East Champaran consists of Motihari, Sadar, Areraj, Raxual, Shikarahna (Dhaka), Pakridayal and Chakia.
West Champaran consists of Bettiah, Bagaha, and Narkatiaganj.
The city is the birthplace of poet Gopal Singh Nepali. Mahatma Gandhi started the Champaran Satyagraha movement from here in 1917 along with nationalists Rajendra Prasad, Anugrah Narayan Sinha and Brajkishore Prasad.