The small independent country of Nepal is located along the southern slopes of the Himalayan mountains. It is a landlocked country between India and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Nepal is roughly as big as the U.S. state of Florida and about half the size of Italy. Mountains cover about 75 percent of its land. Mount Everest (known as Sagarmatha in Nepal), the world’s highest peak, is on Nepal’s northern border. From years of geographical and self-imposed isolation, it is one of the least developed countries of the world. The capital is Kathmandu. Area 56,827 square miles (147,181 square kilometers). Population (2021 est.) 30,386,000.
The elevation varies greatly in Nepal. The country can be divided into three physical regions, each of which stretches across the country from east to west. The northernmost and highest region, along the border with China, is the Great Himalaya mountain range. This rugged range rises to more than 29,000 feet (8,850 meters) and includes 8 of the world’s 10 highest peaks. It is very sparsely populated. The large middle section of Nepal is often called the hill region. It includes forested hills, several complex mountain ranges, and broad, flat valleys. Among the mountain ranges in this region are the Mahabharat Range, which encloses the Kathmandu Valley, and the Siwalik (or Churia) Range. Finally, the southernmost region in Nepal is the Tarai, a flat, fertile lowland plain bordering India. The country’s best farmland and most of its population are found in the Tarai and the valleys of the hill region.
Nepal’s major rivers are the Kosi (in the east), the Narayani (or Gandak, in the center), and the Karnali (in the west). These rivers rise in the Himalayas of Tibet and northern Nepal and flow southward through Nepal, carving deep gorges in the mountainous areas. Eventually, they feed into the Ganges River in India.
The climate varies considerably with elevation, ranging from alpine on the cold, snowcapped peaks of the highest mountains to subtropical in the Tarai. The middle section of the country has cool-to-warm temperate conditions. Average temperatures in the Kathmandu Valley, for example, range from about 50 °F (10 °C) in January to 78 °F (26 °C) in July. From June to September the monsoon, a seasonal wind, brings heavy rainfall to Nepal, especially the eastern part of the Tarai and the mountains. It is generally driest in the west.
The Great Himalayas have vast, valuable forests of spruce, fir, cypress, juniper, and birch. Deforestation has been a serious problem elsewhere in Nepal, however. Most of the forests in the hill region and the Tarai have been rapidly cut down to make room for farms and settlement. Nepal’s wildlife includes tigers, leopards, many kinds of deer, and small numbers of endangered Indian rhinoceroses and Asian elephants.
The vast majority of Nepal’s people live in villages or small market centers in rural areas. Kathmandu, the capital and the center of culture and commerce, is the only major city. Other important urban centers include Lalitpur and Pokhara, in the valleys of the hill region, and Biratnagar and Birganj, along the Indian border.
The population of Nepal is ethnically diverse. The many different ethnic groups can be broadly classified into three categories. Most of the people are descended from Indo-Aryan peoples who migrated to Nepal from India. A significant minority are Tibeto-Nepalese, descended from Asian peoples who came to Nepal from Tibet. Others are indigenous Nepalese, whose ancestors lived in Nepal before the other groups arrived. The famous Gurkhas in the British and Indian armies, regarded as among the finest soldiers in the world, come from Tibeto-Nepalese groups.
Hinduism is the main religion, with about 80 percent of the population as adherents. It was also the country’s official religion until 2006. About 10 percent of the people are Buddhists, and there are smaller numbers of Muslims and those who practice traditional or other beliefs. Hinduism and Buddhism have existed side by side in Nepal for centuries, and many people practice elements of both. Prince Siddhartha Gautama, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini, in southwestern Nepal, in ancient times. His birthplace has become a Buddhist pilgrimage site. Both Hindu and Buddhist themes are often included in Nepal’s sculpture, painting, and architecture. Many examples of intricately patterned woodcarving and stone sculpture are preserved in the many temples, stupas (Buddhist shrines), and pagodas.
Nepali, the official language, is widely used. Many other languages, including Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu, and English, which is taught in public schools, are also spoken. Education is free through the fifth grade, but it is not compulsory. Many poor families send their children to work instead. Literacy rates increased from 1 percent of all adults in the early 1950s to about 48 percent in the early 2000s, with much lower rates in women than in men. The country has several universities and technical colleges, including Tribhuvan University in Kathmandu, which was founded in 1959. The Royal Nepal Academy promotes sciences, arts, and literature.
Although the government has taken steps to improve health facilities, diseases such as cholera, malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid, and leprosy still occur frequently. The infant mortality rate is high, and the average life expectancy is about 60 years. Extensive malaria eradication and vaccination programs have been effective in some areas.
Nepal has one of the least developed economies in the world. Its rugged, mountainous terrain and its government policies kept the country mostly isolated until the second half of the 20th century. Development has also been hampered by the poor transportation network and the lack of substantial natural resources. Nepal’s rivers have the potential to provide a great deal of hydroelectric power, a natural resource that has not yet been exploited on a large scale. The country relies heavily on foreign aid.
Farming is the mainstay of the economy. In the early 2000s, about three-fourths of the workforce was employed in agriculture, which contributed about two fifths of the gross domestic product. The main crops include grains, such as rice, corn (maize), wheat, and millet, along with sugarcane, potatoes, oilseeds, jute, and tobacco. Farmers also raise cattle, buffalo, goats, and sheep. Tourism, finance, trade, and other service industries began to grow in importance in the late 20th century. Manufacturing centers mainly on the processing of agricultural products and imported materials. The major exports include grain, vegetable oil, and other food products, clothing, carpets, and jute goods. Much of Nepal’s trade is with India.
Transport facilities are limited: there are only roughly 35 miles (55 kilometers) of railway and 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometers) of road. There are few cars. The primary means of transportation—as it has been for centuries—is a network of footpaths. Tribhuvan International Airport is at Kathmandu.
The written history of what is now Nepal can be traced in the texts of ancient Indian classics to about 2,500 years ago. Dynasties of kings—from Hindu families of Indo-Aryan descent—began ruling parts of the area in the 4th or 5th century ad. The Malla Dynasty became powerful in the 10th century and ruled until 1769, when it was defeated by Prithvi Narayan Shah, ruler of the Gorkha (also spelled Gurkha) kingdom. He laid the foundation of modern Nepal by integrating a number of small, previously independent kingdoms. The Shah rulers established a centralized political system. In 1846, however, they lost control of the kingdom to the Rana family of nobles, which ruled through a line of hereditary prime ministers.
In 1950–51 a revolution restored the sovereignty of the Shah kings under King Tribhuvan Shah. A constitution was approved in 1959 and general elections held for a parliament, but in 1960 King Mahendra Shah restored an absolute monarchy. He was succeeded by his son Birendra Shah in 1972.
King Birendra in 1980 approved a modified version of parliamentary government that provided for direct elections to the National Assembly. In April 1990, after months of nationwide strikes and protests calling for democratic reform, he lifted a 30-year ban on political activity. He also approved Krishna Prasad Bhattarai, the leader of the Nepali Congress (NC) party, as prime minister of an interim government. In November of that year Birendra signed a new constitution that limited his power to that of a constitutional monarch and that gave the citizenry much wider freedoms. The new multiparty political system included a parliament with two legislative houses: the National Assembly and the House of Representatives. While the members of the National Assembly were selected by the king and others within the government, members of the House of Representatives were elected by the citizens of Nepal. The king remained chief of state, but a prime minister was head of government.
Parliamentary elections in April 1991 gave the NC party control of the government, and Girija Prasad Koirala became prime minister. Elections in 1994 were won by Man Mohan Adhikari and the United Communist party of Nepal. Adhikari’s government fell after a vote of no confidence in September 1995, and he was succeeded by NC leader Sher Bahadur Deuba. Between 1996 and 1998 several governments composed of alliances between various political parties rose and fell before the NC regained power in late 1998. During the 1990s King Birendra remained the one constant amid the country’s often changing governments.
On June 1, 2001, Nepal was shocked by the news that the king’s oldest son, Crown Prince Dipendra Shah, had murdered his parents, Birendra and Aiswarya, and several other members of the royal family before shooting himself. The prince’s murderous spree was reportedly triggered by his parents’ refusal to let him marry the woman he loved. Birendra’s brother, Gyanendra Shah, was crowned Nepal’s new king.
Meanwhile, Maoist rebels, appalled at the economic and social status of the rural poor, had begun fighting a bloody insurgency in the mid-1990s. They wanted to overthrow the king and create a Communist republic. Initially active only in isolated parts of the western hill region, the Maoists quickly grew in numbers and took control of large parts of the country. More than 13,000 people ultimately died in the conflict, and many more were displaced. Both the rebels and Nepal’s army are thought to have committed wide-scale human-rights abuses against civilians.
With United Nations (UN) mediation, the government of Nepal and the Maoist insurgency signed a peace accord at the end of 2006 that provided for temporary representation of the Maoists in the Council of Ministers (cabinet) and required both the Maoists and the Nepalese army to lock equal amounts of their arms in UN-monitored containers. An interim constitution was to remain in effect until the weapons management plan had been completed, elections had been held, and a permanent constitution had been drafted to replace the 1990 document. The extent of the duties of the king as head of state was to be determined by an elected constituent assembly, which would also draft a new constitution. Elections for the assembly were scheduled for June 2007 but were postponed until November of that year; they were postponed again after the Maoists pulled out of the government, demanding the immediate dissolution of the monarchy. In December 2007 the dominant parties agreed that the assembly, once elected, would not merely determine the fate of the monarchy but would indeed abolish it. When elections were finally held the following April, the Maoists won the most seats, and on May 28, 2008, more than two centuries of royal rule came to an end as the new assembly voted to declare Nepal a democratic republic. In July 2008 Ram Baran Yadav of the NC was elected by the assembly as the country’s first president. Meanwhile, the country continued to operate under an interim constitution.
On April 25, 2015, Nepal suffered one of the most-severe earthquakes in its history. A magnitude-7.8 temblor struck some 50 miles (80 kilometers) northwest of Kathmandu, causing widespread death and destruction. Initial estimates of hundreds of people killed by the temblor soon escalated to the thousands—with many thousands more injured—as debris was cleared in Kathmandu and other cities and as rescue workers reached remote towns and villages. Damage to buildings and infrastructure was widespread, and many of the country’s historic structures in the Kathmandu Valley that had been included in a UNESCO World Heritage site (designated 1979) were destroyed. In addition, the quake triggered avalanches on Mount Everest that descended on hundreds of people on the mountain for the spring climbing season and claimed the lives of at least 18 people.
Pradyumna P. Karan