the province borders the tibet autonomous region of china to the north, province no. 1 to the east, gandaki pradesh to the west, and both province no. 2 and the indian state of bihar to the south. hetauda was declared as the permanent state capital on january 12, 2020. being the most populous province of nepal, it possesses rich cultural diversity with resident communities and castes including newar, tamang, madhesis, sherpa, tharu, chepang, jirel, brahmin, chhetri, chepang, jirel, and more. it hosted the highest number of voters in the last election for the house of representatives and provincial assembly, which took place in 2017.