Nepal

Nepal,officially theFederal Democratic Republic of Nepal,is alandlocked countryinSouth Asia. It is mainly situated in theHimalayas, but also includes parts of theIndo-Gangetic Plain. It borders theTibet Autonomous Regionof Chinato the north, and Indiato the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated fromBangladeshby theSiliguri Corridor, and fromBhutanby theIndian stateofSikkim. Nepal has adiverse geography, includingfertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's tentallest mountains, includingMount Everest, the highest point on Earth.Kathmanduis the nation's capital and thelargest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, withNepalias the official language.
The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from theVedic periodof theIndian subcontinent, the era inancient NepalwhenHinduismwas founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC,Gautama Buddha, the founder ofBuddhism, was born inLumbiniin southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture ofTibet. The centrally locatedKathmandu Valleyis intertwined with the culture ofIndo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperousNewarconfederacy known asNepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancientSilk Roadwas dominated by thevalley's traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditionalartandarchitecture. By the 18th century, theGorkha Kingdomachieved theunification of Nepal. TheShah dynastyestablished theKingdom of Nepaland later formed an alliance with theBritish Empire, under itsRana dynastyofpremiers. The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state betweenImperial ChinaandBritish India.Parliamentary democracywas introduced in 1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. TheNepalese Civil Warin the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of asecularrepublicin 2008, ending the world's lastHindumonarchy.
TheConstitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a federalparliamentary republicdivided intoseven provinces. Nepal was admitted to theUnited Nationsin 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of theSouth Asian Association for Regional Cooperation(SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of theNon-Aligned Movementand theBay of Bengal Initiative.
Before theunification of Nepal, theKathmandu Valleywas known asNepal.The precise origin of the termNepālis uncertain.Nepalappears inancient Indianliterary texts dated as far back as the fourth century AD.An absolute chronology can not be established, as even the oldest texts may contain anonymous contributions dating as late as theearly modern period. Academic attempts to provide a plausible theory are hindered by the lack of a complete picture of history and insufficient understanding of linguistics or relevant Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman languages.
According toHindu mythology, Nepal derives its name from an ancient Hindu sage calledNe, referred to variously asNe MuniorNemi. According toPashupati Purāna, as a place protected byNe, the country in the heart of the Himalayas came to be known asNepāl.According toNepāl Mahātmya,Nemiwas charged with protection of the country byPashupati.According toBuddhist mythology,ManjushriBodhisattvadrained a primordial lake ofserpentsto create the Nepal valley and proclaimed thatAdi-BuddhaNewould take care of the community that would settle it. As the cherished ofNe, the valley would be calledNepāl.According toGopalarājvamshāvali, thegenealogyof ancientGopala dynastycompiledc.1380s, Nepal is named afterNepathe cowherd, the founder of the Nepali scion of theAbhiras. In this account, the cow that issued milk to the spot, at whichNepadiscovered theJyotirlingaofPashupatināthupon investigation, was also namedNe.
TheNe Munietymology was rightly dismissed by the early European visitors.NorwegianindologistChristian Lassenproposed thatNepālawas a compound ofNipa(foot of a mountain) and-ala(short suffix foralayameaning abode), and soNepālameant "abode at the foot of the mountain".IndologistSylvain Levifound Lassen's theory untenable but had no theories of his own, only suggesting that eitherNewarais avulgarismofsanskriticNepala,orNepalaisSanskritisationof the local ethnic;his view has found some support though it does not answer the question of etymology.It has also been proposed thatNepais aTibeto-Burmanstem consisting ofNe(cattle) andPa(keeper), reflecting the fact that early inhabitants of the valley wereGopalas(cowherds) andMahispalas(buffalo-herds).Suniti Kumar ChatterjibelievedNepaloriginated from Tibeto-Burman roots –Ne,of uncertain meaning (as multiple possibilities exist), andpalaorbal, whose meaning is lost entirely.
By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa, where they had earlier evolved.The earliest known modern human remains inSouth Asiadate to about 30,000 years ago.The oldest discovered archaeological evidence of human settlements in Nepal dates to around the same time.
After 6500 BC, evidence for the domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared inMehrgarhand other sites in what is nowBalochistan.These gradually developed into theIndus Valley Civilisation,the first urban culture in South Asia.Prehistoric sites ofpalaeolithic,mesolithicandneolithicorigins have been discovered in theSiwalik hillsofDang district.The earliest inhabitants of modern Nepal and adjoining areas are believed to be people from theIndus Valley Civilisation. It is possible that theDravidianpeople whose history predates the onset of theBronze Agein the Indian subcontinent (around 6300 BC) inhabited the area before the arrival of other ethnic groups like the Tibeto-Burmans andIndo-Aryansfrom across the border.By 4000 BC, the Tibeto-Burmese people had reached Nepal either directly across the Himalayas from Tibet or via Myanmar and north-east India or both.Stella Kramrisch(1964) mentions a substratum of a race of pre-Dravidians and Dravidians, who were in Nepal even before the Newars, who formed the majority of the ancient inhabitants of the valley of Kathmandu.
By the lateVedic period, Nepal was being mentioned in various Hindu texts, such as the late VedicAtharvaveda Pariśiṣṭaand in the post-VedicAtharvashirshaUpanishad.TheGopal Bansawas the oldest dynasty to be mentioned in various texts as the earliest rulers of the central Himalayan kingdom known by the name 'Nepal'.The Gopalas were followed byKirataswho ruled for over 16 centuries by some accounts.According to theMahabharata, the then Kirata king went to take part in theBattle of Kurukshetra. In the south-eastern region,Janakpurdhamwas the capital of the prosperous kingdom ofVidehaor Mithila, that extended down to the Ganges, and home toKing Janakaand his daughter,Sita.
Around 600 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the southern regions of Nepal. From one of these, theShakyapolity, arose a prince who later renounced his status to lead an ascetic life, foundedBuddhism, and came to be known asGautama Buddha(traditionally dated 563–483 BC).Nepal came to be established as a land of spirituality and refuge in the intervening centuries, played an important role in transmitting Buddhism to East Asia via Tibet,and helped preserve Hindu and Buddhist manuscripts.
By 250 BC, the southern regions had come under the influence of theMaurya Empire.Emperor Ashokamade a pilgrimage toLumbinianderected a pillarat Buddha's birthplace, theinscriptionson which mark the starting point for properly recorded history of Nepal.Ashoka also visited the Kathmandu valley and built monuments commemorating Gautama Buddha's visit there. By the 4th century AD, much of Nepal was under the influence of theGupta Empire.
In the Kathmandu valley, the Kiratas were pushed eastward by theLicchavis, and theLicchavi dynastycame into powerc.400 AD. The Lichchhavis built monuments and left a series of inscriptions; Nepal's history of the period is pieced together almost entirely from them.In 641,Songtsen Gampoof theTibetan EmpiresendsNarendradevaback toLicchaviwith an army and subjugates Nepal. Parts of Nepal and Licchavi was later under the direct influences of the Tibetan empire.The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the late 8th century and was followed by aThakurirule. Thakuri kings ruled over the country up to the middle of the 11th century AD; not much is known of this period that is often called the dark period.
In the 11th century, apowerful empireofKhas peopleemerged in western Nepal whose territory at its highest peak included much of western Nepal as well as parts of western Tibet andUttarakhandof India. By the 14th century, the empire had splintered into loosely associatedBaise rajyas, literally 22 states as they were counted. The rich culture and language of the Khas people spread throughout Nepal and as far as Indo-China in the intervening centuries;their language, later renamed the Nepali language, became the lingua franca of Nepal as well as much of North-east India.
In south-eastern Nepal, Simraungarh annexedMithilaaround 1100 AD, and the unified Tirhut stood as a powerful kingdom for more than 200 years,even ruling over Kathmandu for a time.After another 300 years of Muslim rule, Tirhut came under the control of the Sens ofMakawanpur.In the eastern hills, a confederation of Kirat principalities ruled the area between Kathmandu and Bengal.
In the Kathmandu valley, theMallas, who make several appearances in Nepalese history since ancient times, had established themselves in Kathmandu and Patan by the middle of the 14th century. The Mallas ruled the valley first under the suzerainty of Tirhut but established independent reign by late 14th century as Tirhut went into decline. In the late 14th century,Jayasthiti Mallaintroduced widespread socio-economic reforms, principal of which was the caste system. By dividing the indigenous non-Aryan Buddhist population into castes modelled after the fourVarna systemof Hinduism, he provided an influential model for the Sanskritisation and Hinduisation of the indigenous non-Hindu tribal populations in all principalities throughout Nepal. By the middle of the 15th century, Kathmandu had become a powerful empire which, according toKirkpatrick, extended from Digarchi or Sigatse in Tibet to Tirhut and Gaya in India.In the late 15th century, Malla princes divided their kingdom in four – Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur in the valley and Banepa to the east. The competition for prestige among these brotherly kingdoms saw the flourishing of art and architecture in central Nepal, and the building of famousKathmandu,PatanandBhaktapur Durbar Squares; their division and mistrust led to their fall in the late 18th century, and ultimately, the unification of Nepal into a modern state.
Apart from one destructive sacking of Kathmandu valley in the mid 14th century,Nepal remains largely untouched by theMuslim invasion of Indiathat began in the 11th century. TheMughal periodsaw an influx of high-caste Hindus from India into Nepal. They soon intermingled with the Khas people and by the 16th century, there were about 50 Rajput-ruled principalities in Nepal, including the 22 (Baisi) states and, to their east in west-central Nepal, 24Chaubisistates. There emerged a view that Nepal remained the true bastion of unadulterated Hinduism at a time when Indian culture had been influenced by centuries of Mughal, followed byBritish rule.Gorkha, one of the Baisi states, emerged as an influential and ambitious kingdom with a reputation for justice, after it codified the first Hinduism-based laws in the Nepalese hills.
In the mid-18th century,Prithvi Narayan Shah, aGorkhaking, set out to put together what would become present-day Nepal. He embarked on his mission by securing the neutrality of the bordering mountain kingdoms. After several bloody battles and sieges, notably theBattle of Kirtipur, he managed to conquer the Kathmandu Valley in 1769.The Gorkha control reached its height when theKumaonandGarhwal Kingdomsin the west toSikkimin the east came under Nepalese control. A dispute withTibetover the control of mountain passes and inner Tingri valleys of Tibet prompted theQing Emperorof China to start theSino-Nepali Warcompelling the Nepali to retreat to their own borders in the north.The rivalry between the Kingdom of Nepal and theEast India Companyover the control of states bordering Nepal eventually led to theAnglo-Nepali War(1815–16). At first, the British underestimated the Nepali and were soundly defeated until committing more military resources than they had anticipated needing. Thus began the reputation ofGurkhasas fierce and ruthless soldiers. The war ended in theSugauli Treaty, under which Nepal ceded recently captured lands.
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 fast-rising military leader. This led to theKot 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. Bir Narsingh Kunwar emerged victoriously and founded theRana dynasty, and came to be known asJung Bahadur Rana. The king was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly pro-British and assisted them during theIndian Rebellion of 1857(and later in both World Wars). In 1860 some parts of the western Terai region 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 (known asNaya Muluk, new country). In 1923, the United Kingdom and Nepal formally signedan agreement of friendshipthat superseded the Sugauli Treaty of 1816.
The Hindu practice ofSati, in which a widow sacrificed herself in the funeral pyre of her husband, was banned in 1919, andslaverywas officially abolished in 1924.Rana rule was marked by tyranny,debauchery, economic exploitation and religious persecution.
In the late 1940s, newly emerging pro-democracy movements and political parties in Nepal were critical of the Rana autocracy. Following the success of Indian Independence Movement which Nepalese activists had taken part in, with India's support and cooperation of King Tribhuvan,Nepali Congresswas successful in toppling the Rana regime, establishing a parliamentary democracy. After a decade of power wrangling between the king and the government,King Mahendra(ruled 1955–1972) scrapped the democratic experiment in 1960, and a "partyless"Panchayatsystem was made to govern Nepal. The political parties were banned and politicians imprisoned or exiled.The Panchayat rule modernised the country, introducing reforms and developing infrastructure, but curtailed liberties and imposed heavy censorship. In 1990, thePeople's MovementforcedKing Birendra(ruled 1972–2001) to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty democracy.
In 1996, theMaoist Partystarted a violent bid to replace the royal parliamentary system with a people's republic.This led to the longNepali Civil Warand more than 16,000 deaths.With the death of both the King and the Crown Prince in amassacre in the royal palace, King Birendra's brotherGyanendrainherited the throne in 2001and subsequently assumed full executive powers aiming to quash the Maoist insurgency himself.
The Maoist Party joined mainstream politics following the success of the peacefuldemocratic revolution of 2006;Nepal became asecular state,and on 28 May 2008, it was declared a federal republic,ending its time-honoured status as the world's onlyHindu kingdom.After a decade of instability and internal strife which saw two constituent assembly elections,thenew constitutionwas promulgated on 20 September 2015, making Nepal afederaldemocratic republic divided intoseven provinces.
Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, about 800 kilometres (500 mi) long and 200 kilometres (120 mi) wide, with an area of 147,516 km(56,956 sq mi). It lies between latitudes26°and31°N, and longitudes80°and89°E. Nepal's defining geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian plate, then part of the southern supercontinentGondwana, began a north-eastwarddriftcaused byseafloor spreadingto its south-west, and later, south and south-east.Simultaneously, the vastTethynoceanic crust, to its northeast, began tosubductunder theEurasian Plate.These dual processes, driven by convection in the Earth'smantle, both created theIndian Oceanand caused the Indiancontinental crusteventually to under-thrust Eurasia and to uplift theHimalayas.The rising barriers blocked the paths of rivers creating large lakes, which only broke through as late as 100,000 years ago, creating fertile valleys in the middle hills like the Kathmandu Valley. In the western region, rivers which were too strong to be hampered, cut some of the world's deepest gorges.Immediately south of the emerging Himalayas, plate movement created a vasttroughthat rapidly filled with river-borne sedimentand now constitutes theIndo-Gangetic Plain.Nepal lies almost completely within this collision zone, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one-third of the 2,400 km (1,500 mi)-long Himalayas,with a small strip of southernmost Nepal stretching into the Indo-Gangetic plain and two districts in the northwest stretching up to the Tibetan plateau.
Nepal is divided into three principal physiographic belts known asHimal–Pahad–Terai.Himal is the mountain region containing snow and situated in the Great Himalayan Range; it makes up the northern part of Nepal. It contains the highest elevations in the world including 8,848.86 metres (29,032 ft) heightMount Everest(Sagarmāthāin Nepali) on the border with China. Seven other of the world's "eight-thousanders" are in Nepal or on its border with Tibet:Lhotse,Makalu,Cho Oyu,Kangchenjunga,Dhaulagiri,AnnapurnaandManaslu. Pahad is the mountain region that does not generally contain snow. The mountains vary from 800 to 4,000 metres (2,600 to 13,100 ft) in altitude, with progression from subtropical climates below 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) to alpine climates above 3,600 metres (11,800 ft). TheLower Himalayan Range, reaching 1,500 to 3,000 metres (4,900 to 9,800 ft), 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 2,000 metres (6,600 ft) and very low above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft), where snow occasionally falls in winter. The southern lowland plains orTeraibordering India are part of the northern rim of theIndo-Gangetic Plain. Terai is the lowland region containing some hill ranges. The plains were formed and are fed by three major Himalayan rivers: theKoshi, theNarayani, and theKarnalias well as smaller rivers rising below the permanent snowline. This region has a subtropical to tropical climate. The outermost range of the foothills calledSivalik Hillsor Churia Range, cresting at 700 to 1,000 metres (2,300 to 3,280 ft), marks the limits of the Gangetic Plain. Broad, low valleys calledInner Terai Valleys(Bhitri Tarai Upatyaka) lie north of these foothills in several places.
The Indian plate continues to move north relative to Asia at about 50 mm (2.0 in) per year.This makes Nepal an earthquake-prone zone, and periodic earthquakes that have devastating consequences present a significant hurdle to development.Erosion of the Himalayas is a very important source of sediment, which flows to the Indian Ocean.Saptakoshi, in particular, carries a huge amount of silt out of Nepal but sees extreme drop in Gradient inBihar, causing severe floods and course changes, and is, therefore, known as the sorrow of Bihar. Severe flooding and landslides cause deaths and disease, destroy farmlands and cripple the transport infrastructure of the country, during the monsoon season each year.
Nepal has five climatic zones, broadly corresponding to the altitudes. The tropical and subtropical zones lie below 1,200 metres (3,900 ft), thetemperatezone 1,200 to 2,400 metres (3,900 to 7,900 ft), the cold zone 2,400 to 3,600 metres (7,900 to 11,800 ft), the subarctic zone 3,600 to 4,400 metres (11,800 to 14,400 ft), and the Arctic zone above 4,400 metres (14,400 ft). Nepal experiences five seasons: summer,monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. The Himalayas block cold winds from Central Asia in the winter and form the northern limits of the monsoon wind patterns.
Nepal contains a disproportionately large diversity of plants and animals, relative to its size.Nepal, in its entirety, forms the western portion of theeastern Himalayanbiodiversity hotspot, with notablebiocultural diversity.The dramatic differences in elevation found in Nepal (60 m from sea level in the Terai plains, to 8,848 mMount Everest)result in a variety ofbiomes.The Eastern half of Nepal is richer in biodiversity as it receives more rain, compared to western parts, wherearctic desert-type conditions are more common at higher elevations.Nepal is a habitat for 4.0% of allmammal species, 8.9% ofbird species, 1.0% ofreptile species, 2.5% ofamphibian species, 1.9% offish species, 3.7% ofbutterfly species, 0.5% ofmoth speciesand 0.4% ofspider species.In its 35 forest-types and 118 ecosystems,Nepal harbours 2% of theflowering plant species, 3% ofpteridophytesand 6% ofbryophytes.
Nepal'sforest coveris 59,624 km(23,021 sq mi), 40.36% of the country's total land area, with an additional 4.38% ofscrubland, for a total forested area of 44.74%, an increase of 5% since the turn of the millennium.The country had a 2019Forest Landscape Integrity Indexmean score of 7.23/10, ranking it 45th globally out of 172 countries.In the southern plains,Terai–Duar savanna and grasslandsecoregion contains some of the world's tallest grasses as well asSalforests,tropical evergreen forestsand tropical riverine deciduous forests.In the lower hills (700 m – 2,000 m),subtropicalandtemperate deciduous mixed forestscontaining mostly Sal(in the lower altitudes),ChilauneandKatus, as well assubtropical pine forestdominated bychir pineare common. The middle hills (2,000 m – 3,000 m) are dominated byoakandrhododendron.Subalpine coniferous forestscover the 3,000 m to 3,500 m range, dominated by oak (particularly in the west),Eastern Himalayan fir,Himalayan pineandHimalayan hemlock; rhododendron is common as well. Above 3,500 m in the west and 4,000 m in the east, coniferous trees give way to rhododendron-dominatedalpine shrubs and meadows.
Among the notable trees, are theastringentAzadirachta indica, orneem, which is widely used in traditionalherbal medicine,and the luxuriantFicus religiosa, orpeepal,which is displayed on the ancient seals ofMohenjo-daro,and under whichGautam Buddhais recorded in thePali canonto have sought enlightenment.
Most of the subtropical evergreen broad-leaved forest of the lower Himalayan region is descended from theTethyanTertiaryflora.As theIndian Platecollided withEurasiaforming and raising the Himalayas, thearidand semi-aridMediterranean florawas pushed up and adapted to the more alpine climate over the next 40–50 million years.TheHimalayan biodiversity hotspotwas the site of mass exchange and intermingling of the Indian and Eurasian species in theneogene.One mammal species (Himalayan field mouse), two each of bird and reptile species, nine amphibia, eight fish and 29 butterfly species are endemic to Nepal.
Nepal contains 107IUCN-designatedthreatened species, 88 of them animal species, 18 plant species and one species of "fungi or protist" group.These include theendangeredBengal tiger, thered panda, theAsiatic elephant, theHimalayan musk deer, thewild water buffaloand theSouth Asian river dolphin,as well as thecritically endangeredgharial, theBengal florican,and thewhite-rumped vulture, which has become nearly extinct by having ingested the carrion ofdiclofenac-treated cattle.The pervasive and ecologically devastating human encroachment of recent decades has critically endangeredNepali wildlife. In response, the system ofnational parks and protected areas, first established in 1973 with the enactment ofNational Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973,was substantially expanded.Vulture restaurantscoupled with a ban on veterinary usage of diclofenac has seen a rise in the number of white-rumped vultures.Thecommunity forestry programmewhich has seen a third of the country's population directly participate in managing a quarter of the total forested area has helped the local economies while reducinghuman-wildlife conflict.The breeding programmescoupled with community-assisted military patrols,and a crackdown on poaching and smuggling, has seen poaching of critically endangered tigers and elephants as well asvulnerablerhinos, among others, go down to effectively zero, and their numbers have steadily increased.Nepal has tennational parks, threewildlife reserves, onehunting reserve, threeConservation Areasand elevenbuffer zones, covering a total area of 28,959.67 km(11,181.39 sq mi), or 19.67% of the total land area,while tenwetlandsare registered under theRamsar Convention.Nepal has consistently been ranked as one of the most polluted countries in the world.
Nepal is a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system.Nepal has been referred as the 'Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal' since 2015.It has seven national political parties recognised in the federal parliament:Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist),Nepali Congress,Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist Centre),Rastriya Swatantra Party,Rastriya Prajatantra Party,People's Socialist PartyandJanamat Party.Of the two major parties which both officially espouse democratic socialism, CPN(UML) is considered leftist while Nepali Congress is considered centrist.During most of the brief periods of democratic exercise in the 1950s and the 1990s, Nepali Congress held majority of seats in parliament;CPN (UML)was its competitor in the 1990s.After theMaoistsentered the political process in 2006, they emerged as the third largest party.In the aftermath of the2017 elections, the first one according to the new constitution, NCP, formed by the merger of CPN (UML) and CPN (Maoist Centre) had become the ruling party at the federal level and in six out of seven provinces.After the2022 general election, the House of Representatives of2nd Federal parliamentwas formed as hung parliament and a coalition government led byPushpa Kamal Dahalwas formed in December 2022.On 15 July 2024, K. P. Sharma Oli was sworn in as Nepali Prime minister for fourth time. New coalition was formed between Nepali Congress, led by Sher Bahadur Deuba, and UML, led by Oli. The party leaders will take turns as prime ministers for 18 months each until the next general elections in 2027.
In the 1930s, a vibrant underground political movement arose in the capital, birthingNepal Praja Parishadin 1936,which was dissolved seven years later, following the execution of thefour great martyrs. Around the same time, Nepalis involved in theIndian independence movementstarted organizing into political parties, leading to the birth ofNepali CongressandCommunist Party of Nepal.As communism was trying to find its footing, Nepali Congress was successful inoverthrowing the Rana regimein 1951 and enjoyed the overwhelming support of the electorate.In the partylessPanchayat systeminitiated in 1962 byKing Mahendra, monarchy loyalists took turns leading the government; political leaders remained underground, exiled or in prison.A communist insurgency was crushed in its cradle in the 1970s, which led to the eventual coalescence of hitherto scattered communist factions under theUnited Left Front.
After thejoint civil resistancelaunched by the United Left Front and Nepali Congress overthrew the Panchayat in 1990,the Front becameCPN (UML), adopted multi-party democracy, and in the brief period, it was in government, introduced welfare programmes that remain popular.After the Maoist Party joined mainstream politics, in the aftermath of thepeaceful revolution of 2006, it also adopted multi-party democracy as its official line. The transition period between 2006 and 2015 saw sustained protests from the newly formed ethnocentric nationalist movements, principal among them theMadhes Movement.
Nepal is governed according to theConstitution of Nepal. It defines Nepal as having multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-cultural characteristics with common aspirations of people living in diverse geographical regions, and being committed to and united by a bond of allegiance to the national independence, territorial integrity, national interest, and prosperity of Nepal.
TheGovernment of Nepalhas three branches:
Nepal is a federal republic comprising7 provinces. Each province is composed of 8 to 14 districts. The districts, in turn, comprise local units known as urban and rural municipalities.There is a total of 753 local units which includes 6 metropolitan municipalities, 11 sub-metropolitan municipalities and 276 municipalities for a total of 293 urban municipalities, and 460 rural municipalities.Each local unit is composed of wards. There are 6,743 wards in total.
The local governments enjoy executive and legislative as well as limited judicial powers in their local jurisdiction. The provinces have unicameral parliamentary Westminster system of governance. The local and provincial governments exercise some absolute powers and some powers shared with provincial or federal government. The district coordination committee, a committee composed of all elected officials from the local governments in the district, has a very limited role.
TheConstitution of Nepalis the supreme law of the land, and any other laws contradicting it are automatically invalid to the extent of the contradiction.The specific legal provisions are codified as Civil Code and Criminal Code, accompanied by Civil Procedure Code and Criminal Procedure Code respectively.The Supreme Court is the highest authority in the interpretation of laws and it can direct the parliament to amend or enact new laws as required. The death penalty has been abolished.It recognises marital rape and supports abortion rights. Owing to a rise in sex-selective abortion, however, constraints have been introduced. Nepal is a signatory to theGeneva Convention,Conventions/Treaties on the prohibition of Biological,ChemicalandNuclear weapons,International Labour Organization Fundamental Conventions,Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weaponsand theParis climate accord. Some legal provisions, guided by socio-economic, cultural and religious sensibilities, remain discriminatory. There is gender-based discrimination against foreign nationals married to Nepali citizens.Paternal lineage of a person is valued and required in legal documents. Many laws remain unenforced in practice.
Nepal Policeis the primary law enforcement agency. It is an independent organisation under the command of theInspector General, who is appointed by and reports to theMinistry of Home Affairs. In addition to maintaining law and order, it is responsible for the management of road traffic, which is undertaken by Nepal Traffic Police.Nepal Armed Police Force, a separate paramilitary police organisation, works in cooperation with Nepal police in routine security matters; it is intended for crowd control, counter-insurgency and anti-terrorism actions, and other internal matters where the use of force may be necessary. TheCrime Investigation Departmentof Nepal Police specialises in criminal investigation and forensic analysis.TheCommission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authorityis an independent investigative agency that investigates and prosecutes cases related to corruption, bribery and abuses of authority. At 2.16 per 100,000 in 2016, Nepal's intentional homicide rate is much lower than average; police data indicates a steady increase in the crime rate in recent years.Nepal was ranked 76 out of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index (GPI) in 2019.Nepal'spassporthas consistently been ranked among the weakest in the world.
Nepal depends on diplomacy for national defence. It maintains a policy of neutrality between its neighbours, has amicable relations with other countries in the region, and has a policy of non-alignment at the global stage. Nepal is a member ofSAARC,UN,WTO,BIMSTECandACD, among others. It has bilateral diplomatic relations with 167 countries and the EU,has embassies in 30 countriesand six consulates,while 25 countries maintain embassies in Nepal, and more than 80 others maintain non-residential diplomatic missions.Nepal is one of the major contributors to theUN peacekeepingmissions, having contributed more than 119,000 personnel to 42 missions since 1958.Nepali people have a reputation for honesty, loyalty and bravery, which has led to them serving as legendary Gurkha warriors in the Indian and British armies for the last 200 years, with service in both world wars, India-Pakistan wars as well as Afghanistan and Iraq,though Nepal was not directly involved in any of those conflicts, and winning the highest military awards, including theVictoria Crossand theParam Vir Chakra.
Nepal pursues a policy of "balanced relations" with the two giant immediate neighbours, India and China;the1950 Treaty of Peace and Friendshipwith India provides for a much closer relationship.Nepal and India share an open border with free movement of people, religious, cultural and marital ties. India is Nepal's largest trading partner, which it depends upon for all of its oil and gas, and a number of essential goods. Nepalis can own property in India, while Indians are free to live and work in Nepal.Relations between India and Nepal, though very close, have faced difficulties stemming fromterritorial disputes,economics, and the problems inherent in big power-small power relations.Nepal established diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China on 1 August 1955, and signed theTreaty of Peace and Friendshipin 1960; relations since have been based on theFive Principles of Peaceful Coexistence. Nepal maintains neutrality in conflicts between China and India. It remains firmly committed to theOne China Policyand is known to curb anti-China activities from theTibetan refugeesin Nepal.Citizens of both countries can cross the border and travel as far as 30 km without a visa.China is viewed favourably in Nepal owing to the absence of any border disputes or serious interference in internal politics, coupled with its assistance in infrastructure development and aid during emergencies; favourability has increased since China helped Nepal during the2015 economic blockadeimposed by India.Subsequently, China granted Nepal access to its ports for third-country trade, and Nepal joined China'sBelt and Road Initiative.
Nepal emphasises greater cooperation in South Asia and actively pushed for the establishment ofSAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation, the permanent secretariat of which, is hosted in Kathmandu.Nepal was one of the first countries to recognise an independent Bangladesh, and the two countries seek to enhance greater cooperation, on trade and water management; seaports in Bangladesh, being closer, are seen as viable alternatives to India's monopoly on Nepal's third-country trade.Nepal was the first South Asian country to establish diplomatic relations with Israel, and the countries enjoy a strong relationship;it recognises the rights of the Palestinians, having voted in favour of its recognition at the UN and against the recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital.Countries that Nepal maintains a close relationship with, include the most generous donors and development partners—the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan and Norway, among others.
The President is the supreme commander of theNepali Army; its routine management is handled by theMinistry of Defence. The military expenditure for 2018 was $398.5 million,around 1.4% of GDP.An almost exclusively ground infantry force, Nepal Army numbers at less than one hundred thousand;recruitment is voluntary.It has few aircraft, mainly helicopters, primarily used for transport, patrol, and search and rescue.Directorate of Military Intelligenceunder Nepal Army serves as the military intelligence agency;National Investigation Departmenttasked with national and international intelligence gathering, is independent.Nepal Army is primarily used for routine security of critical assets, an anti-poaching patrol of national parks, counterinsurgency, and search and rescue during natural disasters;it also undertakes major construction projects.There are no discriminatory policies on recruitment into the army, but it is dominated by men from elite Pahari warrior castes.
Nepal is one of theleast developed countries, which ranks 165th in the worldinnominal GDP per capitaand 162ndinGDP per capita at PPP.Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2019 was $34.186 billion.Nepal has consistently been ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world.Nepal has been a member ofWTOsince 23 April 2004.
The 16.8-million-workerNepali labour forceis the 37th largest in the world.The primary sectormakes up 27.59% of GDP,the secondary sector14.6%, andthe tertiary sector57.81%.Nepal's foreign exchange remittances of US$8.1 billion in 2018, the 19th largest in the world and constituting 28.0% of GDP,were contributed to its economy by millions of workers primarily in India, the Middle East and East Asia, almost all of them unskilled labourers.Major agricultural products include cereals (barley, maize, millet, paddy and wheat), oilseed, potato, pulses, sugarcane, jute, tobacco, milk and water buffalo meat.Major industries include tourism, carpets, textiles, cigarettes, cement, brick, as well as small rice, jute, sugar and oilseed mills.Nepal's international trade greatly expanded in 1951 with the establishment of democracy; liberalisation began in 1985 and picked up pace after 1990. By the fiscal year 2016/17, Nepal's foreign trade amounted Rs 1.06 trillion, a twenty-three folds increase from Rs 45.6 billion in 1990/91. More than 60% of Nepal's trade is with India. Major exports include readymade garment, carpet, pulses, handicrafts, leather, medicinal herbs, and paper products, which account for 90% of the total. Major imports include various finished and semi-finished goods, raw materials, machinery and equipment, chemical fertilisers, electrical and electronic devices, petroleum products, gold, and readymade garments.Inflation was at 4.5% in 2019.Foreign exchange reserves were at US$9.5 billion in July 2019, equivalent to 7.8 months of imports.
Nepal has made significant progress in poverty reduction bringing the population below the international poverty line (US$1.90 per person per day) from 15% in 2010 to just 9.3% in 2018, although vulnerability remains extremely high, with almost 32% of the population living on between US$1.90 and US$3.20 per person per day.Nepal has made improvement in sectors like nutrition, child mortality, electricity, improved flooring and assets. Under the current trend, Nepal is expected to eradicate poverty within 20 years.The agriculture sector is particularly vulnerable as it is highly dependent on the monsoon rains, with just 28% of the arable land being irrigated, As of 2014.Agriculture employs 76% of the workforce, services 18%, and manufacturing and craft-based industry 6%.Private investment, consumption, tourism and agriculture are the principal contributors to economic growth.
The government's budget is about $13.71 billion (FY 2019/20);expenditure of infrastructure development budget, most of it contributed by foreign aid, usually fails to meet the target.The country receives foreign aid from the UK,India, Japan, the US, the EU, China, Switzerland, and Scandinavian countries. TheNepali rupeehas been tied to theIndian rupeeat an exchange rate of 1.6 for many years. Per capita income is $1,004.Thedistribution of wealthamong the Nepalis is consistent with that in many developed and developing countries: the highest 10% of households control 39.1% of the national wealth and the lowest 10% control only 2.6%.European Union(EU) (46.13%), the US (17.4%), and Germany (7.1%) are its main export partners; they mainly buy Nepali ready-made garments (RMG).Nepal's import partners include India (47.5%), the United Arab Emirates (11.2%), China (10.7%), Saudi Arabia (4.9%), and Singapore (4%).
Besides having landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure, the ineffective post-1950 government and the long-running civil war are also factors in stunting the country's economic growth and development.Debt bondage even involving debtors' children has been a persistent social problem in the western hills and theTerai, with an estimated 234,600 people or 0.82% of the population considered as enslaved, by The Global Slavery Index in 2016.
In 2022, Nepal limited import of non-essential goods after its foreign currency reserves dropped. COVID-19 pandemic caused a decline in tourism spending and the money sent home by Nepalis working abroad, which in turn lowered country's foreign currency reserve.
Tourism is one of the largest and fastest-growing industries in Nepal, employing more than a million people and contributing 7.9% of the total GDP.The number of international visitors crossed one million in 2018 for the first time (not counting Indian tourists arriving by land).Nepal's share of visitors to South Asia is about 6%, and they spend much less on average, with Nepal sharing 1.7% of the earnings.Premier destinations include Pokhara, the Annapurna trekking circuit and the four UNESCO world heritage sites—Lumbini, Sagarmatha National Park (home to Mount Everest), seven sites in the Kathmandu Valley collectively listed as one, and Chitwan National Park. Most of Nepal's mountaineering earning comes from Mount Everest, which is more accessible from the Nepalese side.
Nepal officially opened to westerners in 1951 and became a popular destination at the end of thehippie trailin the 1960s and 1970s.The industry, disrupted by the civil war in the 1990s, has since recovered but faces challenges to growth, owing to a lack of proper facilities for high-end tourism termed the "infrastructure bottleneck", mounting issues facingNepal Airlines, and a handful of destinations properly developed and marketed. The home-stay tourism, in which cultural and eco-tourists stay as paying guests in the homes of indigenous people, has seen some success.
The rate of unemployment and underemployment exceeds half of the working-age population,driving millions to seek employment abroad, mainly in India, the Gulf, and East Asia. Mostly unskilled, uneducated, and indebted to loan sharks, these workers are swindled by the manpower companies and sent to exploitative employers or war-ridden countries under fraudulent contracts.They have their passports seized, to be returned when the employer grants them leave or terminates their contracts. Most do not get paid minimum wage,and many are forced to forfeit all or part of the wages.Many Nepalis work in extremely unsafe conditions; an average of two workers die each day.Due to restrictions placed on women, many depend on traffickers to get out of the country, and end up victims of violence and abuse.Many Nepalese are believed to be working under slavery-like conditions, and Nepal spends billions of rupees rescuing stranded workers, on remuneration to the indebted families of the dead, and in legal costs for those arrested in foreign countries.Though millions have raised themselves out of poverty, due to a lack of entrepreneurial skills, the remittance is largely spent on real estate and consumption.
The bulk of energy in Nepal comes from biomass (80%) and imported fossil fuels (16%).Most of the final energy consumption goes to the residential sector (84%) followed by transport (7%) and industry (6%); the transport and industry sectors have been expanding rapidly in recent years.Except for some lignite deposits, Nepal has no known oil, gas or coal deposits.All commercial fossil fuels (mainly oil, LPG and coal) are imported, spending 129% of the country's total export revenue.Only about 1% of the energy need is fulfilled by electricity.The perennial nature of Nepali rivers and the steep gradient of the country's topography provide ideal conditions for the development of hydroelectric projects. Estimates put Nepal's economically feasible hydro-power potential at approximately 42,000 MW.Nepal has been able to exploit only about 1,100 MW. As most of it is generated from run-of-river (ROR) plants, the actual power produced is much lower in the dry winter months when peak demand can reach as high as 1,200 MW, and Nepal needs to import as much as 650 MW from India to meet the demands.Major hydro-power projects suffer delays and setbacks.Nepal's electrification rate (76%) is comparable to that of other countries in the region but there is significant disparity between the rural (72%) and urban (97%) areas.The position of the power sector remains unsatisfactory because of high tariffs, high system losses, high generation costs, high overheads, over staffing, and lower domestic demand.
Nepal remains isolated from the world's major land, air and sea transport routes, although, within the country, aviation is in a better state, with 47 airports, 11 of them with paved runways;flights are frequent and support a sizeable traffic. The hilly and mountainous terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. As of 2016, there were just over 11,890 km (7,388 mi) of paved roads, 16,100 km (10,004 mi) of unpaved roads, and just 59 km (37 mi) of railway line in the south.As of 2018, all district headquarters (exceptSimikot) had been connected to the road network.Most of the rural roads are not operable during the rainy season; even national highways regularly become inoperable.Nepal depends almost entirely on assistance from countries like China, India and Japan, for building, maintenance and expansion of the road network. The only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu isKolkatain India. The national carrier,Nepal Airlines, is in poor shape due to mismanagement and corruption, and has been blacklisted by the EU.Internally, the poor state of development of the road system makes access to markets, schools, and health clinics a challenge.Nepal has the worst road infrastructure in Asia.
According to theNepal Telecommunication AuthorityMIS August 2019 report, voice telephony subscription rate was at 2.70% of total population for fixed phones and 138.59% for mobile; 98% of all voice telephony was through mobile phones.Similarly, while an estimated 14.52% had access to fixed broadband, an additional 52.71% were accessing the internet using their mobile data subscriptions; almost 15 million of them with 3G or better.The mobile voice telephony and broadband market was dominated by two telecommunications companies, the state-ownedNepal Telecom(55%) and the private multinational,Ncell(40%).Of the 21% market share enjoyed by fixed broadband, around 25% was again shared by Nepal Telecom, with the rest going to the private Internet Service Providers.Although there is high disparity in penetration rate between the rural and urban areas, mobile service has reached 75 districts of the country covering 90% of land area, and broadband access is expected to reach 90% of the population by 2020.
As of 2019, the state operates three television stations as well as national and regional radio stations. There are 117 private TV channels and 736 FM radio stations licensed for operation, at least 314 of them, community radio stations.According to the 2011 census, the percentage of households possessing radio was 50.82%, television 36.45%, cable TV 19.33%, and computer 7.28%.According to the Press Council Nepal classification, as of 2017of the 833 publications producing original content, ten national dailies and weeklies are rated A+ class.In 2019,Reporters Without Bordersranked Nepal at 106th in the world in terms of press freedom.
The citizens of Nepal are known asNepalior Nepalese. The Nepali are descendants of three major migrations from India,Tibetand North Burma, and the Chinese province ofYunnanviaAssam. Among the earliest inhabitants were theKiratof the eastern region,Newarsof theKathmandu Valley, aboriginalTharusof the Terai plains and the Khas Pahari people of the far-western hills. Despite the migration of a significant section of the population to the Terai in recent years, the majority of Nepalese still live in the central highlands, and the northern mountains are sparsely populated.
Nepal is a multicultural and multiethnic country, home to 125 distinct ethnic groups, speaking 123 different mother tongues and following a number of indigenous and folk religions in addition to Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam and Christianity.According to the 2011 census, Nepal's population was 26.5 million, almost a threefold increase from nine million in 1950. From 2001 to 2011, the average family size declined from 5.44 to 4.9. The census also noted some 1.9 million absentee people, over a million more than in 2001; most are male labourers employed overseas. This correlated with the drop in sex ratio to 94.2 from 99.8 for 2001.The annual population growth rate was 1.35% between 2001 and 2011, compared to an average of 2.25% between 1961 and 2001; also attributed to the absentee population.
Nepal is one of the ten least urbanised, and the ten fastest urbanizing countries in the world. As of 2014, an estimated 18.3% of the population lived in urban areas. Urbanisation rate is high in the Terai, doon valleys of the inner Terai and valleys of the middle hills, but low in the high Himalayas. Similarly, the rate is higher in central and eastern Nepal compared to further west.The capital,Kathmandu, nicknamed the "City of temples", is the largest city in the country and the cultural and economic heart. Other large cities in Nepal includePokhara,Biratnagar,Lalitpur,Bharatpur,Birgunj,Dharan,HetaudaandNepalgunj. Congestion, pollution and drinking water shortage are some of the major problems facing the rapidly growing cities, most prominently the Kathmandu Valley.
Nepal's diverse linguistic heritage stems from three major language groups:Indo-Aryan,Sino-Tibetanand variousindigenous languageisolates. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as native language) according to the 2011 census areNepali(44.6%),Maithili(11.7%),Bhojpuri(6.0%),Tharu(5.8%),Tamang(5.1%),Nepal Bhasa(3.2%),Bajjika(3%) andMagar(3.0%),Doteli(3.0%),Urdu(2.6%),Awadhi(1.89%), andSunwar. Nepal is home to at least four indigenoussign languages.
Descendent ofSanskrit,Nepaliis written inDevanagariscript. It is the official language and serves aslingua francaamong Nepali of different ethnolinguistic groups. The regional languagesMaithili,Awadhiand Bhojpuri are spoken in the southern Terai region;Urduis common amongNepali Muslims.Varieties of Tibetanare 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.
Nepal is a secular country, as declared by the Constitution of Nepal 2012 (Part 1, Article 4), where secularism 'means religious, cultural freedom, along with the protection of religion, culture handed down from time immemorial (सनातन)'.The 2011 census reported that the religion with the largest number of followers in Nepal wasHinduism(81.3% of the population), followed byBuddhism(9%); the remaining wereIslam(4.4%),Kirant(3.1%),Christianity(1.4%) andPrakritior nature worship (0.5%).By percentage of population, Nepal has the largest population of Hindus in the world.Nepal was officially a Hindu Kingdom until recently, andShivawas considered the guardian deity of the country.Although many government policies throughout history have disregarded or marginalised minority religions, Nepalese societies generally enjoy religious tolerance and harmony among all religions, with only isolated incidents of religiously motivated violence.Nepal's constitution does not give anyone the right to convert any person to another religion. Nepal also passed a more stringentanti-conversion lawon 2017.Nepal has the second-largest number ofHindusin the world after India.
Nepal entered modernity in 1951 with a literacy rate of 5% and about 10,000 students enrolled in 300 schools.By 2017, there were more than seven million students enrolled in 35,601 schools.The overall literacy rate (for population age five years and above) increased from 54.1% in 2001 to 65.9% in 2011.The net primary enrolment rate reached 97% by 2017,yet enrolment was less than 60% at the secondary level (grades 9 –12),and around 12% at the tertiary level.Though there is significant gender disparity in overall literacy rate,girls have overtaken boys in enrolment to all levels of education.Nepal has eleven universities and four independent science academies.Nepal was ranked 109th in theGlobal Innovation Indexin 2024.
Lack of proper infrastructures and teaching materials, and a high student-to-teacher ratio, as well as politicisation of school management committeesand partisan unionisation among both students and teachers,present a hurdle to progress. Free basic education is guaranteed in the constitution but the programme lacks funding for effective implementation.Government has scholarship programmes for girls and disabled students as well as the children of martyrs, marginalised communities and the poor.Tens of thousands of Nepali students leave the country every year in search of better education and work, with half of them never returning.
Health care services in Nepal are provided by both the public and private sectors. Life expectancy at birth is estimated at 71 years as of 2017, 153rd highest in the world,up from 54 years in the 1990s and 35 years in 1950.Two-thirds of all deaths are due to non-communicable diseases; heart disease is the leading cause of death.While sedentary lifestyle, imbalanced diet and consumption of tobacco and alcohol has contributed in the rise of non-communicable diseases, many lose their life to communicable and treatable diseases caused by poor sanitation and malnutrition due to a lack of education, awareness and access to healthcare services.
Nepal has made great progress in maternal and child health. 95% of children have access to iodised salt, and 86% of children aged 6 – 59 months receive Vitamin A prophylaxis.Stunting, underweight and wasting has been reduced significantly;malnutrition, at 43% among children under five, is extremely high.Anemia in women and children increased between 2011 and 2016, reaching 41% and 53% respectively.Low birth weight is at 27% while breastfeeding is at 65%.Nepal has reduced maternal mortality rate to 229,from 901 in 1990;infant mortality is down to 32.2 per thousand live births compared to 139.8 in 1990.Contraceptive prevalence rate is 53% but the disparity rate between rural and urban areas is high due to a lack of awareness and easy access.
Progress in health is driven by strong government initiative in cooperation with NGOs and INGOs. Public health centres provide 72 essential medicines free of cost. In addition, the public health insurance plan initiated in 2016 which covers health treatments of up to Rs 50,000 for five members of a family, for a premium of Rs 2500 per year, has seen limited success, and is expected to expand.By paying stipends for four antenatal visits to health centres and hospitalised delivery, Nepal decreased home-births from 81% in 2006to 41% in 2016.School meal programmes have improved education as well as nutrition metrics among children.Toilet building subsidies under the ambitious "one household-one toilet" programme has seen toilet prevalence rate reach 99% in 2019, from just 6% in 1990.
Nepal has a long tradition of accepting immigrants and refugees.In modern times, Tibetans and Bhutanese have constituted a majority of refugees in Nepal. Tibetan refugees began arriving in 1959,and many more cross into Nepal every year.The BhutaneseLhotsamparefugees began arriving in the 1980s and numbered more than 110,000 by the 2000s. Most of them have been resettled in third countries.In late 2018, Nepal had a total of 20,800 confirmed refugees, 64% of them Tibetan and 31% Bhutanese.Economic immigrants, and refugees fleeing persecution or war, from neighbouring countries, Africa and the Middle East, termed "urban refugees" because they live in apartments in the cities instead of refugee camps,lack official recognition; the government facilitates their resettlement in third countries.
Around 2,000 immigrants, half of them Chinese, applied for a work permit in 2018/19. The government lacks data on Indian immigrants as they do not require permits to live and work in Nepal;Government of Indiaputs the number ofNon-Resident Indiansin the country at 600,000.
Traditional Nepali society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy. TheNepali caste systemembodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in South Asia. Social classes are defined by more than a hundredendogamoushereditary groups, often termed asjātis, or "castes". Nepal declareduntouchabilityto be illegal in 1963and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives. At the workplace and educational institutions in urban Nepal, caste-related identification has pretty much lost its importance.
Family values are important in the Nepali tradition, and multi-generational patriarchal joint families have been the norm in Nepal, though nuclear families are becoming common in urban areas. An overwhelming majority of Nepalis, with or without their consent, havetheir marriages arrangedby their parents or other family elders. Marriage is thought to be for life, and the divorce rate is extremely low, with less than one in a thousand marriages ending in divorce.Child marriagesare common, especially in rural areas; many women wed before reaching 18.
ManyNepali festivalsare religious in origin. The best known include:Gadhimai festival,Dashain,Tihar,Teej,Chhath,Maghi,Sakela,Holi, and theNepali new year.
Gadhimai festival is a Hindu festival held every five years in Nepal at theGadhimai Templeand has been described as the world's bloodiest festival. The event involves large-scale slaughter of animals and birds, including buffaloes, goats, sheep, chickens, ducks, pigeons, pigs, rats and white mice, with the goal of pleasing goddess Gadhimai.Critics say the festival ritual is barbaric, unsanitary and wasteful, but Hindu devotees insist it has deep religious significance.
Dashain is a major Hindu religious festival in Nepal. Driven by the belief that offerings of fresh blood will appease goddessDurga, thousands of buffaloes, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens and ducks are slaughtered during the festival. Numerous animal welfare activists have expressed their concerns over the issue ofanimal crueltyand mass slaughter. The Nepali government have tried to ban the filming of the animal sacrifices. An animal welfare group who witnessed the festival said "We have been violently and physically assaulted. Our equipment and cameras have been ripped from our hands and smashed into pieces." They also said they saw festival goers defecating in public and they had to walk among human faeces. In another case Nepali people carrying machetes chased animal welfare activists down the street.
Witch-huntsare still occurring in Nepal in the twenty-first century. The victims are usually poor elderly women, free-spirited young women, widows,women oflower castes, or any possible combination of the above.The perpetrators are usually neighbours or residents of the same village, and occasionally family or close relatives. Politicians, teachers, police officers, army officers and other respected members of the community have also been implicated in various incidents.Execution may be carried out byburning alive.Many victims succumb to their injuries from torture and assault. Non-murderous witch-hunts usually include beating and feeding of excrement.
The emblem of Nepal depicts the snowy Himalayas, the forested hills, and the fertile Terai, supported by a wreath of rhododendrons, with the national flag at the crest and in the foreground, a plain white map of Nepal below it, and a man's and woman's right hands joined to signify gender equality. At the bottom is the national motto, a Sanskrit quote of patriotism attributed in Nepali folklore to Lord Rama, written in Devanagari script—"Mother and motherland are greater than heaven".
Nepal's flagis the only national flag in the world that is not rectangular in shape.The constitution contains instructions for aGeometric Constructionof the double-pennant flag.According to its official description, the crimson in the flag stands for victory in war or courage, and is also the colour of therhododendron. The flag's blue border signifies Nepali people's desire for peace. The moon on the flag is a symbol of the peaceful and calm nature of Nepalis, while the sun represents the aggressiveness of Nepali warriors.
The president is the symbol of national unity. Themartyrsare the symbols of patriotism. Commanders of the Anglo-Nepalese war,Amar Singh Thapa,Bhakti Thapa, and Balbhadra Kunwar are considered war heroes. A special designation of "National hero" has been conferred to 16 people from Nepal's history for their exceptional contributions to the prestige of Nepal. Prithvi Narayan Shah, the founder of modern Nepal, is held in high regard and considered "Father of the Nation" by many.
The oldest known examples of architecture in Nepal arestupasof early Buddhist constructions in and aroundKapilvastuin south-western Nepal, and those constructed byAshokain theKathmandu Valleyc.250BC. The characteristic architecture associated exclusively with Nepal was developed and refined by Newa artisans of the Kathmandu Valley starting no later than the Lichchhavi period. ATang dynastyChinese travel book, probably based on records fromc.650 AD, describes contemporary Nepali architecture, predominantly built with wood, as rich in artistry, as well as wood and metal sculpture. It describes a magnificent seven-storied pagoda in the middle of a palace, with copper-tiled roofs, its balustrade, grills, columns and beams set about with fine and precious stones, and four golden sculptures ofMakarasin the four corners of the base spouting water from their mouths like a fountain, supplied by copper pipes connected to the runnels at the top of the tower. Later Chinese chronicles describe Nepal's king's palace as an immense structure with many roofs, suggesting that the Chinese were not yet familiar with the pagoda architecture, which has now become one of the chief characteristics of Chinese architecture.
A typical pagoda temple is built with wood, every piece of it finely carved with geometrical patterns or images of gods, goddesses, mythical beings and beasts. The roofs usually tiled with clay, and sometimes gold plated, diminish in proportion successively until the topmost roof is reached which is itself ensigned by a golden finial. The base is usually composed of rectangular terraces of finely carved stone; the entrance is usually guarded by stone sculptures of conventional figures. Bronze and copper craftsmanship observable in the sculpture of deities and beasts, decorations of doors and windows and the finials of buildings, as well as items of everyday use is found to be of equal splendour. The most well-developed of Nepali painting traditions is thethankaorpaubhapainting tradition ofTibetan Buddhism, practised in Nepal by the Buddhist monks and Newar artisans.Changu Narayan Temple, builtc.4th century AD has probably the finest of Nepali woodcraft; the Kathmandu, Patan and Bhaktapur Durbar Squares are the culmination of Nepali art and architecture, showcasing Nepali wood, metal and stone craftsmanship refined over two millennia.
The"ankhijhyal" window, that allow a one-way view of the outside world, is an example of unique Nepali woodcraft, found in building structures, domestic and public alike, ancient and modern. Many cultures paint the walls of their homes with regular patterns, figures of gods and beasts and religious symbols; others paint their walls plain, often with clay orchernozemcontrasted with yellow soil or limestone. The roofs of religious as well as domestic structures project considerably, presumably to provide protection from the sun and the rain. The timber of domestic structures are finely carved as with their religious counterparts.
Cultural looting is a crisis in Nepal despite efforts to combat it.Volunteers working for the Nepal Heritage Recovery Campaign have helped recover artifacts.In 2022 Barakat Gallery's London branch relinquished 16th-century carved wooden Torana, a ceremonial gateway, and the 17th-century stone statue of a kneeling devotee, both taken from sacred sites near Kathmandu.In 2023 Nepalese artifacts suspected of having been looted were found in theArt Institute of Chicago,theMetropolitan Museum of Art,theDallas Museum of Art,theRubin Museumand other museums, and turned up in auctions atChristie's,Bonhamsand other auction houses.
Nepal's literature was closely intertwined with that of the rest of South Asia until its unification into a modern kingdom. Literary works, which were written in Sanskrit by Brahmin priests educated and sometimes also based in Varanasi, included religious texts and other fantasies involving kings, gods and demons.The oldest extant Nepali language text is dated to the 13th century but except for the epigraphic material, Nepali language literature older than the 17th century have not been found. Newar literature dates back almost 500 years.The modern history of Nepali literature begins with Bhanubhakta Acharya (1814–1868), who for the first time composed major and influential works in Nepali, the language accessible to the masses, most prominently, theBhanubhakta Ramayana, a translation of the ancient Hindu epic.By the end of the nineteenth century,Motiram Bhattahad published print editions of the works of Acharya, and through his efforts, single-handedly popularised and propelled Nepali language literature into modernity.By the mid-twentieth century, Nepali literature was no longer limited to the Hindu literary traditions. Influenced by western literary traditions, writers in this period started producing literary works addressing the contemporary social problems,while many others continued to enrich Nepali poetic traditions with authentic Nepali poetry. Newar literature also emerged as a premier literary tradition. After the advent of democracy in 1951, Nepali literature flourished. Literary works in many other languages began to be produced. Nepali literature continued to modernise, and in recent years, has been strongly influenced by the post civil-war Nepali experience as well as global literary traditions.
Maruni,Lakhey,Sakela,KaudaandTamang Seloare some examples of the traditional Nepali music and dance in the hilly regions of Nepal.
Nepali film industry is known as "Kollywood".
Nepal Academy is the foremost institution for the promotion of arts and culture in Nepal, established in 1957.
The most widely worn traditional dress in Nepal, for both women and men, from ancient times until the advent of modern times, was draped.For women, it eventually took the form of asari, a single long piece of cloth, famously six yards long, and of width spanning the lower body.The sari is tied around the waist and knotted at one end, wrapped around the lower body, and then over the shoulder.In its more modern form, it has been used to cover the head, and sometimes the face, as a veil,particularly in the Terai. It has been combined with an underskirt, or thepetticoat, and tucked in the waistband for more secure fastening. It is worn with ablouse, orcholo, which serves as the primary upper-body garment, the sari's end, passing over the shoulder, now serving to obscure the upper body's contours, and to cover the midriff.Cholo-sari has become the attire of choice for formal occasions, official environs and festive gatherings. In its more traditional form, as part of traditional dresses and as worn in daily life while performing household chores or labour, it takes the form of afariyaorgunyu, usually shorter than a sari in length as well as breadth, and all of it wrapped around the lower body.
For men, a similar but shorter length of cloth, thedhoti, has served as a lower-body garment.It too is tied around the waist and wrapped.Among the Aryans, it is also wrapped once around each leg before being brought up through the legs to be tucked in at the back. Dhoti or its variants, usually worn over alangauti, constitute the lower-body garment in the traditional clothing of Tharus, Gurungs and Magars as well as the Madhesi people, among others. Other forms of traditional apparel that involve no stitching or tailoring arepatukas(a length of cloth wrapped tightly over the waist by both sexes as a waistband, a part of most traditional Nepali costumes, usually with a khukuri tucked into it when worn by men), scarves likepachhyaurasandmajetrosand shawls like the newargaand Tibetankhata, ghumtos (the wedding veils) and various kinds ofturbans(scarves worn around the head as a part of a tradition, or to keep off the sun or the cold,called apheta, pagri or sirpau).
Until the beginning of the first millennium AD, the ordinary dress of people in South Asia was entirely unstitched.The arrival of the Kushans fromCentral Asia,c.48AD, popularised cut and sewn garments in the style of Central Asia.The simplest form of sewn clothing, Bhoto (a rudimentary vest), is a universal unisex clothing for children, and traditionally the only clothing children wear until they come of age and are given adult garb, sometimes in a ceremonial rite of passage, such as the gunyu-choli ceremony for Hindu girls. Men continue to wear bhoto through adulthood. Upper body garment for men is usually a vest such as thebhoto, or a shirt similar to thekurta, such asdaura, a closed-necked double-breasted long shirt with five pleats and eight strings that serve to tie it around the body.Suruwal, simply translated as a pair of trousers, is an alternative to and, more recently, replacement fordhoti,kachhad(Magars) orlungi(Tharus); it is traditionally much wider above the knees but tapers below, to fit tightly at the ankles, and is tied to the waist with a drawstring. Modern cholos worn with sarees are usually half-sleeved and single-breasted, and do not cover the midriff. The traditional one called the chaubandi cholo, like the daura, is full-sleeved, double-breasted with pleats and strings, and extends down to the patuka, covering the midriff.
Daura-Suruwal and Gunyu-Cholo were the national dresses for men and women respectively until 2011 when they were removed to eliminate favouritism.Traditional dresses of many pahari ethnic groups are Daura-Suruwal or similar, with patuka, a dhaka topi and a coat for men, and Gunyu-cholo or similar, with patuka and sometimes a scarf for women. For many other groups, men's traditional dresses consist of a shirt or a vest, paired with adhoti,kachhadorlungi. In the high Himalayas, the traditional dresses are largely influenced by Tibetan culture. Sherpa women wear thechubawith thepangiapron, while Sherpa men wear shirts with stiff high collar and long sleeves called tetung under the chuba. Tibetan Xamo Gyaise hats of the Sherpas,dhaka topiof pahari men and tamang round caps are among the more distinctive headwears.
Married Hindu women weartika,sindur,poteand red bangles. Jewellery of gold and silver, and sometimes precious stones, are common. Gold jewellery includesmangalsutrasandtilaharisworn with thepoteby the Hindus,samyafung(a huge gold flower worn on the head) and Nessey (huge flattened gold earrings) worn by the Limbus, andsirphuli,sirbandhiandchandraworn by the Magars. Tharu women can wear as much as six kilograms of silver in jewellery, which includesmangiyaworn on the head,tikulithe forehead, andkanseriandtikahamalaaround the neck.
In the last 50 years, fashions have changed a great deal in Nepal. Increasingly, in urban settings, the sari is no longer the apparel of everyday wear, transformed instead into one for formal occasions. The traditional kurta suruwal is rarely worn by younger women, who increasingly favour jeans. Thedhotihas largely been reduced to theliturgicalvestmentof shamans and Hindu priests.
Nepali cuisine consists of a wide variety of regional and traditional cuisines. With diversity in soil type, climate, culture, ethnic groups, and occupations, these cuisines vary substantially, using locally available spices, herbs, vegetables, and fruit.TheColumbian exchangebrought potatoes, tomatoes, maize, peanuts, cashew nuts, pineapples, guavas, and most notably,chilli peppers, to South Asia; all became staples.Cerealsgrown in Nepal, their times and regions of planting, correspond strongly to the timing of monsoonsand variations in altitude. Rice and wheat are mostly cultivated in the terai plains and well-irrigated valleys; maize, millet, barley and buckwheat mostly in the less fertile and drier hills.
A typical Nepali meal is a cereal cooked in plain fashion, complemented with flavourful, savoury dishes.The latter includelentils,pulsesand vegetables, spiced commonly withgingerandgarlic, and more discerningly with combinations ofcoriander,cumin,turmeric,cinnamon,cardamon,jimbuand others.This is typically on a platter, orthali, with a central place for the cooked cereal and small bowls for the flavourful accompaniments.  They are combined either by actual mixing—for example, rice and lentils—or in the folding of one—such as bread—around the other, such as cooked vegetables.Dal-bhatcentred around steamed rice is the most common example.as well as dairy and sometimes meat. Unleavened flat bread made from wheat flour calledchapatioccasionally replaces rice, particularly in the Terai, while Dhindo, prepared by boiling corn, millet or buckwheat flour in water, continuously stirring and adding flour until thick, almost solid consistency is reached, is the main substitute in the hills and mountains. Tsampa, flour made from roasted barley or naked barley, is the main staple in the high himalayas. Throughout Nepal, fermented, then sun-dried, leafy greens calledGundruk, are both a delicacy and a vital substitute for fresh vegetables in the winter.
A notable feature of Nepali food is the existence of a number of distinctive vegetarian cuisines, each a feature of the geographical and cultural histories of its adherents.The appearance ofahimsa, or the avoidance of violence toward all forms of life in many religious orders early in South Asian history, especiallyUpanishadic Hinduism,BuddhismandJainism, is thought to have been a notable factor in the prevalence of vegetarianism among a segment of Nepal's Hindu and Buddhist populations, as well as among Jains.Among these groups, strong discomfort is felt at thoughts of eating meat.Though per capita meat consumption is low in Nepal, the proportion of vegetarianism is not high as in India, due to the prevalence ofShaktism, of which animal sacrifice is a prominent feature.
Nepali cuisines possess their own distinctive qualities to distinguish these hybrid cuisines from both their northern and southern neighbours.Nepali cuisines, with generally tomato-based, leaner curries, are lighter than their cream-based Indian counterparts, and Nepali momo dumplings are heavily spiced compared to their northern counterparts.Newar cuisine, one of the richest and most influential in Nepal, is more elaborate and diverse than most, as Newar culture developed in the highly fertile and prosperous Kathmandu valley.A typical Newar cuisine can comprise more than a dozen dishes of cereals, meat, vegetable curries, chutneys and pickles. Kwanti (sprouted beans soup), chhwela (ground beef),chatamari(rice flour crepe), bara (fried lentil cake), kachila (marinated raw minced beef), samaybaji (centred around flattened rice),lakhaamariandyomuriare among the more widely recognised.Juju dhau, a sweet yoghurt originating in Bhaktapur, is also famous.Thakali cuisine is another well-known food tradition which seamlessly melds the Tibetan and the Indian with variety in ingredients, especially the herbs and spices.In the Terai,Bagiyais a rice flour dumpling with sweets inside, popular among the Tharu and Maithil people. Various communities in the Terai makesidhara(sun-dried small fish mixed withtaroleaves) and biriya (lentil paste mixed with taro leaves) to stock for the monsoon floods.Selroti,kasaar,finiandchakuare among the sweet delicacies. Rice pulau or sweet rice porridge calledkheerare usually the main dish in feasts.Tea and buttermilk (fermented milk leftover from churning butter from yoghurt) are common non-alcoholic drinks. Almost all janajati communities have their own traditional methods of brewing alcohol. Raksi (traditional distilled alcohol), jaand (rice beer), tongba (millet beer) and chyaang are the most well-known.
Nepali indigenous sports, likedandi biyoandkabaddiwhich were considered the unofficial national sports until recently,are still popular in rural areas.Despite efforts, standardisation and development of dandi biyo has not been achieved,while Kabaddi, as a professional sport, is still in its infancy in Nepal.Bagh-chal, an ancientboard gamethat is thought to have originated in Nepal, can be played on chalk-drawn boards, with pebbles, and is still popular today.Ludo,snakes and laddersandcarromare popular pastimes.Chessis also played.Volleyballwas declared as the national sport of Nepal in 2017.Popular children's games include versions oftag,knucklebones,hopscotch,Duck, duck, gooseandlagori, whilemarbles,top,hoop rollingandgully cricketare also popular among boys.Rubber bands, orranger bandscut from tubes inbiketyres, make a multi-purpose sporting equipment for Nepali children, which may be bunched or chained together, and used to playdodgeball,cat's cradle,jianziand a variety ofskipping ropegames.
Footballandcricketare popular professional sports.Nepal is competitive in football in the South Asia region but has never won theSAFF championships, but has had some success inSouth Asian Games.It usually ranks in the bottom quarter in theFIFA World Rankings.Nepal has had some success in cricket and holdsODI status,consistently ranking in the Top 20 in theICCODIandT20I rankings.Nepal has had some success inathleticsandmartial arts, having won many medals at theSouth Asian Gamesand some at theAsian games.Nepal has never won anolympicmedal.Sports likebasketball, volleyball,futsal,wrestling, competitive bodybuildingandbadmintonare also gaining in popularity.Women in football, cricket, athletics, martial arts, badminton and swimming have found some success.Nepal also fields players and national teams in several tournaments fordisabledindividuals, most notably in men'sas well as women's blind cricket.
The only international stadium in the country is the multi-purposeDasarath Stadiumwhere themenandwomen national football teamsplay their home matches.Since the formation of thenational team, Nepal has played its home matches of cricket atTribhuvan University International Cricket Ground.Nepal police, Armed police force and Nepal army are the most prolific producers of national players, and aspiring players are known to join armed forces, for the better sporting opportunities they can provide.Nepali sports is hindered by a lack of infrastructure,funding,corruption, nepotism and political interference.Very few players are able to make a living as professional sportspeople.