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This page was last updated on 19 June 2008
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| Introduction | Nepal | Top of Page

Background: | In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, gained traction and threatened to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government. Citing dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency and corruption, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, imprisoned party leaders, and assumed power. The king's government subsequently released party leaders and officially ended the state of emergency in May 2005, but the monarch retained absolute power until April 2006. After nearly three weeks of mass protests organized by the seven-party opposition and the Maoists, the king allowed parliament to reconvene in April 2006. Following a November 2006 peace accord between the government and the Maoists, an interim constitution was promulgated and the Maoists were allowed to enter parliament in January 2007. The peace accord calls for the creation of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution. The Constituent Assembly elections, twice delayed, were held 10 April 2008. The Assembly will meet for the first time on 28 May 2008.

| Geography | Nepal | Top of Page

Location: | Southern Asia, between China and India
Geographic coordinates: | 28 00 N, 84 00 E
Map references: | Asia
Area: | total: 147,181 sq km land: 143,181 sq km water: 4,000 sq km
Area - comparative: | slightly larger than Arkansas
Land boundaries: | total: 2,926 km border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km
Coastline: | 0 km (landlocked)
Maritime claims: | none (landlocked)
Climate: | varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south
Terrain: | Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north
Elevation extremes: | lowest point: Kanchan Kalan 70 m highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m
Natural resources: | quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore
Land use: | arable land: 16.07% permanent crops: 0.85% other: 83.08% (2005)
Irrigated land: | 11,700 sq km (2003)
Total renewable water resources: | 210.2 cu km (1999)
Freshwater withdrawal (domestic/industrial/agricultural): | total: 10.18 cu km/yr (3%/1%/96%) per capita: 375 cu m/yr (2000)
Natural hazards: | severe thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, and famine depending on the timing, intensity, and duration of the summer monsoons
Environment - current issues: | deforestation (overuse of wood for fuel and lack of alternatives); contaminated water (with human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, and industrial effluents); wildlife conservation; vehicular emissions
Environment - international agreements: | party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note: | landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains eight of world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest and Kanchenjunga - the world's tallest and third tallest - on the borders with China and India respectively

| People | Nepal | Top of Page

Population: | 29,519,114 (July 2008 est.)
Age structure: | 0-14 years: 38% (male 5,792,042/female 5,427,370) 15-64 years: 58.2% (male 8,832,488/female 8,345,724) 65 years and over: 3.8% (male 542,192/female 579,298) (2008 est.)
Median age: | total: 20.7 years male: 20.5 years female: 20.8 years (2008 est.)
Population growth rate: | 2.095% (2008 est.)
Birth rate: | 29.92 births/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Death rate: | 8.97 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)
Net migration rate: | NA
Sex ratio: | at birth: 1.05 male(s)/female under 15 years: 1.07 male(s)/female 15-64 years: 1.06 male(s)/female 65 years and over: 0.94 male(s)/female total population: 1.06 male(s)/female (2008 est.)
Infant mortality rate: | total: 62 deaths/1,000 live births male: 60.18 deaths/1,000 live births female: 63.91 deaths/1,000 live births (2008 est.)
Life expectancy at birth: | total population: 60.94 years male: 61.12 years female: 60.75 years (2008 est.)
Total fertility rate: | 3.91 children born/woman (2008 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate: | 0.5% (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS: | 61,000 (2001 est.)
HIV/AIDS - deaths: | 3,100 (2003 est.)
Major infectious diseases: | degree of risk: intermediate food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever vectorborne disease: Japanese encephalitis and malaria (2008)
Nationality: | noun: Nepalese (singular and plural) adjective: Nepalese
Ethnic groups: | Chhettri 15.5%, Brahman-Hill 12.5%, Magar 7%, Tharu 6.6%, Tamang 5.5%, Newar 5.4%, Muslim 4.2%, Kami 3.9%, Yadav 3.9%, other 32.7%, unspecified 2.8% (2001 census)
Religions: | Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census) note: only official Hindu state in the world
Languages: | Nepali 47.8%, Maithali 12.1%, Bhojpuri 7.4%, Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.6%, Magar 3.3%, Awadhi 2.4%, other 10%, unspecified 2.5% (2001 census) note: many in government and business also speak English (2001 est.)
Literacy: | definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 48.6% male: 62.7% female: 34.9% (2001 census)

| Government | Nepal | Top of Page

Country name: | conventional long and short form: Nepal local long and short form: Nepal
Government type: | constitutional monarchy
Capital: | name: Kathmandu geographic coordinates: 27 43 N, 85 19 E time difference: UTC+5.75 (10.75 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: | 14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri, Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti
Independence: | 1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan SHAH)
National holiday: | NA; note - in 2006, Parliament abolished the birthday of King GYANENDRA (7 July) and Constitution Day (9 November) as national holidays
Constitution: | 9 November 1990; note - a new interim constitution was promulgated in January 2007; the November 2006 peace agreement calls for the election of a Constituent Assembly to draft a new permanent constitution
Legal system: | based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: | 18 years of age; universal
Executive branch: | chief of state: Prime Minister Girija Prasad KOIRALA (since 30 April 2006); note - the prime minister is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: Prime Minister Girija Prasad KOIRALA (since 30 April 2006) cabinet: Cabinet historically appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister; note - the prime minister selected the Cabinet in May 2006 in consultation with the political parties elections: following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition historically has been appointed prime minister by the monarch
Legislative branch: | unicameral Constituent Assembly (601 seats; 240 seats decided by direct popular vote; 335 seats by proportional representation; 26 appointed by the Cabinet (Council of Ministers)) note: KOIRALA has called first sitting of the Assembly on 28 May 2008 elections: last held 10 April 2008 (next to be held NA) election results: percent of vote by party - NA; seats by party - CPN-M 220, NC 110, CPN-UML 103, Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum 52, Terai Madhesi Democratic Party/Nepal Sadbhawana Party 29, other smaller parties 61; note - 26 seats to be filled by the new Cabinet
Judicial branch: | Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council)
Political parties and leaders: | Chure Bhawar Rastriya Ekata Party [Keshav Prasad MAINALI]; Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) [Pushpa Kamal DAHAL, also known as PRACHANDA, chairman; Dr. Baburam BHATTARAI]; Communist Party of Nepal (ML) [C.P. MAINALI]; Communist Party of Nepal (Unified) [Raj Singh SHRIS]; Communist Party of Nepal (United) [Ganesh SHAH]; Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML [Amrit Kumar BOHARA]; Dalit Janajati Party [Vishwendraman PASHWAN]; Janamorcha Nepal [Amik SHERCHAN]; Madhesi Jana Adhikar Forum [Upendra YADAV]; National Democratic Party or NDP [Pashupati Shumsher RANA] (also called Rastriya Prajatantra Party or RPP); Nepal Loktantrik Samajbadi Dal [Upendra GACHCHHADAR]; Nepal Pariwar Dal [Vinod DANGI]; Nepal Rastriya Party [Khushilal YADAV]; Nepal Sadbhavana Party (Anandi Devi) [Shyam Sundar GUPTA]; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE]; Nepali Congress Party or NCP [Girija Prasad KOIRALA]; Nepali Janata Dal [Bharat Prasad MAHATO]; Rastriya Janamorcha [Chitra BAHADUR K.C.]; Rastriya Janamukti Party [Malwar Singh THAPA]; Rastriya Janashakti Party or RJP [Surya Bahadur THAPA] (split from RPP in March 2005); Rastriya Prajatantra Party Nepal [Kamal THAPA]; Sadbhavana Party (Mahato) [Rajendra MAHATO]; Samajbadi Prajatantrik Janata Party Nepal [Prem Bahadur SINGH]; Sanghiya Loktantrik Rastriya Manch [Kamal CHHARAHANG]; Terai Madhesi Democratic Party [Mahantha THAKUR]
Political pressure groups and leaders: | several small armed Madhesi groups along the southern border with India; a variety of groups advocating regional autonomy for individual ethnic groups
International organization participation: | ADB, BIMSTEC, CP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM, IPU, ISO (correspondent), ITSO, ITU, ITUC, MIGA, MINUSTAH, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, SACEP, UN, UNAMID, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIL, UNMIS, UNOCI, UNOMIG, UNTSO, UNWTO, UPU, WCL, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WTO
Diplomatic representation in the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Suresh Chandra CHALISE chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550 FAX: [1] (202) 667-5534 consulate(s) general: New York:
Diplomatic representation from the US: | chief of mission: Ambassador Nancy J. POWELL embassy: Maharajgunj, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [977] (1) 400-7200 FAX: [977] (1) 400-7272
Flag description: | red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun

| Economy | Nepal | Top of Page

Economy - overview: | Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with almost one-third of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for three-fourths of the population and accounting for 38% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Security concerns relating to the Maoist conflict have led to a decrease in tourism, a key source of foreign exchange. Nepal has considerable scope for exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location, its civil strife, and its susceptibility to natural disaster.
GDP (purchasing power parity): | $29.04 billion (2007 est.)
GDP (official exchange rate): | $9.627 billion (2007 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: | 2.5% (2007 est.)
GDP - per capita (PPP): | $1,200 (2007 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: | agriculture: 38% industry: 20% services: 42% (FY05/06 est.)
Labor force: | 11.11 million note: severe lack of skilled labor (2006 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: | agriculture: 76% industry: 6% services: 18% (2004 est.)
Unemployment rate: | 42% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: | 30.9% (2004)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: | lowest 10%: 2.6% highest 10%: 40.6% (2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: | 47.2 (2004)
Inflation rate (consumer prices): | 6.4% (2007 est.)
Budget: | revenues: $1.153 billion expenditures: $1.927 billion (FY06/07)
Agriculture - products: | rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, jute, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat
Industries: | tourism, carpets, textiles; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production
Industrial production growth rate: | 2.2% (FY05/06)
Electricity - production: | 2.511 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity - consumption: | 1.96 billion kWh (2006)
Electricity - exports: | 101 million kWh (2006)
Electricity - imports: | 266 million kWh (2006)
Oil - production: | 0 bbl/day (2005 est.)
Oil - consumption: | 11,550 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - exports: | 0 bbl/day (2004)
Oil - imports: | 11,530 bbl/day (2006 est.)
Oil - proved reserves: | 0 bbl (1 January 2006 est.)
Natural gas - production: | 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - consumption: | 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - exports: | 0 cu m (2005 est.)
Natural gas - imports: | 0 cu m (2005)
Natural gas - proved reserves: | 0 cu m (1 January 2006 est.)
Current account balance: | $58 million (2007)
Exports: | $830 million f.o.b.; note - does not include unrecorded border trade with India (2006)
Exports - commodities: | carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain
Exports - partners: | India 67.9%, US 11.7%, Germany 4.7% (2006)
Imports: | $2.398 billion f.o.b. (2006)
Imports - commodities: | gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer
Imports - partners: | India 61.8%, China 3.8%, Indonesia 3.3% (2006)
Economic aid - recipient: | $427.9 million (2005)
Debt - external: | $3.07 billion (March 2006)
Stock of direct foreign investment - at home: | $NA
Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad: | $NA
Market value of publicly traded shares: | $963.5 million (2005)
Currency (code): | Nepalese rupee (NPR)
Exchange rates: | Nepalese rupees per US dollar - NA (2007), 72.446 (2006), 72.16 (2005), 73.674 (2004), 76.141 (2003)
Fiscal year: | 16 July - 15 July

| Communications | Nepal | Top of Page

Telephones - main lines in use: | 595,800 (2006)
Telephones - mobile cellular: | 1.042 million (2006)
Telephone system: | general assessment: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile-cellular telephone network domestic: NA international: country code - 977; radiotelephone communications; microwave landline to India; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: | AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (2000)
Television broadcast stations: | 1 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998)
Internet country code: | .np
Internet hosts: | 18,733 (2007)
Internet users: | 249,400 (2006)

| Transportation | Nepal | Top of Page

Airports: | 47 (2007)
Airports - with paved runways: | total: 10 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 1 (2007)
Airports - with unpaved runways: | total: 37 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 6 under 914 m: 30 (2007)
Railways: | total: 59 km narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge (2006)
Roadways: | total: 17,280 km paved: 9,829 km unpaved: 7,451 km (2004)

| Military | Nepal | Top of Page

Military branches: | Nepalese Army, Armed Police Force (2008)
Military service age and obligation: | 18 years of age for voluntary military service; 15 years of age for military training; no conscription (2008)
Manpower available for military service: | males age 16-49: 7,322,965 females age 16-49: 6,859,064 (2008 est.)
Manpower fit for military service: | males age 16-49: 5,146,958 females age 16-49: 4,724,495 (2008 est.)
Manpower reaching militarily significant age annually: | males age 16-49: 335,747 females age 16-49: 312,297 (2008 est.)
Military expenditures - percent of GDP: | 1.6% (2006)

| Transnational Issues | Nepal | Top of Page

Disputes - international: | joint border commission continues to work on contested sections of boundary with India, including the 400 square kilometer dispute over the source of the Kalapani River; India has instituted a stricter border regime to restrict transit of Maoist insurgents and illegal cross-border activities; approximately 106,000 Bhutanese Lhotshampas (Hindus) have been confined in refugee camps in southeastern Nepal since 1990
Refugees and internally displaced persons: | refugees (country of origin): 107,803 (Bhutan); 20,153 (Tibet/China) IDPs: 50,000-70,000 (remaining from ten-year Maoist insurgency that officially ended in 2006; displacement spread across the country) (2007)
Illicit drugs: | illicit producer of cannabis and hashish for the domestic and international drug markets; transit point for opiates from Southeast Asia to the West

This page was last updated on 19 June 2008