Nepal, formally the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India in the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim.
Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural state with Nepali and English (informal) as its official languages. Nepal uses Nepali Rupees as its official currency but deals with all other available currencies with few exceptions.
Geography
Nepal seems to be a trapezoidal shape with about 800 kilometers (500 mi) long and 200 kilometers (120 mi) wide, with an area of 147,516 square kilometers (56,956 square miles). It lies between latitudes 26° and 31°N, and longitudes 80° and 89°E.
The country has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and the largest city. Other large cities in Nepal include Pokhara, Biratnagar, Lalitpur, Bharatpur, Birgunj, Dharan, Hetauda and Nepalgunj.
History
The name “Nepal” is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, the era in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal are intertwined with Tibetan culture.
By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India.
Politics
Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of a secular republic in 2008, ending the world’s last Hindu monarchy.
The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a secular federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces.
Foreign Relations
Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative. The Nepalese Armed Forces are the fifth-largest in South Asia; and are notable for their Gurkha history, particularly during the world wars, and has been a significant contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations.
Culture and Traditions
Nepal encompasses various diversity in cultures belonging to the 125 current distinct ethnic groups. The culture of Nepal is expressed through music and dance; art and craft; folklore; languages and literature; philosophy and religion; festivals and celebration; foods and drinks. New Year’s Day of the Bikram Sambat (B.S.) calendar in Nepal occurs in mid April as the first of Baisakh with several Jatras (religious processions) take place throughout the year and public holidays are declared in some regions.
The festivals of Nepal last from one to several days. As a predominantly Hindu and Buddhist nation, most of the Nepalese festivals are religious ones. The festivals of Nepal have their roots in Hinduism as more than 80% of the population of the country is Hindu. Buddhism, the second-largest religion of the nation which accounts for 9% of the population, has influenced the cultural festivals of Nepal.
Dashain or Vijaya Dashami is the longest and the most important festival of Nepal. Generally, Dashain falls in late September to mid-October, right after the end of the monsoon season. It is “a day of Victory over Demons.” Other festivals include Tihar or Deepawali, Holi, Saraswati Puja, Rakshabandhan, Krishna Janmashtami, Gai Jatra, Nag Panchami, Teej, Chhath, Maghe Sankranti or Makar Sankranti and Maha Shivaratri are widely celebrated important festivals of Nepal.
Demographics
The current population of Nepal is 29,192,480 as per the 2021 census. The population growth rate is 0.93% per year. In the 2011 census, Nepal’s population was approximately 26 million people with a population growth rate of 1.35% and a median age of 21.6 years. The citizens of Nepal are known as Nepali or Nepalese with descendants from three major regions including India, Tibet and North Burma, and the Chinese province of Yunnan via Assam.
Nepal is also one of the ten least urbanized, and the ten fastest urbanizing countries in the world. As of 2014, an estimated 18.3% of the population lived in urban areas. Urbanization rate is high in the Terai, doon valleys of the inner Terai and valleys of the middle hills, but low in the high Himalayas. Similarly, the rate is higher in central and eastern Nepal compared to further west.
Tourism in Nepal
Tourism is one of the largest industry in Nepal and one of its largest sources of foreign exchange and revenue. Possessing eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, Nepal is a hot spot destination for mountaineers, rock climbers and people seeking adventure. The Hindu and Buddhist heritage of Nepal and its cool weather are also strong attractions.
Mount Everest, the highest mountain peak in the world (8848.88 m above sea level) is located in Nepal with mountaineering and other types of adventure tourism and ecotourism being important attractions for visitors. There are also many world heritage sites in Nepal including Swayambhunath, the Monkey Temple, Boudhanath, Pashupatinath, Kathmandu Durbar Square, Patan Durbar Square, Chitwan National Park, Sagarmatha National Park and Lumbini, the birthplace of Lord Buddha among others.
The country is visited by travelers from most of the countries in the world with India and China being the top two. The United States of America stands third with most of the European countries and Australia, Canada and Japan completing the list of top ten most visiting nations.
