Dhangadhi

Dhangadhi is a sub-metropolitan city and the district headquarters of Kailali District in Sudurpashchim Province of Nepal, on the border with India in the far west of the country. It is divided into 19 wards, covers about 271.74 square kilometres and is connected to Kathmandu, roughly 660 kilometres to the east, by the Bhimdutta Highway. It began as a small border settlement and customs post for trade with India and grew quickly after malaria eradication programmes in the 1960s and 1970s drew migrants from the hill districts. It was declared a municipality in 1976 and upgraded to a sub-metropolitan city in 2015, the first in the far-western region. It is the largest city of western Nepal, is often called the City of Cricket, and serves as the economic hub of the province, with an airport and many educational and administrative institutions.