Karnali Province

Karnali Province is one of the seven federal provinces of Nepal, formed under the constitution adopted on 20 September 2015 and given the name Karnali by a provincial assembly meeting on 25 February 2018. At 27,984 square kilometres it is the largest province in Nepal, covering about 19 percent of the country, yet at the 2021 census it had 1,688,412 residents, the fewest of any province. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, Gandaki Province to the east, Sudurpashchim Province to the west and Lumbini Province to the south. The province takes its name from the Karnali River, which flows through it, and it holds higher mountain land in the north and mid-hills, including the Kanjiroba range, Shey Phoksundo National Park and Rara Lake, the largest lake in Nepal. Birendranagar is both its capital and its largest city. The area was once part of the Khasa kingdom and later of the Baise Rajya confederation of twenty-two principalities.