The Chitwan District (Nepali: चितवन जिल्ला Listen (help·info) is one of 75 districts of Nepal, and is located in the southwestern part of Province No. 3 with Bharatpur, the fifth largest city of Nepal, as its district headquarters. It covers an area of 2,238.39 km (864.25 sq mi), and in 2011 had a population of 579,984 (279,087 male and 300,897 female) people. Bharatpur is a commercial and service centre of central south Nepal and major destination for higher education, health care and transportation in the region.