| GEOGRAPHY |
| Country name: |
conventional long form: Kingdom of Nepal
conventional short form: Nepal |
| Capital: |
Kathmandu |
| Location: |
Southern Asia, between China and India |
| Geographic
Coordinates: |
28 00 N, 84 00 E |
| Area: |
total: 140,800 sq km
land: 136,800 sq km
water: 4,000 sq km |
| Area
Comparative: |
slightly larger than Arkansas |
| Land
Boundaries: |
total: 2,926 km
border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km |
| Coastline: |
0 km (landlocked) |
| Maritime
Claims: |
none (landlocked) |
| Climate: |
varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south |
| Terrain: |
Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north |
| Elavation
Extremes: |
lowest point: Kanchan Kalan 70 m
highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m |
| Natural
Resources: |
quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore |
| GOVERNEMENT |
| Governement
Type: |
parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy |
| Administratives
Divisions: |
14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri, Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti |
| Independence |
1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah) |
| National
Holiday: |
Birthday of King GYANENDRA, 7 July (1946) |
| Constitution: |
9 November 1990 |
| Legal
System; |
based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| Suffrage |
18 years of age; universal |
| Executive
Branch: |
chief of state: King GYANENDRA Bir Bikram Shah (succeeded to the throne 4 June 2001 following the death of his nephew, King DIPENDRA Bir Bikram Shah)
head of government: Prime Minister Sher Bahadur DEUBA (since 3 June 2004)
cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister
elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch
note: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev died in a bloody shooting at the royal palace on 1 June 2001 that also claimed the lives of most of the royal family; King BIRENDRA's son, Crown Price DIPENDRA, is believed to have been responsible for the shootings before fatally wounding himself; immediately following the shootings and while still clinging to life, DIPENDRA was crowned king; he died three days later and was succeeded by his uncle |
| Legislative
Branch: |
: bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)
elections: House of Representatives - last held 3 and 17 May 1999 (next election NA 2004)
note: Nepal's Parliament was dissolved on 22 May 2002
election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana Morcha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, others 14.8%; seats by party - NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana Morcha 5, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 1, NWPP 1 |
| Judicial
Branch: |
Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on 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-Leninist or CPN/UML [Madhav Kumar NEPAL, general secretary]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA, chairman]; People's Front Nepal (Rastriya Jana Morcha) [Chitra BAHADUR, chairman]; Nepali Congress-Democratic [Sher Bahadur DEUBA, president]; Nepali Congress or NC [Girija Prasad KOIRALA, party president; Sushil KOIRALA, general secretary]; Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP [Bhadri Prasad MANDAL, acting party president]; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE, party chairman]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [leader NA] |
| PEOPLE |
| Population: |
27,676,547 (July 2005 est.) |
| Age structure: |
0-14 years: 39% (male 5,575,157/female 5,221,794)
15-64 years: 57.3% (male 8,137,410/female 7,720,691)
65 years and over: 3.7% (male 499,039/female 522,456) (2005 est.) |
| Median age: |
total: 20.07 years
male: 19.91 years
female: 20.24 years (2005 est.) |
| Nationality: |
noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
adjective: Nepalese |
| Ethnic groups: |
Brahman, Chetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Tharu, and others (1995) |
| Religions: |
Hinduism 86.2%, Buddhism 7.8%, Islam 3.8%, other 2.2%
note: only official Hindu state in the world (1995) |
| Languages: |
Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects
note: many in government and business also speak English (1995) |
| COMUNICATIONS |
| Telephones - main
lines in use: |
371,800 (2003) |
| Telephones - mobile
cellular: |
50,400 (2003) |
| Telephone system: |
general assessment: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network
domestic: NA
international: country code - 977; radiotelephone communications; microwave landline to India; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
| Radio broadcast
stations: |
AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (January 2000) |
| Television broadcast
stations: |
1 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998) |
| Internet country
code: |
.np |
| Internet hosts: |
917 (2003) |
| Internet users: |
80,000 (2002) |
| TRANSPORT |
| Railways: |
total: 59 km
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge (2003) |
| Highways: |
total: 13,223 km
paved: 4,073 km
unpaved: 9,150 km (1999 est.) |
| Waterways: |
|
| Pipelines: |
|
| Ports and harbors: |
none |
| Merchant marine: |
|
| Airports: |
46 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
paved runways: |
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2004 est.) |
| Airports - with
unpaved runways: |
total: 37
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 29 (2004 est.) |
| Heliports: |
|
