Nepal in brief
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Official name |
Nepal |
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Location |
South Asia; landlocked (sandwiched between India and China) |
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Surface area |
147,181 sq km (56,827 sq mi); just larger than Greece
(94th in world ranking)
|
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Water % |
2.8 |
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Calling Code |
+977 |
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Population |
26,620,000 (40th in world ranking) |
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Population growth |
2.2% |
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Population density |
199.3/sq km (62nd in world ranking)
518.1/sq mi |
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Infant mortality rate |
64 deaths per 1,000 live births (4 in Germany)
|
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Capital city |
Kathmandu |
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Literacy |
53.74% (male 68.51%, female 42.49%) |
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Currency |
Rupees (NPR) (Euro 1 = Rs 105, US$ 1 = Rs 76) |
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Per capita income |
US$562 |
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Life expectancy |
59.8 years (male 60.9 years, female 59.5 years) |
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Religion |
Hindu 80.6%
Buddhist 10.7%
Muslim 4.2%
Mundhum 3.6%
Christian 0.5%
Other or none 2% |
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Language |
Nepalese (more than 92 different tribal languages are spoken) |
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Government |
Multiparty democracy |
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Urbanization |
Rural 85%
Urban 15% |
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Human development index |
136, out of 177 countries |
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Doctors per 100,000 people |
5 (606 in Italy) |
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Live less than US$ 2 per day |
82% of total population |
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Average age |
20 years |
| Some interesting facts and features |
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Mt Everest (8848m; tallest peak in the world) |
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8 out of 10 tallest peaks in the world |
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Lumbini (birthplace of Lord Buddha) |
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Yeti (abominable snowman) |
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Kumari (the living goddess) |
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3 different kings in 3 consecutive days |
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Was Hindu kingdom till 2009 (Only one in the world) |
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Sherpa (himalaya people famous for climbing mountains without oxygen backing) |
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Never occupied by any other country |
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2nd richest in water resources (Brazil comes at first) |
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One horn rhino |
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Gurkha (famous people from Gorkha district in foreign regiment) |
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Yarcha Gumba (popular fauna; partly-insect, partly-plant; found only in high himalayan alpine; used for sexual invigoration; also khown as Himalayan Viagra) |
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World Cup Elephant Polo (every year played just in Kasara, Chitwan, Nepal) |
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Ghadiyal (docile alligator of crocodile family) |
World heritage
Lumbini, Kathmandu, Patan, Bhaktapur, Chitwan (scores of ancient temples, monasteries and palaces in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Patan; birth place of Lord Buddha, Royal Chitawn National Park)
| Coverage: 0.1% of world area which is home to |
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2% of all the flowering plants in the world |
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8% of the world's population of birds (more than 848 species) |
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4% of mammals on earth |
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11 of the world's 15 families of butterflies (more than 500 species) |
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600 indigenous plant families |
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319 species of exotic orchids |
| History |
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100,000 BC |
Kathmandu valley formed |
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C 563 - 483 BC |
Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha |
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C 250 |
Ashoka (ruled 268 – 231 BC) visited Lumbini |
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57 BC |
Nepal’s official Vikram calendar starts |
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AD 464 |
Nepal’s earliest surviving inscription is carved into the beautiful Changu Narayan Temple in the Kathmandu valley |
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879 |
Start of Newari calendar |
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1349 |
Muslim armies of Sultan Shams-ud-Din plunder the Kathmandu Valley, looting Swayambhunath |
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1428 – 82 |
Rule of Yaksha Malla, high point of Malla Kings |
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1480 |
Kathmandu splits into the three kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur |
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1531 – 34 |
Sherpas settle in the Solu Khumbu region from Eastern Tibet |
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1719 |
20,000 die of plague in Kathmandu Valley |
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1768/69 |
Nepal unified under Prithbi Narayan Shah (1723 – 1775) to form the Shah dynasty - Kathmandu becomes the capital |
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1814 – 16 |
Anglo-Nepalese war, Nepal’s modern boundaries established |
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1846 |
Kot Massacre ushers in the Rana era (1846 – 1951) |
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1934 |
Massive earthquake destroys much of the Kathmandu Valley, killing 7000 |
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1951 - 55 |
Rule of King Tribhuvan |
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1953 |
Everest summited by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkay on the 29 May |
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1955 – 72 |
Rule of King Mahendra |
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1959 |
Nepal’s first general elections |
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1972 – 2001 |
Rule of King Birendra |
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2001 |
Royal massacre, June 1 |
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2006 |
King Gyanendra’s powers drastically curtailed by parliament, May |
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2008 |
Constitutional assembly election, Maoist has been turned out to be the largest party, and Dr Ram Baran Yadav elected as the first president of Republic Nepal. |
Data stand for 2011 record.
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