Background: In 1951, the King of Nepal ended the century-long system of hereditary prime ministers and established a cabinet of ministers. The reforms of 1990 led to the establishment of a multi-party democracy within a constitutional monarchy. The problem of about 100,000 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal has not yet been resolved; 90% of them are located in seven refugee camps under the auspices of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
Geography
Location: South Asia, between China and India. See franciscogardening.com to know more about Nepal Geography.
Geographical coordinates: 28° 00′ N. latitude, 84° 00′ E
Reference map: Asia.
Area: total: 140,800 square kilometers; land surface area: 136,800 square kilometers; water surface area: 4,000 km2
Comparative area: slightly larger than the state of Arkansas.
Land borders: total length: 2,926 km; with neighboring states: with China 1,236 km, I with India 1,690 km.
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked, landlocked).
Maritime claims: none (country is landlocked).
Climate: varies from cool summers and harsh winters in the north to subtropical summers and mild winters in the south.
Terrain: flat valley of the Ganges in the south, hilly central region, Himalayas in the north.
Maximum and minimum heights: lowest point: Kanchan-Kalan 70 m; highest point: Mount Everest (Chomolungma) 8,850 m (1999 est.)
Natural resources: quartz, water, timber, hydroelectric resources, magnificent views, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt and iron ore.
Land use: arable land: 17%; cultivated land: 0%; pastures: 15%; forests and plantations: 42%; others: 26% (1993 est.).
Irrigated land: 8,500 km2 (1993 est.).
Natural Hazards: Devastating lightning storms, floods, landslides, droughts and famines, depending on the time of onset, strength and duration of the summer monsoons.
Current environmental issues: deforestation for fuel, inevitable in the absence of an alternative fuel; water pollution by human and animal waste, agricultural effluents and industrial waste; threat to wildlife conservation; exhaust air pollution.
International Environmental Treaties: Member: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Waste, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 1983, Tropical Timber 1994, Wetlands; signed but not ratified: Marine Pollution, Marine Life Conservation.
Note to the section “Geography”: the country has no access to the sea; strategic location between China and India; Nepal has 8 of the 10 highest mountain peaks in the world.
Population
Population: 25,284,463 (July 2001 est.).
Age structure: under 14: 40.35% (male 5,267,234; female 4,933,910); 15 to 64 years old: 56.16% (male 7,264,575; female 6,934,384); over 65: 3.49% (male 437,813; female 446,547) (2001 est.).
Population growth: 2.32% (2001 est.).
Birth rate: 33.4 newborns / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Mortality: 10.22 deaths / 1000 people. (2001 est.).
Migration: 0 people /1000 people (2001 est.).
Sex ratio: at birth: 1.05 male/female; up to 15 years: 1.07 male/female; 15 to 64 years old: 1.05 male/female; over 65: 0.98 male/female; for the general population: 1.05 male/female (2001 est.);
Child mortality: 74.14 deaths/1000 live births (2001 est.).
Life expectancy: for the general population: 58.22 years; men: 58.65 years; women: 57.77 years (2001 est.).
Total fertility rate: 4.58 children/wives. (2001 est.).
Proportion of adults infected with HIV: 0.29% (1999 est.).
Number of people infected with HIV: 34,000 (1999 est.).
AIDS deaths: 2,500 (1999 est.).
Nationality: noun: Nepalese; adjective: Nepalese.
Ethnic groups: Newars, Indians, Tibetans, Gurungs, Magars, Tamangs, Bhotiya peoples, Religions: Hindu 86.2%, Buddhist 7.8%, Muslim 3.8%, other 2.2%; note: the only officially Hindu state in the world (1995).
Believers:
Language(s): Nepali (official, spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen other languages and about 30 dialects; note – English is widely used in public institutions and business.
Literacy: definition: persons aged 15 and over who can read and write; for the general population: 27.5%; men: 40.9%; women: 14% (1995 est.).
Politics
Common long form: Kingdom of Nepal;
conventional short form: Nepal
State structure: parliamentary democracy.
Capital: Kathmandu.
Administrative division: 14 districts (ap-chal): Bagmati, Bheri, Dhavalagiri, Gandaki, Jankpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mekhi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti.
Independence: from 1768 (unification of the country by Prithvi Narayan Shah).
National holiday: Birthday of King GYANENDRA (GYANENDRA), December 28 (1945).
Constitution: adopted November 9, 1990
Legal system: based on Hindu notions of justice and English common law; does not accept the compulsory jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice.
Suffrage: from 18 years old; universal.
head of state: King GYANENDRA Bir Bikram Shah (succeeded to the throne on 4 June 2001 after the death of his nephew King DIPENDRA Veer Birkam Shah;
head of government: Prime Minister Girija Prasad KOIRALA ) (since March 22, 2000);
Government: cabinet of ministers, appointed by the monarch on the advice of the prime minister; elections: no; hereditary monarchy; after parliamentary elections, the leader of the party or coalition with the most votes is usually appointed by the monarch as prime minister. note: King BIRENDRA was assassinated in the royal palace on June 1, 2001, when most of the royal family also died; King BIRENDRA’s son, Crown Prince DIPEN-DRA, is believed to have been responsible for this shooting, after which he shot himself; DIPENDRA, who was still alive, was crowned directly after the shooting, he died three days later, and was succeeded by his uncle.
Legislature: bicameral Parliament, consisting of the National Council (60 members, 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 appointed by the king and 15 elected by the electoral college; one-third of the members are elected every two years for a six-year term) and the House of Representatives (205 members, elected by popular vote for a five-year term) term); elections: for the House of Representatives last held on 3 and 17 May 1999 (next to be held in May 2004); election results: House of Representatives – vote distribution by party – NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana Morkha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorka Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, other parties 14.8%; number of pariah members – NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana Morkha 5, Samyukta Janmorka Nepal 1, NWPP 1.
Judiciary: Supreme Court; the president of the court is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Constitutional Council, the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council.
Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninists (CPN/UML) (Mad-hav Kumar NEPAL, general secretary); National Democratic Party (NDP) (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party, RPP) (Surya Bahadur THAPA); Nepali Sadbhavana (Good Will) Party (NSP) (Gajendra Narayan SINGH, President); Nepalese Workers and Peasants’ Party (NWPP) (Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE, head of the party); Nepalese Congress (NC) (Girija Prasad KOIRALA, President, Sushil KOIRALA, Secretary General); Rastriya Jana Morka (RJM) (Chitra Bahadur K.S., Chairman); Samyukta Janmorka Nepal (SJN) (Lila Mani POKHAREL, General Secretary).
Political pressure groups and their leaders: Maoist guerrilla insurgency; numerous small left-wing student groups in the capital; several small radical anti-monarchist groups.
Participation in international organizations: AsDB, ССС, СР, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent ), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO ( observer).
Diplomatic representation in the USA: Head of Mission: Ambassador Damodar Prasad GAUTAM; office: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008; phone: [1] (202) 667-4550; fax: [\] (202) 667-5534; consulates general: New York.
US Mission: Head of Mission: Ambassador Ralph FRANK; embassy: Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu; postal address: Pani Pokhari, Kathmandu; phone: [977] (1) 411179.410531; fax: [977] (1) 419963.
Description of the flag: a unique configuration of two red rectangular triangles partially superimposed on each other with a blue border around (sharp corners pointing up and away from the flagstaff); the smaller (upper) triangle is decorated with a white stylized drawing of the moon, the larger (lower) is decorated with a white sun with 12 rays.
