About the Country - Nepal

Any visitor to Nepal would vouch for the subliminal scenery and time-worn temples of the kingdom. However, economically not well off, Nepal is abounding with cultural treasures. Nepal, officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal is landlocked country in South Asia that is bordered by China to the north and India to the south, east and west. The Himalaya mountain range runs across Nepal's northern and western parts, and eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including the highest, Mount Everest, are within its territory. Prior to 2006, Nepal was a kingdom and the only nation with Hinduism as its official religion. On May 28 2008, the first meeting of the Constituent Assembly officially implemented the declaration of Nepal being a Federal Democratic Republic. The capital of the country is Katmandu.

The demography in Nepal is a diverse one and the Nepalese are descendants of three major migrations from India, Tibet and North Burma and Yunnan via Assam. In the Terai, a part of the Ganges Basin with 20% of the land, the majority of the population is physically and culturally similar to the Indo-Aryans of northern India. The mountainous highlands are sparsely populated. Katmandu Valley is a small area of the kingdom’s area but is the most densely populated, with almost 5% of the population.

Agriculture and the services industry account for the bulk of the nation’s GDP. Agricultural produce, which is primarily grown in the Terai region bordering India, includes tea, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops, milk, and water buffalo meat. Tourism forms the major portion of the services industry as people from all around the world are flocking to Nepal to soak in the scenic beauty of the kingdom.

Much of Nepal is easily accessible only by air. The Nepalese terrain is hilly and mountainous in the northern two-thirds of the country. This has made the construction of roads and other infrastructure costly and difficult. There is only one reliable road route from India to the Katmandu Valley and the only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Katmandu is Kolkata, India.