KNOWING NEPAL

Nepal is located in South Central Asia. Its shape is roughly rectangular about 650 km long and about 200 km wide and comprises a total of 147181 sq. km of land. It is bound by China to the North and India to the East, west and South. Geographic coordinates is 28 N latitude 84 E longitude. It is a land-locked Beautiful country. Nepal is rich in heritage & culture. The country is divided into three broad physiographic regions.

The High Mountains of the main Himalayan range which included Highest peak of the world called Mt. Everest, Middle Hilly Ranges and Lowland the Tarain, which is narrow flat belt of alluvial land the extends along with southern boarder with India. the principal rivers are the Koshi, Karnali, Narayani, Gandaki etc. Nepal is slightly larger than Bangaladesh and the state of Arkansas. Major cities are Kathmandu (Capital of Nepal), Lalitpur, Bhaktapur in the Kathmandu Valley. Others cities are Jhapa, Biratnagar, Saptari, Janakpur, Birgunj, Narayangadh, Pokhara, Butwal, Bhairahawa, Nepalganj, Tulsipur , Kailali, Mahendranagar etc.

Land use for Agricultural cultivated 17% Forested 39% Pastures 15% and other 29%

Climate: Kathmandu – Summer 15-30oc, winter 0-16oc, Terai – Summer 21-39oc, winter 9-30oc. Rainfall (Kathmandu) – Oct-May 300mm June-Sept 1100mm.

The population of Nepal is approximatly 2,75,00000.

It is divided into two broad ethenic groups. a) Indo- Nepalese and b) Tibeto-Nepalese. It’s a secular State. Includes major religions Hinduism, Buddhism, Muslim and others.

Language: Official language is Nepali although over 20 distinct languages are also spoken. English also widely understood.

Time: 15 minutes ahead of Indian Standard Time, 5 hour 45 minutes ahead of GMT.