Overview
The Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People’s Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India.
Trips to Nepal:
Exploring the Himalayas
Langtang Ganja La Trek
The Hidden Valleys of the Khumbu & Everest Base Camp
Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and the country’s largest metropolis. Nepal has rich geography. Nepal is popular for mountaineering, containing some of the world’s highest and most challenging peaks. The mountainous north has 8 of the world’s 10 tallest mountains, including the highest point on Earth, Mount Everest 29,029ft (8848m), called Sagarmatha in Nepali. It contains more than 240 peaks over 20,000ft (6096m) above sea level. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized. By some measures, Hinduism is practiced by a larger majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation. Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is linked historically with Nepal as the birthplace of the Buddha. A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768, when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms. In 2006, however, a decade-long Civil War by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties of Nepal culminated in a peace accord, and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republic on May 28 2008. The first President of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav was sworn in on July 23 2008. Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. Nepal has been highlighted in many scriptures; small kingdoms and confederations arose in the region, from these a prince named Siddharta Gautama renounced his loyalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha (“the enlightened one”). After some disputes over bordering territories with the British East India company and China, in 1923 the UK formerly recognized Nepal’s independence. In 1924 slavery was abolished, nevertheless debt bondage even involving debtor’s children has been a persistent social problem. In 1991, Bhutan expelled roughly 100,000 ethnic Nepalis, most of whom have been living in refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since.