South Asia; landlocked (sandwiched between India and China)
Surface area
147,181 sq km (56,827 sq mi); just larger than Greece
Population
28,901,790
Population growth
2.13%
Population density
202 people per square km (523 per sq mile)
Infant mortality rate
64 deaths per 1,000 live births (4 in Germany)
Capital city
Kathmandu
Literacy
47.5% (male 64.7%, female 29.9%)
Currency
Rupees (Euro 1 = Rs 105, US$ 1 = Rs 73)
Per capita income
US$250
Life expectancy
60.6 years (male 60.8 years, female 60.3 years)
Religion
Hindu 90%
Buddhist 5%
Muslim 3%
Other or none 2%
Language
Nepalese (more than 92 different tribal languages are spoken)
Government
Multiparty democracy
Urbanization
Rural 85%
Urban 15%
Human development index
136, out of 177 countries
Doctors per 100,000 people
5 (606 in Italy)
Live less than US$ 2 per day
82% of total population
Average age
20 years
Some interesting facts and features
Mt Everest (8848m; tallest peak in the world)
8 out of 10 tallest peaks in the world
Lumbini (birthplace of Lord Buddha)
Yeti (abominable snowman)
Kumari (the living goddess)
3 different kings in 3 consecutive days
Was Hindu kingdom till 2009 (Only one in the world)
Sherpa (himalaya people famous for climbing mountains without oxygen backing)
Never occupied by any other country
2nd richest in water resources (Brazil comes at first)
One horn rhino
Gurkha (famous people from Gorkha district in foreign regiment)
Yarcha Gumba (popular fauna; partly-insect, partly-plant; found only in high himalayan alpine; used for sexual invigoration; also khown as Himalayan Viagra)
World Cup Elephant Polo (every year played just in Kasara, Chitwan, Nepal)
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
2% of all the flowering plants in the world
8% of the world's population of birds (more than 848 species)
4% of mammals on earth
11 of the world's 15 families of butterflies (more than 500 species)
600 indigenous plant families
319 species of exotic orchids
History
100,000 BC
Kathmandu valley formed
C 563 - 483 BC
Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha
C 250
Ashoka (ruled 268 – 231 BC) visited Lumbini
57 BC
Nepal’s official Vikram calendar starts
AD 464
Nepal’s earliest surviving inscription is carved into the beautiful Changu Narayan Temple in the Kathmandu valley
879
Start of Newari calendar
1349
Muslim armies of Sultan Shams-ud-Din plunder the Kathmandu Valley, looting Swayambhunath
1428 – 82
Rule of Yaksha Malla, high point of Malla Kings
1480
Kathmandu splits into the three kingdoms of Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur
1531 – 34
Sherpas settle in the Solu Khumbu region from Eastern Tibet
1719
20,000 die of plague in Kathmandu Valley
1768/69
Nepal unified under Prithbi Narayan Shah (1723 – 1775) to form the Shah dynasty - Kathmandu becomes the capital
1814 – 16
Anglo-Nepalese war, Nepal’s modern boundaries established
1846
Kot Massacre ushers in the Rana era (1846 – 1951)
1934
Massive earthquake destroys much of the Kathmandu Valley, killing 7000
1951 - 55
Rule of King Tribhuvan
1953
Everest summited by Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norkay on the 29 May
1955 – 72
Rule of King Mahendra
1959
Nepal’s first general elections
1972 – 2001
Rule of King Birendra
2001
Royal massacre, June 1
2006
King Gyanendra’s powers drastically curtailed by parliament, May
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 2007 record.
I am very much thankful to all the members who unanimously elected me as a president for the term 2007 - 2009. I am more than happy to be a part of this precious organization. As a...More»
These children are lovely. Nothing but lovely. This was generally spoken. My main experience with them... All of them were trying their best to achieve as much as progress in the English language as they could while I was teaching them...More»
