Dharan (Nepali: धरान) a sub-metropolitan city in Sunsari District of Province No. 1, Nepal, which was established as a fourth municipality in the Kingdom in 1958. It is the third most populous city in Eastern Nepal after Biratnagar and Itahari. The Nepali word "dharan" means a saw pit. The rainforest from which the tree trunks came is still just on the edge of the city. Dharan is the location of the former Vijayapur, the seat of a historical Limbuwan kingdom, which was later used by the Sen kings of Makwanpur. Much later the British Gurkha camp opened in October 1960. The use of the camp by British Gurkhas finished in the mid 1990s. Dharan has an estimated city population of 173,096 living in 34,834 households as per 2021 Nepal census. It is one of the cities of the Greater Birat Development Area which incorporates the cities of Biratnagar-Itahari-Gothgau-Biratchowk-Dharan primarily located on the Koshi Highway in Eastern Nepal, with an estimated total urban agglomerated population of 804,300 people living in 159,332 households. It is the largest city in the province number one by Area. It covers 192.32 square kilometers while Biratnagar and Itahari is 2nd and 3rd biggest cities by Area