Mahottari District is a part of Madhesh Province, is one of the seventy-seven districts of Nepal. The district, with Jaleshwar as its district headquarters, covers an area of 1,002 km2 (387 sq mi) and had a population of 553,481 in 2001, 627,580 in 2011 and 705,838 in 2021 census. Its headquarters is located in Jaleshwar, a neighbouring town of the historical city of Janakpur. The name Jaleshwar means the 'God in Water'. One can find a famous temple of Lord Shiva in Water there. Jaleshwar lies at a few kilometres distance from the Nepal-India border and has a majority Maithili population.
At the time of the 2011 Nepal census, Mahottari District had a population of 627,580. As their first language, 81.0% spoke Maithili, 7.3% Urdu, 5.4% Nepali, 1.9% Magar, 1.4% Tamang, 1.1% Tharu, 0.9% Magahi, 0.2% Hindi, 0.2% Newar 0.1% Bhojpuri and 0.1% other languages.
