PEOPLE : Various ethnic groups, including the Bhotiya (which include the Sherpa), Khas, Kirati, Magar, Gurung, Rai, Limbu, Newari, Tharu, Tamang and Tibetans.

CAPITAL : Kathmandu (Population in Kathmandu: 900,000)

GEOGRAPHY : Nepal is landlocked kingdom sharing borders with Tibet to the north and northwest, and India to the west, south and east. The country can be divided into five zones; the Terai, the Siwaliks, the Mahabharat Lekh, the Midlands or Pahar and the Himalayas, extending down from the highest peaks through hill country to the upper edge of the Ganges Plain. The hilly central area is crossed by the Lower Himalayas where there are eight of the highest peaks in the world, leading up to Mount Everest. Wildlife in Nepal includes tigers, leopards, gaur, elephants, buffalo and deer.

LANGUAGE : Nepali, the official language, is an Indo-Aryan tongue derived from classical Sanskrit.

RELIGION : Religion is the well spring of traditional Nepali life, inspiring, art, defining culture and regulating daily routine. Nationwide, religion falls into a general pattern of Hindu lowlanders and Buddhist highlanders, with the people of the hills exhibiting a mixture ob both : 90% Hindu, 5% Buddhist, 3% Muslim and 1%.

TIME : GMT + 5.45

CLIMATE : Weather varies from the tropical in the low lands to the arctic at the higher altitudes.

ELECTRICITY : 220 volts AC, 50Hz. There are frequent power cuts.

HISTORY : The history of Nepal centers on the Kathmandu Valley. Until the country assumed its present form in the 18th century the valley was Nepal, in both name and fact. For most of its known history. Nepal was ruled by an hereditary king but, from the middle of the 19th century, hereditary prime ministers of the Rana family controlled the country. In 1951 the Ranas were overthrown and the monarchy restored under King Tribhuvan. Today , Nepal enjoys a multi-party democratic system with a constitutional Monarch.

Government: Democracy