Rukum District

Situated in Rapti Zone of Midwestern Development Region, Rukum is one of the remote districts of Nepal. It needs no other name since it became one the war affected district during insurgency. Now, people living a penurious life since long have increased hopes and desires as some of the INGOs and NGOs have made it a target district.
Rukum adjoins with Baglung and Magdi to the Eastern part; Jajarkot to the West; Dolpa to the North; and Salyan and Rolpa to the South. It covers 2,887 square kilometers of land. The headquarters is at Musikot Khalanga. The district is divided into 2 Constituencies, 11 Ilakas and 43 VDCs. The altitude ranges from 754 meters to 6,000 meters and temperatures from 0.47 to 34.40 degree Celsius. From almost all parts of the district Mt. Sisne can be seen.
According to the Census report (2001) there are a considerable number of Magar people. They are 29.58 in percentage. The Chhetris, the dominant caste in the district, occupy 38.14 %. There are 15.39% Kami and 4.48% Damai. There are a large portion people speaking Kham Magar language as mother tongue.
Most of the parts are hills with only 10.26% arable land. About 59.50% of total land is covered by forest. Rukum district has many could-be-tourist-spots places, but due lack of information, many of them remain unexplored.
Among 43 VDCs there are 10 VDCs with RtF program interventions. They are Sakh, Bhalakcha, Khalanga (HQ), Chaukhabang, Rugha, Khara, Chhibang, Syalapakha, Muru and Peugha. The schools getting RtF support are 75 in total including 51 primary, 15 lower secondary, 8 secondary, and 1 higher secondary. There are 60 ECDs in the program areas.