An introduction to NEPAL

2009-11-15T20:47:00.000-08:00

Nepal (Nepali: नेपाल [neˈpaːl] (help·info)), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the Peoples Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass^[5] and the 41st most populous country. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolitancity.

Nepal is a country of highly diverse and rich geography, culture, and religions. The mountainous north contains eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized. By some measures, Hinduism is practiced by a greater majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation.^[6] Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is linked historically with Nepal as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama who as the Buddha Gautama gave birth to the Buddhist tradition. About half of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.^[7]

A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768, when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms. However, a decade-longPeople's Revolution by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties of Nepal in 2006, culminated in a peace accord and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republicin May 28, 2008.^[8] The first President of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav, was sworn in on 23 July, 2008.

Etymology

Nepal Bhasa origin

The word "Nepal" is believed by scholars to be derived from the word "Nepa:" which refers to theNewar Kingdom, the present day Kathmandu Valley. With Sanskritization, the Newar word Nepa became Nepal.^[9] The Newars of present day Nepal, refer to all the inhabitants of Kathmandu valley and its peripheries (called "Nepa:") before the advent of Shah dynasty. The Nepal Sambatcalendar, named after this Newar kingdom and devised 1100 years ago, is a national calendar used in Nepal and testifies to its antiquity.

Ne Muni

History and local traditions say that a Hindu sage named "Ne" established himself at the valley of Kathmandu during prehistoric times and that the word "Nepal" came into existence as the place protected ("pala" in Sanskrit) by the sage "Ne". The etymology of the name Nepal means, "the country looked after by Ne".^[10]

He used to perform religious ceremonies at Teku, the confluence of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers.^[11] He is said by legend to have selected a pious cowherd to be the first of the many kings of the Gopala Dynasty.^[10] These rulers are said to have ruled Nepal for over 500 years.^[12] He selected Bhuktaman to be the first king in the line of the Gopal (Cowherd) Dynasty.^[11] The Gopal dynasty ruled for 621 years. Yakshya Gupta was the last king of this dynasty.

According to Skanda Purana, a rishi called "Ne" or "Nemuni" used to live in Himalaya.^[13] In thePashupati Purana, he is mentioned as a saint and a protector.^[14] He is said to have practiced penance at the Bagmati and Kesavati rivers^[15]and to have taught his doctrines there too.^[10]

Languages

Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from four major language groups: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian and various indigenous language isolates. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (48.61%), Maithili (12.30%), Bhojpuri (7.53%),Tharu (5.86%), Tamang (5.19%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (3.63%), Magar (3.39%), Awadhi (2.47%), Rai (2.79%), Limbu (1.47%), and Bajjika(1.05%). The status of Nepali as the national language gave hill Hindus who spoke it natively an advantage in education and examinations over other ethnicities that were forced to learn it as a second language.

Derived from Sanskrit, Nepali has roots in Sanskrit and is written in Devanagari script. Nepali is the official national language and serves aslingua franca among Nepalis of different ethnolinguistic groups. Hindi and regional dialects Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili are spoken in the southern Terai Region. Hindi is also widely understood by the many Nepalis who have lived in India. Many Nepalis in government and business speak English as well. In the capital Kathmandu, Nepali, Nepal Bhasa (the Newar language) and English are the most widely understood languages. Dialects of Tibetan are spoken in and north of the higher Himalaya where standard literary Tibetan is widely understood by those with religious education. Local dialects in the Terai and hills are mostly unwritten with efforts underway to develop systems for writing many in Devanagari or the Roman alphabet.

History

Main article: History of Nepal

Prehistory

Kathmandu Valley

Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. It appears that Kirant ethnicity people were the first people to settle in Nepal and ruled Nepal for about 2,500 years.^[16]

Ancient

Terai News writes, "Nepal has been highlighted for the last several centuries in Indian Sanskrit literature like ‘Skand Purana’. ‘Skanda Purana’ has a separate volume known as ‘Nepal Mahatmya’, which explains in more details about the beauty and power of Nepal."^[17] Nepal is also mentioned in Hindu scriptures such as the Narayana Puja^[18] and the Atharva Siras (800-600 BC).^[18] Around 1000 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the region. From one of these, the Shakya confederation, arose a prince named Siddharta Gautama (563–483 BC), who later renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha ("the enlightened one"). The 7th Kirata king, Jitedasti, was on the throne in the Nepal valley at the time. By 250 BC, the region came under the influence of the Mauryan empire of northern India, and later became a vassal state under the Gupta Dynasty in the fourth century AD. In the fifth century, rulers called the Licchavis governed the majority of its area. There is a good and quite detailed description of the kingdom of Nepal in the account of the renowned Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk Xuanzang, dating from c. 645 AD.^[19]^[20]

The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the late eighth century and was followed by a Newari era, from 879, although the extent of their control over the entire country is uncertain. By the late 11th century, southern Nepal came under the influence of the Chalukaya Empire ofsouthern India. Under the Chalukayas, Nepal's religious establishment changed as the kings patronised Hinduism instead of the prevailing Buddhism.

Medieval

By the early 12th century, leaders were emerging whose names ended with the Sanskrit suffix malla ("wrestler"). Initially their reign was marked by upheaval, but the kings consolidated their power and ruled over the next 200 years; by the late 14th century, much of the country began to come under a unified rule. This unity was short-lived; in 1482 the region was carved into three kingdoms: Kathmandu, Patan, andBhaktapur.

Kingdom of Nepal

Main article: Kingdom of Nepal

Hindu temples in Patan, capital of one of the three medieval Newar kingdoms

After centuries of petty rivalry between the three kingdoms, in the mid-18th century, Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha King set out to unify the kingdoms. Seeking arms and aid from India, and buying the neutrality of bordering Indian kingdoms, he embarked on his mission in 1765. After several bloody battles and sieges, he managed to unify the Kathmandu Valley three years later in 1768. However, an actual battle never took place to conquer the Kathmandu valley; it was taken over by Prithvi Narayan and his troops without any effort, during Indra Jatra, a festival of Newars, when all the valley's citizens were celebrating the festival. This event marked the birth of the modern nation of Nepal.

In 1788 the Nepalese overran Sikkim and sent a punitive raid into Tibet. Kangra in northern India was also occupied by the Nepalese. In 1809, Ranjit Singh the ruler of the Sikh state in the Punjab, had intervened and drove the Nepalese army east of the Satluj river.^[21]

Statue of a Gurkha soldier

There is historical evidence that, at one time, the boundary of Greater Nepal extended from the Tista River in the east to Kangara, across Sutlej River, in the west. A dispute and subsequent war with Tibet over the control of mountain passes forced the Nepalese to retreat and pay heavy reparations. Rivalry between Nepal and the British East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to the Anglo-Nepalese War (1815–16). The British were badly crushed and the valor displayed by the Nepalese during the war astounded their enemies and earned them their image of fierce and ruthless "Gurkhas". The war ended in the Treaty of Sugauli, under which Nepal ceded recently-captured portions of Sikkim and lands in Terai to the Company.

Factionalism inside the royal family had led to a period of instability. In 1846 a plot was discovered revealing that the reigning queen had planned to overthrow Jung Bahadur Rana, a fast-rising military leader. This led to the Kot Massacre; armed clashes between military personnel and administrators loyal to the queen led to the execution of several hundred princes and chieftains around the country. Jung Bahadur Rana emerged victorious and founded theRana lineage. The king was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly pro-British and assisted them during the Indian Sepoy Rebellion in 1857 (and later in bothWorld Wars). The decision to help British East India Company was taken by the Rana Regime, then led by Jang Bahadur Rana. Some parts of the Terai Region were given back to Nepal by the British as a friendly gesture, because of her military help to sustain British control in India during the Sepoy Rebellion. In 1923, the United Kingdom and Nepal formally signed an agreement of friendship, in which Nepal's independence was recognized by the UK.

Nepalese royalty in the 1920s

Slavery was abolished in Nepal in 1924.^[22]

In the late 1940s, newly emerging pro-democracy movements and political parties in Nepal were critical of the Rana autocracy. Meanwhile, with the assertion of Chinese control in Tibetin the 1950s, India sought to counterbalance the perceived military threat from its northern neighbour by taking pre-emptive steps to assert more influence in Nepal. India sponsored both King Tribhuvan as Nepal's new ruler in 1951 and a new government, mostly comprising theNepali Congress Party, thus terminating Rana hegemony in the kingdom. After years of power wrangling between the king and the government, the monarch scrapped the democratic experiment in 1959, and a "partyless" panchayat system was made to govern Nepal until 1989, when the "Jan Andolan" (People's Movement) forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty parliament that took seat in May 1991.^[23]In 1991–92, Bhutan expelled roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepalis, most of whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since.^[24]

In 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) started a bid to replace the royal parliamentary system with a people's socialist republic. This led to the long Nepal Civil War and more than 12,000 deaths. On June 1, 2001, there was a massacre in the royal palace; it left the King, the Queen and the Heir Apparent Crown Prince Dipendra among the dead. Prince Dipendra was accused of patricide and of committing suicide thereafter, alleged to be a violent response to his parents' refusal to accept his choice of wife. However, there is speculation and doubts among Nepalese citizens about the person(s) responsible for the Royal Massacre. Following the carnage, the throne was inherited by King Birendra's brother Gyanendra. On February 1, 2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers to quash the violent Maoist movement. In September 2005, the Maoists declared a three-month unilateral ceasefire to negotiate their demands.

In response to the 2006 democracy movement, the king agreed to relinquish the sovereign power back to the people and reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives on April 24, 2006. Using its newly acquired sovereign authority, on May 18, 2006, the newly resumed House of Representatives unanimously passed a motion to curtail the power of the king and declared Nepal a secular state, abolishing its time-honoured official status as a Hindu Kingdom. On December 28, 2007, a bill was passed in parliament to amend Article 159 of the constitution — replacing "Provisions regarding the King" by "Provisions of the Head of the State" - declaring Nepal a federal republic, and thereby abolishing the monarchy.^[25] The bill came into force on May 28, 2008, as a constituent assembly meeting in the capital, Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to abolish royal rule.^[26]

Republic

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) won the largest number of seats in the Constituent Assembly election held on April 10, 2008 and formed a coalition government which included most of the parties in the CA. Although acts of violence occurred during the pre-electoral period, election observers noted that the elections themselves were markedly peaceful and "well-carried out."^[27]

The newly elected Assembly met in Kathmandu on May 28, 2008, and, after a polling of 564 constituent Assembly members, 560 voted to form a new Government,^[26]^[28] with the monarchist Rastriya Prajatantra Party, which had four members in the assembly, registering a dissent note. At that point, it was declared that Nepal had become a secular and inclusive democratic republic,^[29] with the government announcing a three-day public holiday from May 28 to 30. The King was thereafter given 15 days to vacate the Narayanhiti Royal Palace, in order to re-open it as a public museum.

However, political tensions and consequent power-sharing battles have continued in Nepal. In May 2009, the Maoist-led government was toppled and another coalition government with all major political parties barring the Maoists was formed. Madhav Kumar Nepal of theCommunist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) was made the Prime Minister of the coalition government.

Geography

Gosainkunda Lake in Langtang.

Topographic map of Nepal.

Main articles: Geography of Nepal and Geology of Nepal

Geography of Nepal is uncommonly diverse. Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, 800 kilometres (500 mi) long and 200 kilometres (125 mi) wide, with an area of 147,181 square kilometres(56,827 sq mi). See List of territories by size for the comparative size of Nepal.

Nepal is commonly divided into three physiographic areas: the Mountain, Hill, Siwalik region and Terai Regions. These ecological belts run east-west and are vertically intersected by Nepal's major, north to south flowing river systems.

The southern lowland plains or Terai bordering India are part of the northern rim of the Indo-Gangetic plains. They were formed and are fed by three major rivers: the Kosi, the Narayani, and the Karnali. This region has a subtropical to tropical climate.

The Hill Region (Pahad) abuts the mountains and varies from 1,000 to 4,000 metres (3,300–13,125 ft) in altitude with subtropical to temperate climates, depending on elevation. Two low mountain ranges, the Mahabharat Lekh and Shiwalik Range (also called the Churia Range) dominate the region. The hilly belt includes the Kathmandu Valley, the country's most fertile and urbanised area. Unlike the valleys called Inner Tarai (Bhitri Tarai Uptyaka), elevations above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) are increasingly sparsely populated.

Mount Everest

The Mountain Region, situated in the Great Himalayan Range, makes up the northern part of Nepal. It contains the highest elevations in the world including 8,850 metres (29,035 ft) height Mount Everest(Sagarmatha in Nepali) on the border with China. Seven other of the world's eight thousand metre peaks are in Nepal or on its border with China: Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Kanchenjunga, Dhaulagiri,Annapurna and Manaslu.

The arid and barren Himalayan landscape.

Nepal has five climatic zones, broadly corresponding to the altitudes. The tropical and subtropical zones lie below 1,200 metres (3,940 ft), the temperate zone 1,200 to 2,400 metres (3,900–7,875 ft), the cold zone 2,400 to 3,600 metres (7,875–11,800 ft), the subarctic zone 3,600 to 4,400 metres (11,800–14,400 ft), and the Arctic zone above 4,400 metres (14,400 ft).

Nepal experiences five seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. The Himalaya blocks cold winds from Central Asia in the winter and forms the northern limit of the monsoon wind patterns. In a land once thickly forested, deforestation is a major problem in all regions, with resulting erosion and degradation of ecosystems.

Nepal is popular for mountaineering, containing some of the highest and most challenging mountains in the world, including Mount Everest. Technically, the south-east ridge on the Nepali side of the mountain is easier to climb; so, most climbers prefer to trek to Everest through Nepal. Morever Nepal has 8 of the top 10 highest mountains of the world with postcard beauty.

Subdivisions

Subdivisions of Nepal

Main articles: Regions of Nepal, Zones of Nepal, and Districts of Nepal

Nepal is divided into 14 zones and 75 districts, grouped into 5 development regions. Each district is headed by a permanent chief district officer responsible for maintaining law and order and coordinating the work of field agencies of the various government ministries. The 5 regions and 14 zones are:

Neotectonics

The collision between the Indian subcontinent and the Eurasian continent, which started in Paleogene time and continues today, produced theHimalaya and the Tibetan Plateau, a spectacular modern example of the effects of plate tectonics. Nepal lies completely within this collision zone, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one third of the 2,400 km (1,500 mi)-long Himalayas.^[30]^[31]^[32]^[33]^[34]^[35]

The Indian plate continues to move north relative to Asia at the rate of approximately 50 mm (2.0 in) per year.^[36] Given the great magnitudes of the blocks of the Earth's crust involved, this is remarkably fast, about twice the speed at which human fingernails grow. As the strong Indian continental crust subducts beneath the relatively weak Tibetan crust, it pushes up the Himalaya mountains. This collision zone has accommodated huge amounts of crustal shortening as the rock sequences slide one over another.

Erosion of the Himalayas is a very important source of sediment, which flows via several great rivers (Indus, Ganges, Brahmaputra) to theIndian Ocean.^[37]

Government and politics

Main article: Politics of Nepal

Flag of Nepal

Nepal has seen rapid political changes during the last two decades. Until 1990, Nepal was a monarchyrunning under the executive control of the king. Faced with a Communist movement against the absolute monarchy, King Birendra, in 1990, agreed to large-scale political reforms by creating a parliamentary monarchy with the king as the head of state and a prime minister as the head of the government. Nepal has also been noted for its recent speed of development, such as being one of the few countries in Asia to abolish the death penalty^[38] and the first country in Asia to rule in favor of same-sex marriage, which the government has a seven-person committee studying after a November 2008 ruling by the nation's Supreme Court, which ordered full rights for LGBT individuals, including the right to marry.^[39]

Nepal's legislature was bicameral, consisting of a House of Representatives called the Pratinidhi Sabha and a National Council called the Rastriya Sabha. The House of Representatives consisted of 205 members directly elected by the people. The National Council had 60 members: ten nominated by the king, 35 elected by the House of Representatives, and the remaining 15 elected by an electoral college made up of chairs of villages and towns. The legislature had a five-year term but was dissolvable by the king before its term could end. All Nepali citizens 18 years and older became eligible to vote.

The executive comprised the King and the Council of Ministers (the Cabinet). The leader of the coalition or party securing the maximum seats in an election was appointed as the Prime Minister. The Cabinet was appointed by the king on the recommendation of the Prime Minister. Governments in Nepal tended to be highly unstable, falling either through internal collapse or parliamentary dissolution by the monarch, on the recommendation of the prime minister, according to the constitution; no government has survived for more than two years since 1991.

The movement in April 2006 brought about a change in the nation's governance: an interim constitution was promulgated, with the King giving up power, and an interim House of Representatives was formed with Maoist members after the new government held peace talks with the Maoist rebels. The number of parliamentary seats was also increased to 330. In April 2007, the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) joined the interim government of Nepal.

This section is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (November 2009)

On April 10, 2008, the first election in Nepal for the constitution assembly took place. The Maoist party led the poll results but failed to gain a simple majority in the parliament.^[40]

On December 10, 2007, the interim parliament passed a bill that would make Nepal a federal republic, with the Prime Minister becoming head of state. On May 28, 2008, lawmakers in Nepal legally abolished the monarchy and declared the country a republic, ending 239 years of royal rule in the Himalayan nation. The newly elected assembly, led by the former communist rebels, adopted the resolution at its first meeting by an overwhelming majority. King Gyanendra was given 15 days to leave the former Royal Palace in central Kathmandu by the Nepalese Constituent Assembly. He left the former Royal Palace on June 11.^[41]

On June 26, 2008, Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala tendered his resignation to the Nepalese Constituent Assembly, which is also functioning as the Nepalese Parliament; however, a new Prime Minister has yet to be elected by the Nepalese Constituent Assembly.

On July 19, 2008, the first round of voting for the election of the country's president and vice president took place in the Constituent Assembly.Parmanand Jha became the first vice president of Nepal. However, the two presidential frontrunners, Dr. Ram Baran Yadav of Nepali Congressand the Maoist-backed candidate Ram Raja Prasad Singh, both failed to gain the minimum 298 votes needed to be elected, with Yadav receiving 283 votes and Singh receiving 270. 578 out of 594 CA members registered in the voter list had cast their votes, of which 24 were invalid.

On July 21, 2008, the second round of voting was held. Yadav received 308 of the 590 votes cast, securing his election as president.^[42]

On August 15, 2008, Maoist leader Prachanda (Pushpa Kamal Dahal) was elected Prime Minister of Nepal, the first since the country's transition from a monarchy to a republic. On May 4, 2009, Mr. Pushpa Kamal Dahal resigned over on-going conflicts over sacking of the Army chief.

Military and foreign affairs

Main articles: Military of Nepal and Foreign relations of Nepal

The famous outpost of Naamche Bazaar in the Khumbu region close to Mount Everest. The town is built on terraces in what resembles a giant Greek theatre.

Nepal's military consists of the Nepalese Army, which includes the Nepalese Army Air Service(the air force unit under it.) Nepalese Police Force is the civilian police and the Armed Police Force Nepal^[43] is the paramilitary force. Service is voluntary and the minimum age for enlistment is 18 years. Nepal spends $99.2 million (2004) on its military—1.5% of its GDP. Many of the equipment and arms are imported from India. Consequently, the USA provided M16s M4s and other Colt weapons to combat communist (Maoist) insurgents. As of now, the standard-issue battle rifle of the Nepalese army is the Colt M16.^[44]

Nepal has close ties with both of its neighbours, India and China. In accordance with a long-standing treaty, Indian and Nepalese citizens may travel to each others' countries without apassport or visa. Nepalese citizens may work in India without legal restriction. Although Nepal and India typically have close ties, from time to time Nepal becomes caught up in the problematic Sino-Indian relationship. Recently, China has been asking Nepal to curb protests in Nepal against China's Policy on Tibet,^[45] and on April 17, 2008, police arrested over 500 Tibetan protestors^[46] citing a need to maintain positive relations with China.

Terai News writes, "Being a Hindu Nation Nepal has a permanent relation, especially with the important religious places of the northern states of India. Religion has played a great role in the cultural relations between Nepal and India."^[17]

Economy

Main article: Economy of Nepal

Terraced farming on the foothills of the Himalayas.

Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for the year 2008 was estimated at over US$12 billion (adjusted toNominal GDP), making it the 115th-largest economy in the world. Agriculture accounts for about 40% of Nepal's GDP, services comprise 41% and industry 22%. Agriculture employs 76% of the workforce, services 18% and manufacturing/craft-based industry 6%. Agricultural produce — mostly grown in theTerai region bordering India — includes tea, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops, milk, and water buffalo meat. Industry mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce, including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Its workforce of about 10 million suffers from a severe shortage of skilled labour. The spectacular landscape and diverse, exotic cultures of Nepal represent considerable potential for tourism, but growth in this hospitality industry has been stifled by recent political events. The rate of unemployment and underemployment approaches half of the working-age population. Thus many Nepali citizens move to India in search of work; the Gulf countries and Malaysia being new sources of work. Nepal receives US$50 million a year through the Gurkhasoldiers who serve in the Indian and British armies and are highly esteemed for their skill and bravery. The total remittance value is worth around US$1 billion, including money sent from the Persian Gulf and Malaysia, who combined employ around 700,000 Nepali citizens. A long-standing economic agreement underpins a close relationship with India. The country receives foreign aid from India, Japan, the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, China, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries. Poverty is acute; per-capita income is less than US$470.^[47] The distribution of wealth among the Nepalis is consistent with that in many developed and developing countries: the highest 10% of households control 39.1% of the national wealth and the lowest 10% control only 2.6%.

The government's budget is about US$1.153 billion, with expenditures of $1.789 billion (FY05/06). The Nepalese rupee has been tied to theIndian Rupee at an exchange rate of 1.6 for many years. Since the loosening of exchange rate controls in the early 1990s, the black market for foreign exchange has all but disappeared. The inflation rate has dropped to 2.9% after a period of higher inflation during the 1990s.

Nepal's exports of mainly carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods and grain total $822 million. Import commodities of mainly gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products and fertilizer total US$2 bn. India (53.7%), the US (17.4%), and Germany (7.1%) are its main export partners. Nepal's import partners include India (47.5%), the United Arab Emirates (11.2%), China (10.7%), Saudi Arabia (4.9%), andSingapore (4%).

A Rs.500 banknote of The Republic of Nepal. For economical reasons, the watermark on the right still contains a picture of King Gyanendra, obscured by printing arhododendron, the national flower of Nepal.^[48]

Nepal remains isolated from the world's major land, air and sea transport routes although, within the country, aviation is in a better state, with 48 airports, ten of them with paved runways; flights are frequent and support a sizable traffic. The hilly and mountainous terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. There were just over 8,500 km of paved roads, and one 59-km railway line in the south in 2003. There is only one reliable road route from India to the Kathmandu Valley. The only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu is Calcutta in India. Internally, the poor state of development of the road system (22 of 75 administrative districts lack road links) makes volume distribution unrealistic. Besides having landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure, the long-running civil war is also a factor in stunting the economic growth.^[49]

There is less than one telephone per 19 people. Landline telephone services are not adequate nationwide but are concentrated in cities and district headquarters. Mobile telephony is in a reasonable state in most parts of the country with increased accessibility and affordability; there were around 175,000 Internet connections in 2005. After the imposition of the "state of emergency", intermittent losses of service-signals were reported, but uninterrupted Internet connections have resumed after Nepal's second major people's revolution to overthrow the King's absolute power.^[50]

Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Nepal

The Population Density map of Nepal.

The Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet, and North Burma andYunnan via Assam.

Among the earliest inhabitants were the Kirat of east mid-region, Newar of the Kathmandu Valleyand aboriginal Tharu in the southern Terai region. The ancestors of the Brahman and Chetri caste groups came from India's present Kumaon,Garhwal and Kashmir regions, while other ethnic groups trace their origins to North Burma andYunnan and Tibet, e.g. the Gurung and Magar in the west, Rai and Limbu in the east (from Yunnan and north Burma via Assam), and Sherpa andBhutia in the north (from Tibet).

In the Terai, a part of the Ganges Basin with 20% of the land, much of the population is physically and culturally similar to the Indo-Aryans of northern India. Indo-Aryan and East Asian looking mixed people live in the hill region. Indo-Aryan ancestry has been a source of prestige in Nepal for centuries, and the ruling families have been of Indo-Aryan and Hindu background.^[51] The mountainous highlands are sparsely populated. Kathmandu Valley, in the middle hill region, constitutes a small fraction of the nation's area but is the most densely populated, with almost 5% of the population.

Nepal is a multilingual society. These data are largely derived from Nepal's 2001 census results published in the Nepal Population Report 2002.

According to the World Refugee Survey 2008, published by the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, Nepal hosted a population ofrefugees and asylum seekers in 2007 numbering approximately 130,000. Of this population, approximately 109,200 persons were from Bhutanand 20,500 from People's Republic of China.^[52]^[53] The government of Nepal restricted Bhutanese refugees to seven camps in the Jhapa andMorang districts, and refugees were not permitted to work in most professions.^[52] At present, the United States is working towards resettling more than 60,000 of these refugees in the US.^[24]

Languages Spoken in Nepal.

Population Structure
Data	Size
Population	28,676,547 (2005)
Growth Rate	2.2%
Population below 14 Years old	39%
Population of age 15 to 64	57.3%
Population above 65	3.7%
The median age (Average)	20.07
The median age (Male)	19.91
The median age (Females)	20.24
Ratio (Male:Female)	1, 000:1,060
Life expectancy (Average)	59.8 Years
Life expectancy (Male)	60.9
Life expectancy (Female)	59.5
Literacy Rate (Average)	53.74%
Literacy Rate (Male)	68.51%
Literacy Rate (Female)	42.49%

Despite the migration of a significant section of the population to the southern plains or terai in recent years, the majority of the population still lives in the central highlands. The northern mountains are sparsely populated.

Kathmandu, with a population of around 800,000 (metropolitan area: 1.5 million), is the largest city in the country.

Religion

Main article: Religion in Nepal

Shaiva-devotees gather at the Hindu Pashupatinath Temple

Nepal religiosity
religion			percent
Hinduism			95.6%
Buddhism			10.7%
Islam			4.2%
Mundhum			3.6%
Christianity			0.5%
Other			0.4%

The overwhelming majority in Nepal followHinduism. Shiva is regarded as the guardian deity of the country.^[54] Nepal is home to the largest Shiva temple in the world, the famous Pashupatinath Temple, where Hindus from all over the world come for pilgrimage. According to mythology,Sita Devi of the epic Ramayana was born in the Mithila Kingdom of King Janaka Raja.

Near the Indian border, Lumbini, is a Buddhist pilgrimage site and UNESCO World Heritage Site site in the Kapilavastu district. It is held to be the birthplace in about 563 B.C. ofSiddhartha Gautama, a Kshatriya caste prince of the Sakya clan, who, as the Buddha Gautama, gave birth to the Buddhist tradition. The holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone, in which only monasteries can be built. All three main branches of Buddhism exist in Nepal and the Newar people have their own branch of the faith. Buddhism is the dominant religion of the thinly-populated northern areas, which are inhabited by Tibetan-related peoples, such as the Sherpa.

The Buddha, born as a Hindu, is also said to be a descendant of Vedic Sage Angirasa in many Buddhist texts.^[55] The Buddha's family surname is associated with Gautama Maharishi.^[56] Differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been minimal in Nepal due to the cultural and historical intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Morever traditionally Buddhism and Hinduism were never two distinct religions in western sense of wrold. In Nepal, the faiths share common temples and worship common deities. Among other natives of Nepal, those more influenced by Hinduism were the Magar, Sunwar, Limbu and Rai and the Gurkhas. Hindu influence is less prominent among the Gurung,Bhutia, and Thakali groups who employ Buddhist monks for their religious ceremonies.^[16]^[50] Most of the festivals in Nepal are Hindu.^[57] The Machendrajatra festival, dedicated to Hindu Shaiva Siddha, is celebrated by many Buddhists in Nepal as a main festival.^[58] As it is believed that Ne Muni established Nepal,^[59] some important priests in Nepal are called "Tirthaguru Nemuni".

Health

Main article: Health in Nepal

The fertility rate in Nepal was at 3.7 births per woman in the early 2000s. ^[60] Public expenditure on health was at 1.5 % of the GDP in 2004.^[60] Private expenditure on health was 4.1 % in 2004.^[60] In the early 2000s, there were 21 physicians per 100,000 people.^[60] Infant mortality was 56 per 1000 life births in 2005.^[60]

Culture

Main article: Culture of Nepal

A typical Nepalese meal is dal-bhat-tarkari. Dal is a spicy lentil soup, served over bhat (boiled rice), served with tarkari (curried vegetables) together with achar (pickles) or chutni (spicy condiment made from fresh ingredients).. The Newar community, however, has its own unique cuisine. It consists of non-vegetarian as well as vegetarian items served with alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Mustard oil is the cooking medium and a host of spices, such as cumin, coriander, black peppers, sesame seeds, turmeric, garlic, ginger, methi (fenugreek), bay leaves, cloves, cinnamon, pepper, chillies, mustard seeds, etc., are used in the cooking. The cuisine served on festivals is generally the best.

Costumed Hindu-girls in Nepal. The two small children represent the godKrishna and his consort Radha. Sitting behind are the god Vishnu and his consort Laxmi.

The Newari Music orchestra consists mainly of percussion instruments, though wind instruments, such as flutes and other similar instruments, are also used. String instruments are very rare. There are songs pertaining to particular seasons and festivals. Paahan chare music is probably the fastest played music whereas the Dapa the slowest. There are certain musical instruments such as Dhimay and Bhusya which are played as instrumental only and are not accompanied with songs. The dhimay music is the loudest one. In the hills, people enjoy their own kind of music, playing saarangi (a string instrument), madal and flute. They also have many popular folk songs known as lok geet and lok dohari.

The Newar dances can be broadly classified into masked dances and non-masked dances. The most representative of Newari dances is Lakhey dance. Almost all the settlements of Newaris organiseLakhey dance at least once a year, mostly in the Goonlaa month. So, they are called Goonlaa Lakhey. However, the most famous Lakhey dance is the Majipa Lakhey dance; it is performed by the Ranjitkarsof Kathmandu and the celeberation continues for the entire week that contains the full moon of Yenlaa month. The Lakhey are considered to be the saviors of children.

Folklore is an integral part of Nepalese society. Traditional stories are rooted in the reality of day-to-day life, tales of love, affection and battles as well as demons and ghosts and thus reflect local lifestyles, cultures and beliefs. Many Nepalese folktales are enacted through the medium of dance and music.

The Nepali year begins in mid-April and is divided into 12 months. Saturday is the official weekly holiday. Main annual holidays include the National Day, celebrated on the birthday of the king (December 28), Prithvi Jayanti (January 11), Martyr's Day (February 18), and a mix of Hindu and Buddhist festivals such as dashain in autumn, and tihar in late autumn. During tihar, the Newar community also celebrates its New Year as per their local calendar Nepal Sambat.

Most houses in rural lowland of Nepal are made up of a tight bamboo framework and walls of a mud and cow-dung mix. These dwellings remain cool in summer and retain warmth in winter. Houses in the hills are usually made of unbaked bricks with thatch or tile roofing. At high elevations construction changes to stone masonry and slate may be used on roofs.

Nepal's flag is the only national flag in the world that is non-quadrilateral in shape, and one of only two non-rectangular flags in use (the other being the flag of the U.S. state of Ohio). According to its official description, the red in the flag stands for victory in war or courage, and is also color of the rhododendron, the national flower of Nepal. Red also stands for aggression. The flag's blue border signifies peace. The curved moon on the flag is a symbol of the peaceful and calm nature of Nepalese, while the sun represents the aggressiveness of Nepalese warriors.

Education

About two thirds of female adults and one third of male adults are literate.^[60] Net primary enrolment rate was 74 % in 2005.^[60] It now is at about 90 %.^[61] In 2009 the World Bank has decided to contribute a further US$130 million towards meeting Nepal’s Education for All goals.^[61]Nepal has several universities.

Notes

^ According to Interim Constitution Nepali is only the official language (article 5, point 2). Other languages spoken as the mother tongue in Nepal are the national languages (article 5, point 1). According to article 5, point 3, all languages are accepted as official languages at the regional level.Nepal_Interim_Constitution2007
^ Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division (2009) (.PDF). World Population Prospects, Table A.1. 2008 revision. United Nations. Retrieved 2009-03-12.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "Nepal". International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2009-10-01.
^ "Human Development Report 2009. Human development index trends: Table G". The United Nations. Retrieved 2009-10-05.
^ "The World Factbook : Rank order population". CIA.
^ "CIA Factbook, Nepal, "People" section". Cia.gov. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ Human Development Indices, Table 3: Human and income poverty, p. 34. Retrieved on 1 June 2009
^ "Nepal's first president sworn in". Radio Australia. 2008-07-24.
^ Newa-Author:Shrestha, Moolookha Publication
^ ^a ^b ^c W.B., P. 34 Land of the Gurkhas
^ ^a ^b "The Ancient Period". Infoclub.com.np. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ Balfour, P. 195 Cyclopædia of India and of Eastern and Southern Asia, :
^ Dangol, Amrit (2007-05-06). "Alone In Kathmandu". Alone In Kathmandu. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ Prasad, P. 4 The life and times of Maharaja Juddha Shumsher Jung Bahadur Rana of Nepal
^ Khatri, P. 16 The Postage Stamps of Nepal
^ ^a ^b "A Country Study: Nepal". Federal Research Division, Library of Congress. Retrieved 2005-09-23.
^ ^a ^b Terai News
^ ^a ^b P. 17 Looking to the Future: Indo-Nepal Relations in Perspective By Lok Raj Baral
^ Li, Rongxi (translator). 1995. The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions, pp. 219-220. Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research. Berkeley, California. ISBN 1-886439-02-8
^ Watters, Thomas. 1904-5. On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India (A.D. 629-645), pp. 83-85. Reprint: Mushiram Manoharlal Publishers, New Delhi. 1973.
^ "The Enclosing of Nepal". Countrystudies.us. Source: U.S. Library of Congress.
^ Tucci, Giuseppe. (1952). Journey to Mustang, 1952. Trans. by Diana Fussell. 1st Italian edition, 1953; 1st English edition, 1977. 2nd edition revised, 2003, p. 22. Bibliotheca Himalayica. ISBN 99933-0-378-X (South Asia); ISBN 974-524-024-9 (Outside of South Asia).
^ "Timeline: Nepal". BBC News. Retrieved 2005-09-29.
^ ^a ^b Bhaumik, Subir (November 7, 2007). "Bhutan refugees are 'intimidated'". BBC News. Retrieved 2008-04-25.
^ Nepal votes to abolish monarchy - CNN^{[dead link]}
^ ^a ^b "Nepal votes to abolish monarchy — CNN". BBC News. 2008-05-28. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ The Carter Center. ""Activities by Country: Nepal"". Retrieved 2008-07-17.
^ http://www.kantipuronline.com/kolnews.php?nid=148454
^ "Nepal abolishes its monarchy". Al Jazeera. May 28, 2008. Retrieved 2008-05-29.
^ Beek van der Peter,Xavier Robert, Jean-Louis Mugnier, Matthias Bernet, Pascale Huyghe and Erika Labrin, "Late Miocene- Recent Exhumation of the Central Himalaya and Recycling in the Foreland Basin Assessed by Apatite Fission-Track Thermochronology of Siwalik Sediments, Nepal," Basic research, 18, 413-434, 2006.
^ Berger Antoine, Francois Jouanne, Riadm Hassani and Jean Louis Mugnier, "Modelling the Spatial Distribution of Present day Deformation in Nepal: how cylindrical is the Main Himalayan Thrust in Nepal?", Geophys.J.Int., 156, 94-114, 2004.
^ Bilham Roger and Michael Jackson,"Constraints on Himalayan Deformation inferred from Vertical Velocity Fields in Nepal and Tibet," Journal of Geophysical Research, vol. 99, 897-912, 10 July, 1994.
^ Chamlagain Deepak and Daigoro Hayashi, "Neotectonic Fault Analysis by 2D Finite Element Modeling for Studying the Himalayan Fold and Thrust belt in Nepal," University of the Ryukyus,Okinawa, Journal of Asian Earth Sciences, 1-16, 14 July 2006.
^ F. Jouanne et al., "Current Shortening Across the Himalayas of Nepal", Geophys.J.Int., 154, 1-14, 2004.
^ Pandey M.R, R.P. Tandukar, J.P. Avouac, J. Vergne and Th. Heritier, "Seismotectonics of the Nepal Himalaya from a Local Seismic Network", Journal of Asian Earth Sciences,17, 703-712,1999.
^ Bilham et al., 1998; Pandey et al., 1995.
^ Summerfield & Hulton, 1994; Hay, 1998.
^ "Death Penalty Statistics 2006". Amnestyusa.org. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ "Progress in new Republic of Nepal". Starobserver.com.au. 2009-06-16. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ "Nepal's election The Maoists triumph". Economist.com. 2008-04-17. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ Nepal's Lawmakers Abolish the Country's Monarchy^{[dead link]}
^ http://www.presidentofnepal.com
^ "Official Website of Armed Police Force Nepal". Apf.gov.np. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl31599.pdf
^ "China urges Nepal to act on Tibet". BBC News. 2008-04-03. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ Haviland, Charles (2008-04-17). "Nepal Arrests Tibetan Protesters". BBC News. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ "Nepal". Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation. Retrieved 2005-09-23.
^ "Nepal king's head spared on new banknotes". Retrieved 2007-10-07.
^ "Nepal: Economy". MSN Encarta. p. 3. Retrieved 2005-09-23.
^ ^a ^b "Nepal". CIA World Factbook. Retrieved 2005-09-23.
^ "Nepal". Encyclopædia Britannica.
^ ^a ^b "World Refugee Survey 2008". U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants. 2008-06-19.
^ "NEPAL: Tibetans Warned of Deportation to China". IRIN Asia. April 1, 2008.
^ Anthologia anthropologica. The native races of Asia and Europe; by James George Frazer, Sir; Robert Angus Downie
^ The Life of Buddha as Legend and History, by Edward Joseph Thomas
^ P. 95 A Record of Buddhistic Kingdoms By James Legge
^ "Festivals of Nepal". Nepalhomepage.com. Retrieved 2009-07-29.
^ P. 885 Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics Part 10 By James Hastings
^ Wright, P. 107, History of Nepal: With an Introductory Sketch of the Country and People of Nepal
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g Human Development Report 2009 - Nepal
^ ^a ^b News & Broadcast - World Bank Supports School Sector Reforms in Nepal

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An intoduction to NEPAL