Nepal — map and facts

About Nepal

Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia situated between India to the south, east, and west, and China to the north. Kathmandu serves as the capital and largest city, with a metropolitan population of over one million. The country has a total population of approximately 30 million people. Nepal is a federal democratic republic, having abolished its monarchy in 2008 after a decade-long civil conflict. The economy depends significantly on remittances from Nepali workers abroad, tourism centred on Himalayan trekking and mountaineering, and agriculture. Nepal is home to eight of the world's fourteen peaks above 8,000 metres, including Mount Everest, the highest mountain on Earth at 8,849 metres. The country is one of the least developed in Asia by income, though significant progress has been made in human development indicators over recent decades. Hinduism is practised by the majority of the population, while Buddhism is also widely observed; Nepal was historically the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, the historical Buddha, in Lumbini.

Geography and Landscape

Nepal's geography is among the most dramatic on Earth, compressed from tropical plains in the south to the highest peaks on the planet within a relatively short horizontal distance. The country is conventionally divided into three zones running east to west: the Terai, a flat lowland plain along the Indian border that forms part of the Gangetic Plain; the Hill and Middle Mountain zone, which includes the Mahabharat Range and the Kathmandu Valley; and the High Himalaya, containing peaks such as Everest, Kangchenjunga, Lhotse, Makalu, and Cho Oyu. The Koshi, Gandaki, and Karnali are the three major river systems, all originating in the Tibetan Plateau and draining southward into the Ganges. Pokhara, Nepal's second city, sits beside the scenic Phewa Lake at the foot of the Annapurna massif. The climate varies enormously by altitude, from subtropical in the Terai to arctic conditions at high elevations. Monsoon rains between June and September bring the majority of annual precipitation.

History

The Kathmandu Valley has been continuously inhabited for at least three thousand years and was home to the Newar civilisation, which developed a sophisticated urban culture. The Licchavi dynasty ruled from approximately the fourth to ninth centuries CE, leaving important Hindu and Buddhist monuments. The medieval Malla period produced much of the elaborate temple architecture seen in Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur today. In 1768, Prithvi Narayan Shah of the Gorkha Kingdom unified the Kathmandu Valley and established the Shah dynasty, founding the modern Nepali state. The Anglo-Nepalese War of 1814 to 1816 ended with the Sugauli Treaty, fixing Nepal's present boundaries. From 1846 to 1951, the Rana oligarchy held effective power, restricting the monarchy. A democratic revolution in 1951 restored royal power, and Nepal experimented with parliamentary democracy thereafter. A decade-long Maoist insurgency from 1996 to 2006 ended with the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, and in 2008 the constituent assembly declared Nepal a federal democratic republic, abolishing the 240-year-old monarchy.