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NEPAL
Nepal, situated in the Himalayas, is the world's
only Hindu kingdom. It is in South Asia, sharing borders with China (Tibet
Autonomous Region) and India.
History
Nepal has a long history. The more recent history of the 19th century is
deeply connected with Indian freedom struggle. Around the early 1900s Nepal
was being ruled by autocratic rulers with the king as basically a puppet of
hereditary prime ministers called 'Ranas'. Nepalese students studying in
India during those times organized themselves in the ways of the Indian
freedom struggle to overthrow the autocratic regime.
Primary amongst them was Dr Dilli Raman Regmi,
B. P. Koirala and others. Nepal became free from the Rana’s in 1953 and
briefly had an experiment with democracy. In 1958 under Dr Dilli Raman Regmi
as the home affairs minister the first multi-party elections in the history
of Nepal took place. Regmi lost the elections and the Nepali Congress came
to power. But intense squabbling and corruption followed, and King Mahendra
dismissed the government and took over as absolute monarch. Till 1990
Mahendra's son King Birendra followed a partyless 'Panchayat System' of
government with basically a handpicked government. In 1989, Nepal's
resurgent Democracy Movement culminated in the decentralisation of aboslute
royal power towards a representational constitutional monarchy. Critics
argue that the governmental reforms did not appreciably improve the
political order because the new government was also characterised by extreme
corruption bordering on kleptocracy. Following the launch of the Maoist
insurrection in 1996, only six years into the experiment in democracy, Nepal
risks collapsing into a failed state dependent completely on international
aid. According to official Nepal government accounts, on June 1, 2001, the
Heir Apparent Prince Dipendra went on a killing spree in the royal palace in
a violent response to his parents' refusal to accept his choice for a wife.
He shot and killed his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, as well
as several other royal cousins before turning the gun on himself. His
suicide attempt was not immediately successful, however, and although in a
comatose state, he was proclaimed the king (in accordance with Nepalese
tradition) in his hospital bed. He died a few hours later. Following King
Dipendra's death, his uncle (King Birendra's brother) King Gyanendra was
proclaimed king on June 4. Nepal remains embroiled in a grinding civil war,
the Nepalese People's War, since 1996.
Politics
The former king, King Birendra, was open to parliamentary democracy, and
restored it after a referendum in 1990. King Birendra was widely respected
by the people of Nepal. However, quarrels between various political parties
and numerous social problems led to the Maoist rebellion which has been
escalating since 1996 (see Nepalese People's War). Since the ascension of
King Gyanendra, the government has been attempting to excercise more control
over the rebels and to accelerate development activities. The nascent move
towards democracy has been suspended by King Gyanendra who quickly moved to
dissolve parliament and institute martial law in 2002.
Zones
Nepal is divided into 14 zones (anchal, singular and plural): Bagmati, Bheri,
Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Koshi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi,
Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti
Geography
Nepal is landlocked between China and India; total land area 147,181 square
kilometers. The terrain is mountainous and hilly, although with physical
diversity. Three broad physiographic areas run laterally - lowland Terai
Region in the south; central lower mountains and hills constituting the Hill
Region; the high Himalayas, with 8,848-meters-high Mount Everest and other
peaks forming Mountain Region in north. Of Nepal's total land area, only 20
percent is cultivatable. Deforestation is a severe problem.
The vista and majesty of Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world,
and the Himalayas, including the eight-thousanders those mountains over
8,000 metres, are rightly both a major tourist attraction and one of the
acknowledged Wonders of the world.
Nepal has five climatic zones based on altitude that range from subtropical
in the south, to cool summers and severe winters in the north. There is
annual rainfall with seasonal variations depending on the monsoon cycle,
which provides 60 to 80 percent of the total annual rainfall: 2,500
millimeters in eastern part of country; 1,420 millimeters around Kathmandu;
1,000 millimeters in western Nepal.
Economy
Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with
nearly half of its population living below the poverty line (with, as of
2001, a per capita income of just over US$240). Agriculture is the mainstay
of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and
accounting for 41% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the
processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and
grain. Production of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and
accounted for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in the past three years.
Agricultural production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with
annual population growth of 2.3%.
Since May 1991, the government has been moving forward with economic reforms,
particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment, e.g., by
reducing business licenses and registration requirements in order to
simplify investment procedures. The government has also been cutting
expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries, and laying
off civil servants. More recently, however, political instability - five
different governments over the past few years - has hampered Kathmandu's
ability to forge consensus to implement key economic reforms. Nepal has
considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by exploiting its
potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment
interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will
remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its
technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic
location, and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The international
community's role of funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and
more than 28% of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a
major ingredient of growth.
Demographics and Culture
Nepal is a multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. The data
below are derived from the 2002 Nepal Population Report.
Languages: Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from three major
language groups: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, and indigenous. According to the
2001 national census, 92 different living languages are spoken in Nepal (a
93rd category was "unidentified"). The major languages of Nepal (percent
spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (49%), Maithili (12%), Bhojpuri (8%),
Tharu (6%), Tamang (5%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (4%), Magar (3%), Awadhi (2%),
Bantawa (2%), Limbu (1%), and Bajjika (1%). The remaining 81 languages are
each spoken as mother tongue by less than one percent of the population.
Nepali, written in Devanagari script, is the official, national language and
serves as lingua franca among Nepalis of different ethnolinguistic groups.
Hindi is also widely spoken, especially in the southern Terai Region.
Religions: Nepal, constitutionally a Hindu kingdom with long-standing legal
provisions prohibiting discrimination against other religions and
proselytization, is the only official Hindu country in the world. The 2001
census identified 80.6% of the population as Hindu and Buddhism was
practiced by about 11% of the population (although many people labelled
Hindu or Buddhist often practice a syncretic blend of Hinduism, Buddhism and/or
animist traditions). About 4.2% of the population is Muslim and 3.6% of the
population follows the indigenous Kirant religion. Christianity is practiced
by less than 0.5% of the population.
Ethnicity: Nepal’s 2001 census enumerated 103 distinct caste/ethnic groups
including an "unidentified group". The caste system of Nepal is rooted in
the Hindu religion while the ethnic system is rooted in mutually exclusive
origin myths, historical mutual seclusion and the occasional state
intervention. The major caste/ethnic groups identified by the 2001 census
are Chhetri (15.8%) Hill Brahmin (12.7%), Magar (7.1%), Tharu (6.8%), Tamang
(5.6%), Newar (5.5%), Muslim (4.3%), Kami (3.9%), Rai (3.9), Gurung (2.8%),
and Damai/Dholi (2.4%). The remaining 92 caste/ethnic groups (including the
world-famous Sherpa, each constitute less than 2 percent of the population.)
Transportation in Nepal
Railways:
total: 59 km; between Janakpur and Jainagar, close to Indian border
narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge (2002)
Highways:
total: 13,223 km
paved: 4,073 km
unpaved: 9,150 km (1999 est.)
Ports and harbors:
none
Airports:
45 (2002) 1 International Airport (Tribhuvan International Airport) in
Kathmandu
Airports - with paved runways:
total: 9
over 3,047 m: 1
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7 (2002)
Airports - with unpaved runways:
total: 36
1,524 to 2,437 m: 1
914 to 1,523 m: 7
under 914 m: 28 (2002).
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