Nepal at a Glance

Country: Nepal.

Location: Southern Asia. Map reference: Asia.

Land boundaries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km.

Total area: 54,363 sq mi (147,181 sq km)

Land area: 52,819 sq mi (136,801 sq km)

Elevation extremes: Lowest point : Kechana Bari 70 m above sea level.
Highest point : Mount Everest 8,848 m above sea level.

Population: 28,287,147 (2006)

Capital: Kathmandu. Population: 1,203,100 (metro area), 729,000 (city proper)

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

People: Nepal has a population made up of over 40 different races and tribes. The two major groups in Nepalese society are Tibeto-Burman or Mongoloids from the north and Indo-Aryans from the south. Many customs are inherited from both sides and have been developed by the influences of the land, climate and available resources.

Religion: Nationwide, religion falls into a general pattern of Hindu lowlanders and Buddhist highlanders, with the people of the hills exhibiting a mixture of both.

Climate: Weather varies from tropical in the low lands to arctic at the higher altitudes. It is hot from April-Aug, cold from Nov-Jan with two brief warm periods in Feb.-Mar and Sept.-Oct. The Terai region has a hot and humid climate with summer temperatures rising till 40º C. The mid-land regions are pleasant almost all the year round with summer temperature ranging between 25º – 32º C, although winter nights are cool. The northern mountain region, around an altitude above 3,353 m. has an alpine climate with a considerably lower temperature in winter. During June, July and August, the kingdom is influenced by monsoon clouds.

Geography: Surrounded by India from the west, south and east and by China's Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) from the north and north-west, Nepal is a landlocked country and is slightly larger than Bangladesh or the state of Arkansas in the United States. Roughly rectangular in shape it is about 850 kilometers long and about 241 kilometers wide, and comprises a total of 147,181 square kilometers of land.

Nepal commonly is divided into three broad physiographic areas: the Mountain Region or the Himalayas, the Hill Region, and the Terai Region. All three are parallel to each other, from east to west, as continuous ecological belts, occasionally bisected by the country's river systems. These ecological regions were divided by the government into development sectors within the framework of regional development planning.

History: The history of Nepal mostly centers on the Kathmandu Valley. Until the country assumed its present form in the 18th century the Kathmandu valley was called Nepal, in both name and fact. For most of its known history, Nepal was ruled by hereditary kings be it from the Kirat dynasty, the Malla dynasty or the Shah dynasty. From the middle of the 19th century, hereditary prime ministers of the Rana dynasty ruled the country. In 1951 the autocratic Ranas were overthrown and monarchy was restored under King Tribhuvan. Today, Nepal enjoys a multi-party democratic system.

Independence: 1768 (unified by King Prithvi Narayan Shah)

Government: Multi-party Democracy

Administrative zones: 14 administrative zones and 75 districts (2007)

Literacy rate: 48.6% (total); Male: 62.7%, Female: 34.9%. (2000-2004)

Currency (code): Nepalese Rupee (NPR / NRs)

Electricity: 220 volts AC, 50Hz. (with frequent power cuts / load shedding).

Time: GMT + 5.45