experiences four seasons. The winter in January and February is followed by summer between March and May and the monsoon season between June and September. GEOGRAPHY

4. Lumbini province has the fastest growing economy of Nepal with an annual economic growth rate of 7.1%. Agriculture, energy, irrigation and tourism are the main industries of the province. -Agriculture: As mentioned before the province has both temperate and tropical climates which allows a wide variety of crop production such as maize, paddy, mustard, wheat, sugarcane, vegetables, potato, lentils and cotton. -Irrigation: 541 irrigation systems are present throughout the province. Similarly, there are various irrigation projects under construction and after their completion they will be able to irrigate approximately 140,000 ha of land. -Energy: Lumbini generates 21.2 MW of electricity from hydropower from its immense river resources and generates 8.5 MW of electricity from Nepal's first private grid-connected solar power plant, Butwal solar PV project. -Tourism: Lumbini province has a lot of tourist attractions namely Lumbini, Bardiya national park, Rani Mahal and more. Transportation routes in Lumbini have evolved since Mahendra highway , as well as the construction of the Gautam Buddha International Airport . Many new hotels are also set to open which will allow the economy to further develop. Economy

5. POLITICS There are total 109 local administrative units in the province which include 4 sub-metropolitan cities, 32 urban municipalities and 73 rural municipalities. The Governor acts as the head of the province including all the municipalities while the Chief Minister is the head of the provincial government, the current Chief Minister of Lumbini Province and Leader of the ruling party is Shankar Pokharel . The Provincial Assembly of Lumbini Province is a unicameral governing and law making body and is situated in Butwal , with 81 Members of the Provincial Assembly. Candidates for each of the 26 constituenc ies are chosen by the political parties or stand as independents.The current constitution specifies that sixty percent of the members should be elected from the first past the post system and forty percent through the party-list proportional representation (PR) system which includes the provision that women should account for one third of total members elected from each party

6. - Nepali is the most spoken language of the province, but is also a home to many speakers of Bhojpuri , Urdu and Magar languages. - Major castes living in the province are Magar, Tharu, Chhetri and Brahmin -The ratio of women in Lumbini province is more than that of men. There are 52% female and 48% males. -Lumbini is one of the two Nepalese provinces to have an international border only with India. -43.3 percent provincial land is at an altitude of less than 500 meters and 20.4 percent of area is at an altitude of 500-1000 meters because of this there aren’t many mountains present in this province. -The literacy rate in Lumbini province is 66% which means that 34% of the population still cannot read or write. ADDITIONAL FACTS

7. THANK YOU 05