Nepal

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked central Himalayan country in South Asia. It has a population of 26.4 million and is the 93rd largest country by area. Bordering China in the north and India in the south, east, and west, it is the largest sovereign Himalayan state. Nepal does not border Bangladesh, which is located within only 27 km of its southeastern tip. It neither borders Bhutan due to the Indian state of Sikkim being located in between. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world’s ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation’s capital and largest city. It is a multiethnic nation with Nepali as the official language. The territory of Nepal has a recorded history since the Neolithic age. The name Nepal is first recorded in texts from the Vedic Age, the era which founded Hinduism, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BCE, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The Kathmandu Valley in central Nepal became known as Nepal proper because of its complex urban civilization. It was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley’s traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of the region’s principalities under the Shah dynasty into the Kingdom of Nepal, and later entered into an alliance with the British Empire. The country was never colonized but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and Colonial India. In the 20th century, Nepal ended its isolation and forged strong ties with regional powers. Nepal was the world’s last Hindu monarchy until 2008, when it became a republic. Modern Nepal is a federal secular parliamentary republic. It has seven states. Nepal is a developing nation, ranking 145th on the Human Development Index in 2014. The country struggles with the transition from a monarchy to a republic. It also suffers from high levels of hunger and poverty. Despite these challenges, Nepal is making steady progress, with the government declaring its commitment to elevate the nation from least developed country status by 2022. Nepal also has a vast potential to generate hydropower for export. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of the Non Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative. Nepal has long standing bilateral treaties with the United Kingdom since 1923, India since 1950, and China since 1960. The military of Nepal is the fifth largest in South Asia and is notable for its Gurkha history, particularly during the world wars, and has been a significant contributor to United Nations peacekeeping operations. Etymology Local legends have that a Hindu sage named “Ne” established himself in the valley of Kathmandu in prehistoric times and that the word “Nepal” came into existence as the place was protected by the sage “Nemi”. It is mentioned in Vedic texts that this region was called Nepal centuries ago. According to the Skanda Purana, a rishi called “Nemi” used to live in the Himalayas. In the Pashupati Purana, he is mentioned as a saint and a protector. He is said to have practised meditation at the Bagmati and Kesavati rivers and to have taught there. The name of the country is also identical in origin to the name of the Newar people. The terms “Nepāl”, “Newār”, “Newāl” and “Nepār” are phonetically different forms of the same word, and instances of the various forms appear in texts in different times in history. Nepal is the learned Sanskrit form and Newar is the colloquial Prakrit form. A Sanskrit inscription dated 512 CE found in Tistung, a valley to the west of Kathmandu, contains the phrase “greetings to the Nepals” indicating that the term “Nepal” was used to refer to both the country and the people. It has been suggested that “Nepal” may be a Sanskritization of “Newar”, or “Newar” may be a later form of “Nepal”. According to another explanation, the words “Newar” and “Newari” are vulgarisms arising from the mutation of P to V, and L to R. History Ancient Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least eleven thousand years. The oldest population layer is believed to be represented by the Kusunda people. Nepal is first mentioned in the late Vedic Atharvaveda Pariśiṣṭa as a place exporting blankets and in the post­Vedic Atharvashirsha Upanishad. Nepal is also mentioned in Hindu texts such as the Narayana Puja. Tibeto­Burman­speaking people probably lived in Nepal 2500 years ago. However, there is no archaeologic evidence of the Gopal Bansa or Kirati rulers, only mention by the later Licchavi and Malla eras. Around 500 BCE, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the southern regions of Nepal. From one of these, the Shakya polity, arose a prince who later renounced his status to lead an ascetic life, founded Buddhism, and came to be known as Gautama Buddha . By 250 BCE, the southern regions came under the influence of the Maurya Empire of North India and parts of Nepal later on became a nominal vassal state under the Gupta Empire in the fourth century CE. Beginning in the third century CE, the Licchavi Kingdom governed the Kathmandu Valley and the region surrounding central Nepal. There is a quite detailed description of the kingdom of Nepal in the account of the renowned Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk Xuanzang, dating from c. 645 CE. Stone inscriptions in the Kathmandu Valley are important sources for the history of Nepal. The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the late eighth century, probably due to the Tibetan Empire, and was followed by a Newar or Thakuri era, from 879 CE, although the extent of their control over the present­day country is uncertain. In the eleventh century it seems to have included the Pokhara area. By the late eleventh century, southern Nepal came under the influence of the Chalukya dynasty of South India. Under the Chalukyas, Nepal’s religious establishment changed as the kings patronised Hinduism instead of the Buddhism prevailing at that time. Medieval In the early 12th century, leaders emerged in far western Nepal whose names ended with the Sanskrit suffix malla . These kings consolidated their power and ruled over the next 200 years, until the kingdom splintered into two dozen petty states. Another Malla 1/29/2017 EssayTyper http://www.essaytyper.com/ 2/5 dynasty beginning with Jayasthiti emerged in the Kathmandu valley in the late 14th century, and much of central Nepal again came under a unified rule. In 1482 the realm was divided into three kingdoms: Kathmandu, Patan, and Bhaktapur. Kingdom of Nepal In the mid­18th century, Prithvi Narayan Shah, a Gorkha king, set out to put together what would become present­day Nepal. He embarked on his mission by securing the neutrality of the bordering mountain kingdoms. After several bloody battles and sieges, notably the Battle of Kirtipur, he managed to conquer the Kathmandu Valley in 1769. A detailed account of Prithvi Narayan Shah’s victory was written by Father Giuseppe, an eyewitness to the war. The Gorkha dominion reached its height when the North Indian territories of the Kumaon and Garhwal Kingdoms in the west to Sikkim in the east came under Nepal rule. At its maximum extent, Greater Nepal extended from the Teesta River in the east, to Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, across the Sutlej in the west as well as further south into the Terai plains and north of the Himalayas than at present. A dispute with Tibet over the control of mountain passes and inner Tingri valleys of Tibet forced the Qing Emperor of China to start the Sino­Nepali War compelling the Nepali to retreat and pay heavy reparations to Peking. Rivalry between Kingdom of Nepal and the East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to the Anglo­Nepali War . At first the British underestimated the Nepali and were soundly defeated until committing more military resources than they had anticipated needing. They were greatly impressed by the valour and competence of their adversaries. Thus began the reputation of Gurkhas as fierce and ruthless soldiers. The war ended in the Sugauli Treaty, under which Nepal ceded recently captured portions of Sikkim and lands in Terai as well as the right to recruit soldiers. Madhesis, having supported the East India Company during the war, had their lands gifted to Nepali. Factionalism inside the royal family led to a period of instability. In 1846 a plot was discovered revealing that the reigning queen had planned to overthrow Jung Bahadur Kunwar, a fast­rising military leader. This led to the Kot massacre; armed clashes between military personnel and administrators loyal to the queen led to the execution of several hundred princes and chieftains around the country. Jung Bahadur Kunwar emerged victorious and founded the Rana dynasty, later known as Jung Bahadur Rana. The king was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly proBritish and assisted them during the Indian Rebellion of 1857 . Some parts of the Terai region populated with non­Nepali peoples were gifted to Nepal by the British as a friendly gesture because of her military help to sustain British control in India during the rebellion. In 1923, the United Kingdom and Nepal formally signed an agreement of friendship that superseded the Sugauli Treaty of 1816. Nevertheless, debt bondage even involving debtors’ children has been a persistent social problem in the Terai. Rana rule was marked by tyranny, debauchery, economic exploitation and religious persecution. In the late 1940s, newly emerging pro­democracy movements and political parties in Nepal were critical of the Rana autocracy. Meanwhile, with the invasion of Tibet by China in the 1950s, India sought to counterbalance the perceived military threat from its northern neighbour by taking pre­emptive steps to assert more influence in Nepal. India sponsored both King Tribhuvan as Nepal’s new ruler in 1951 and a new government, mostly comprising the Nepali Congress, thus terminating Rana hegemony in the kingdom. In 1991–92, Bhutan expelled roughly 100,000 Bhutanese citizens of Nepali descent, most of whom have been living in seven refugee camps in eastern Nepal ever since. The bill came into force on 28 May 2008. Republic The Unified Communist Party of Nepal won the largest number of seats in the Constituent Assembly election held on 10 April 2008, and formed a coalition government which included most of the parties in the CA. Although acts of violence occurred during the preelectoral period, election observers noted that the elections themselves were markedly peaceful and “well­carried out”. The newly elected Assembly met in Kathmandu on 28 May 2008, and, after a polling of 564 constituent Assembly members, 560 voted to form a new government, with the government announcing a three­day public holiday from 28–30 May. The king was thereafter given 15 days to vacate Narayanhity Palace so it could reopen as a public museum. Nonetheless, political tensions and consequent power­sharing battles have continued in Nepal. In May 2009, the Maoist­led government was toppled and another coalition government with all major political parties barring the Maoists was formed. Madhav Kumar Nepal of the Communist Party of Nepal was made the Prime Minister of the coalition government. In February 2011 the Madhav Kumar Nepal Government was toppled and Jhala Nath Khanal of the Communist Party of Nepal was made the Prime Minister. In August 2011 the Jhala Nath Khanal Government was toppled and Baburam Bhattarai of the Communist Party of Nepal was made the Prime Minister. The political parties were unable to draft a constitution in the stipulated time. This led to dissolution of the Constituent Assembly to pave way for new elections to strive for a new political mandate. In opposition to the theory of separation of powers, then Chief Justice Khil Raj Regmi was made the chairman of the caretaker government. Under Regmi, the nation saw peaceful elections for the constituent assembly. The major forces in the earlier constituent assembly dropped to distant 3rd and even below. In February 2014, after consensus was reached between the two major parties in the constituent assembly, Sushil Koirala was sworn in as the new prime minister of Nepal. In 20 September 2015, a new constitution, the “Constitution of Nepal 2015” was announced by President Ram Baran Yadav in the constituent assembly. The constituent assembly was transformed into a legislative parliament by the then­chairman of that assembly. The new constitution of Nepal has changed Nepal practically into a federal democratic republic by making 7 unnamed states. On 25 April 2015, a magnitude 7.8 earthquake struck Nepal. Two weeks later, on 12 May, another earthquake with a magnitude of 7.3 hit Nepal, which left more than 8,500 people dead and about 21,000, injured. In October 2015, Bidhya Devi Bhandari was nominated as the first female president. Geography Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, long and wide, with an area of . See List of territories by size for the comparative size of Nepal. It lies between latitudes 26° and 31°N, and longitudes 80° and 89°E. Nepal is commonly divided into three physiographic areas: Mountain, Hill and Terai. These ecological belts run east­west and are 1/29/2017 EssayTyper http://www.essaytyper.com/ 3/5 vertically intersected by Nepal’s major, north to south flowing river systems. The southern lowland plains or Terai bordering India are part of the northern rim of the Indo­Gangetic Plain. They were formed and are fed by three major Himalayan rivers: the Kosi, the Narayani, and the Karnali as well as smaller rivers rising below the permanent snowline. This region has a subtropical to tropical climate. The outermost range of foothills called Sivalik Hills or Churia Range cresting at marks the limit of the Gangetic Plain, however broad, low valleys called Inner Tarai Valleys lie north of these foothills in several places. The Hill Region abuts the mountains and varies from in altitude with progression from subtropical climates below to alpine climates above . The Lower Himalayan Range reaching is the southern limit of this region, with subtropical river valleys and “hills” alternating to the north of this range. Population density is high in valleys but notably less above and very low above where snow occasionally falls in winter. The Mountain Region, situated in the Great Himalayan Range, makes up the northern part of Nepal. It contains the highest elevations in the world including height Mount Everest on the border with China. Seven other of the world’s “eight­thousanders” are in Nepal or on its border with China: Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Kangchenjunga, Dhaulagiri, Annapurna and Manaslu. Climate Nepal has five climatic zones, broadly corresponding to the altitudes. The tropical and subtropical zones lie below, the temperate zone, the cold zone, the subarctic zone, and the Arctic zone above . Nepal experiences five seasons: summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. The Himalaya blocks cold winds from Central Asia in the winter and forms the northern limit of the monsoon wind patterns. In a land once thickly forested, deforestation is a major problem in all regions, with resulting erosion and degradation of ecosystems. Nepal is popular for mountaineering, having some of the highest and most challenging mountains in the world, including Mount Everest. Technically, the south­east ridge on the Nepali side of the mountain is easier to climb; so, most climbers prefer to trek to Everest through Nepal. The highest mountains in Nepal are given here: Geology The collision between the Indian subcontinent and Eurasia, which started in Paleogene time and continues today, produced the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau. Nepal lies completely within this collision zone, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one third of the ­long Himalayas. The Indian plate continues to move north relative to Asia at the rate of approximately per year. This is approximately twice the speed at which human fingernails grow, which is very fast given the size of the blocks of Earth’s crust involved. As the strong Indian continental crust subducts beneath the relatively weak Tibetan crust, it pushes up the Himalayan Mountains. This collision zone has accommodated huge amounts of crustal shortening as the rock sequences slide one over another. Based on a study published in 2014, of the Main Frontal Thrust, on average a great earthquake occurs every 750 ± 140 and 870 ± 350 years in the east Nepal region. A study from 2015 found a 700­year delay between earthquakes in the region. The study also suggests, that because of tectonic stress transfer, the earthquake from 1934 in Nepal and the 2015 earthquake are connected ­ following a historic earthquake pattern. Erosion of the Himalayas is a very important source of sediment, which flows via several great rivers: the Indus, Ganges, and Brahmaputra River systems to the Indian Ocean. Environment The dramatic differences in elevation found in Nepal result in a variety of biomes, from tropical savannas along the Indian border, to subtropical broadleaf and coniferous forests in the Hill Region, to temperate broadleaf and coniferous forests on the slopes of the Himalaya, to montane grasslands and shrublands and rock and ice at the highest elevations. At the lowest elevations is the Terai­Duar savanna and grasslands ecoregion. These form a mosaic with the Himalayan subtropical broadleaf forests, which occur from and include the Inner Terai Valleys. Himalayan subtropical pine forests occur between . Above these elevations, the biogeography of Nepal is generally divided from east to west by the Gandaki River. Ecoregions to the east tend to receive more precipitation and to be more species­rich. Those to the west are drier with fewer species. From, are temperate broadleaf forests: the eastern and western Himalayan broadleaf forests. From are the eastern and western Himalayan subalpine conifer forests. To are the eastern and western Himalayan alpine shrub and meadows. File:Thakuri village near Khartuwa 2013.jpg View of Khartuwa village from Thakuri village of Sitalpati, Shankhuwasabha, eastern Nepal. File:NASA Landsat 7 Nepal.png NASA Landsat­7 Image of Nepal. Nepal shares its boundaries with India and China File:Himalaya sud avion.JPG The Annapurna range of the Himalayas. File:Panorama phoksumdo lake from camp.jpg Phoksundo Lake File:Kaligandaki ghasa.jpg Kali Gandaki Gorge is one of the deepest gorges on earth. File:Marsyangdi valley near Pisang .jpg Marshyangdi Valley — There are many such valleys in the Himalaya created by glacier flows. File:Everest kalapatthar crop.jpg Mount Everest, the highest peak on earth, lies on the Nepal­China border File:Wind erosion Kalopani Nepal.jpg Wind erosion in Kalopani File:Terai nepal.jpg A field in Terai File:Phulchowki Hill.jpg Phulchowki Hill File:Hills Views.jpg Hills view of Ghorahi, Dang File:View of hills.jpg View of mountains Politics Languages 1/29/2017 EssayTyper http://www.essaytyper.com/ 4/5 Nepal’s diverse linguistic heritage stems from three major language groups: Indo­Aryan, Tibeto­Burman, and various indigenous language isolates. The major languages of Nepal according to the 2011 census are Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tharu, Tamang, Nepal Bhasa, Bajjika and Magar, Doteli, Urdu and Sunwar. Nepal is home to at least four indigenous sign languages. Derived from Sanskrit, Nepali is written in Devanagari script. Nepali is the official language and serves as lingua franca among Nepali of different ethnolinguistic groups. The regional languages Maithili, Awadhi, Bhojpuri and rarely Urdu of Nepali Muslims are spoken in the southern Madhesh region. Many Nepali in government and business speak Maithili as the main language and Nepali as their de facto lingua franca. Varieties of Tibetan are spoken in and north of the higher Himalaya where standard literary Tibetan is widely understood by those with religious education. Local dialects in the Terai and hills are mostly unwritten with efforts underway to develop systems for writing many in Devanagari or the Roman alphabet. Religion The overwhelming majority of the Nepalese population follows Hinduism. Shiva is regarded as the guardian deity of the country. Nepal is home to the famous Lord Shiva temple, the Pashupatinath Temple, where Hindus from all over the world come for pilgrimage. According to Hindu mythology, the goddess Sita of the epic Ramayana, was born in the Mithila Kingdom of King Janaka Raja. Lumbini is a Buddhist pilgrimage site and UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Kapilavastu district. Traditionally it is held to be the birthplace in about 563 B.C. of Siddhartha Gautama, a Kshatriya caste prince of the Sakya clan, who as the Buddha Gautama, founded Buddhism. The holy site of Lumbini is bordered by a large monastic zone, in which only monasteries can be built. All three main branches of Buddhism exist in Nepal and the Newa people have their own branch of the faith. Buddhism is also the dominant religion of the thinly populated northern areas, which are mostly inhabited by Tibetan­related peoples, such as the Sherpa. The Buddha, born as a Hindu, is also said to be a descendant of Vedic Sage Angirasa in many Buddhist texts. The Buddha’s family surname is associated with Gautama Maharishi. Differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been minimal in Nepal due to the cultural and historical intermingling of Hindu and Buddhist beliefs. Moreover, traditionally Buddhism and Hinduism were never two distinct religions in the western sense of the word. In Nepal, the faiths share common temples and worship common deities. Among other natives of Nepal, those more influenced by Hinduism were the Magar, Sunwar, Limbu and Rai and the Gurkhas. The Machendrajatra festival, dedicated to Hindu Shaiva Siddha, is celebrated by many Buddhists in Nepal as a main festival. As it is believed that Ne Muni established Nepal, some important priests in Nepal are called “Tirthaguru Nemuni”. Islam is a minority religion in Nepal, with 4.2% of the population being Muslim according to a 2006 Nepali census. Mundhum, Christianity and Jainism are other minority faiths. Largest cities The 14 largest cities by population as per the 2011 census The constitution of Nepal contains instructions for a geometric construction of the flag. According to its official description, the red in the flag stands for victory in war or courage, and is also the colour of the rhododendron, the national flower of Nepal. Red also stands for aggression. The flag’s blue border signifies peace. The curved moon on the flag is a symbol of the peaceful and calm nature of Nepali, while the sun represents the aggressiveness of Nepali warriors. Holidays and festivals With 36 days a year, Nepal is the country that enjoys the most number of public holidays in the world. The Nepali year begins in 1st of Baisakh in official Hindu Calendar of the country, the Bikram Sambat, which falls in mid­April and is divided into 12 months. Saturday is the official weekly holiday. Main annual holidays include the Martyr’s Day, and a mix of Hindu and Buddhist festivals such as Dashain in autumn, Tihar in mid­autumn and Chhath in late autumn. During Swanti, the Newars perform the Mha Puja ceremony to celebrate New Year’s Day of the lunar calendar Nepal Sambat. Being a Secular country Nepal has holiday on main festivals of minority religions in the nation too. Eid, Christmas Day are celebrated with joy all over the country as a governmental holiday. and was first played during the Rana dynasty in 1921. The one and only international stadium in the country is the Dasarath Rangasala Stadium where the national team plays its home matches. Cricket has been gaining popularity since the last decade. Since the establishment of the national team, Nepal has played its home matches on the Tribhuvan University International Cricket Ground. The national team has since won the 2012 ICC World Cricket League Division Four and the 2013 ICC World Cricket League Division Three simultaneously, hence qualifying for 2014 Cricket World Cup Qualifier. They also qualified for the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh, and this qualification has been the farthest the team have ever made in an ICC event. On 28 June 2014, the ICC awarded T20I status to Nepal, who took part and performed exceptionally well in the 2014 ICC World Twenty20. Nepal had already played three T20I matches before gaining the status, as ICC had earlier announced that all matches at the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 would have T20I status. Nepal won the 2014 ICC World Cricket League Division Three held in Malaysia and qualified for the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two. Nepal finished fourth in the 2015 ICC World Cricket League Division Two in Namibia and qualified for the 2015–17 ICC World Cricket League Championship. But Nepal failed to secure promotion to Division One and qualification to 2015–17 ICC Intercontinental Cup after finishing third in the round­robin stage. Basanta Regmi became the first bowler to take 100 wickets in the World Cricket League. He achieved this feat after taking 2 wickets against Netherlands in the tournament. Units of measurement Although the country has adopted the metric system as its official standard since 1968, traditional units of measurement are still commonplace. The customary units of area employed in the Terai region — such as katha, bigha, etc. — sound similar to those used elsewhere in South Asia. However, they vary markedly in size, as they seem to have been standardized to different measures of area. For instance, a katha in Nepal is arbitrarily set at 338.63 m², while a katha in Bangladesh means about 67 m² of land area. In addition to native ones, imperial units pertaining to length and metric units such as kilogram and litre are also fairly common in everyday trade and commerce. In popular media 1/29/2017 EssayTyper http://www.essaytyper.com/ 5/5 Some notable books and films set against the backdrop of Nepal include: Books Suyin, Han . The Mountain Is Young. Matthiessen, Peter . The Snow Leopard. Thapa, Manjushree . The Tutor of History. Wilson­Howarth, Jane . A Glimpse of Eternal Snows. Films The Golden Child Seven Years in Tibet Little Buddha Everest Doctor Strange Gallery See also Outline of Nepal Human rights in Nepal References Further reading Michael Hutt, ed., Himalayan ‘people’s war’ : Nepal’s Maoist rebellion, London: C. Hurst, 2004 External links.