Nepal (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain everything about Nepal and its physical and cultural characteristics. Also, what is its economy, religion and the history of this country.

Nepal

Nepal is a national state whose official name is also Nepal. Its territory is located in Asia, in the Himalayan mountain range and borders India to the south and China to the north. It is a secular, multicultural and multilingual state, covering a territory of 147,181 km² of surface.

Nepalese territory is landlocked. It is located in the Himalayan mountain range and its morphology is mainly mountainous, but it also has other types of relief, such as the jungle plains of the Terai in the south, or the valley where its capital city, Kathmandu, is located. Its territory is divided into 7 provinces containing 77 districts..

Until 1990, Nepal was an absolute monarchy. Starting in 1990, its form of government changed to a parliamentary monarchy and finally the new constitution that came into force in 2007 abolished the monarchy and defined Nepal as a federal parliamentary republic.

Why is it called “Nepal”? There are several theories about the origin of the name “Nepal”. One theory suggests that it derives from the Sanskrit word Nepawhich is believed to be the name of an ancient tribe that lived in the region. Another theory proposes that the name comes from a wise man in Hindu mythology called “Ne”. It is also believed that it could come from the Sanskrit term nipalayawhich means “at the foot of the mountains.”

Features of Nepal

Some characteristics of this country are:

Its population is 30.5 million inhabitants.
It covers an area of 147 thousand km².
It has a population density of 207 inhabitants per square kilometer.
Its capital is the city of Kathmandu, which has 1,400,000 inhabitants.
Its official language is Nepali.
Its predominant relief is mountainous, but there are also extensive valleys and plains in the south.
It is crossed by the Himalayan mountain range.
In its territory is Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.
Its climate is temperate humid in the south and polar alpine tundra climate in the highlands in the north.
Hinduism is the majority religion.
Its main economic activity is agriculture.

Area, population and capital of Nepal

In Kathmandu is Boudhanath, a 5th century stupa.

Nepal has an area of 147,000 km²making it one of the smallest countries in Asia. It has a population of 30,500,000 inhabitants, and a population density of 207 inhabitants per square kilometer.

It is divided into 7 provinces. The most populated district, with more than 5,500,000 inhabitants, is Bagmati, where the capital, Kathmandu, is located. The least populated district, but at the same time the largest, is Karnali, in the northwest of the country, which has almost 28,000 square kilometers but only 1,500,000 inhabitants.

The capital of Nepal is the city of Kathmandu. Its population amounts to 1,400,000 inhabitants. It is located in a valley of the same name in the center of the country, at about 1,317 meters high.

In its vicinity there are seven different sites considered by UNESCO as Cultural Heritage of Humanity:

Durbar Square in Hanuman Dhoka. It is the largest of the royal squares, where you can see historical buildings from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Durbar Square in Patan. Its 19 historical buildings reflect the Malla dynasty.
Durbar Square in Bhaktapur. It has monuments from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Swayambhunath. It is a stupa (Buddhist religious building) located on a hill three kilometers from Kathmandu, where the oldest Buddhist monument in the valley is located.
Boudhanath. The largest stupa in Nepal, dating back to the 5th century.
The Pashuati monument area. Hindu pilgrimage center on both banks of the Bagmati River.
Changu Narayan Monument Area. In the eastern part of the valley.

Climate, relief and hydrography of Nepal

Most of Nepal's relief is mountainoussince the Himalayan mountain range crosses it from east to west. Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world at 8,848 meters high, is part of the Himalayas and is located in Nepal.

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For their part, the most fertile valleys (less elevated and less cold) offer favorable conditions for the practice of agriculture and the establishment of the country's main cities (such as Kathmandu, located in the valley of the same name).

In the south of the country, and in contrast to the great mountain ranges of the north, there is the Terai plain, a vast area of fertile lowlands. This region with a warm and rainy climate, covered with tropical vegetation, offers the appropriate climatic conditions for the practice of agriculture and is home to rich biodiversity.

Most of Nepal has a temperate climate.. It has two variations, the subhumid or monsoon and the humid subtropical. The subhumid or monsoon is characterized by having warm, rainy summers, and cold, dry winters. The humid subtropical has temperatures similar to the monsoon, but abundant rainfall all year round.

In the higher altitude areas of the Himalayas the climate is much colder, and is called alpine tundra climate. This climate occurs in areas of more than 3,500 meters of altitude, and is characterized by low temperatures and little rainfall.

The rivers of Nepal originate in the Himalayas and flow southwards. The most important are the Karnali, Kali, Trisuli and Narayani rivers. All four are part of the Ganges River basin, one of the most important rivers in India and the region.

The flora and fauna varies according to the climate and relief. In the mountainous northern sector, animals and plants are scarce, and they are adapted to low temperatures all year round, lack of oxygen and aridity.

On the contrary, in the valleys and plains they make up humid forest biomes, and the animals and plants are much more varied and abundant.

Nepalese culture

Being a multi-ethnic country, the Nepalese population can be classified into different groups of different ancestry:

Khas or pahari. It is the largest group, it is the so-called “Nepalese” or “mountain people”.
Madhesi. It is the group that inhabits the Terai plains. It forms an ethnic conglomerate that speaks Indo-Iranian languages such as Maijilí (3.6 million), Bhoshpuri (2.2 million) and Awadi.
Newa. It is the original town of the Kathmandu Valley, whose approximate population is 1,300,000 inhabitants. Its members speak their own Tibeto-Burman language and were the ruling dynasty until the 16th century.
Magar. It is a group made up of speakers of Sino-Tibetan languages who migrated to Nepal from Siberia and who were part of the ruling dynasty between the 16th century and 2007.
Tamang. It is an indigenous group that speaks a language similar to Tibetan. It is assumed that its members arrived from Tibet when King Trisong made them his border guards in the year 775.
Gurung. It is a group of approximately 500,000 inhabitants who live in the mountains and are dedicated to pastoralism and trade.
Sherpa. With around 150,000 inhabitants, it is a group from Sichuan, China, who would have taken refuge in the Himalayas centuries ago.
Tharu. They are the indigenous people of the Nepalese jungles and their population reaches 1,200,000 inhabitants.

National symbols of Nepal

The national symbols of Nepal are:

The flag of Nepal. It is the only one in the world that does not have a rectangular or square shape. It consists of two triangles representing the Himalayas and the country's two main religions and cultural influences: Buddhism and Hinduism. The interior of the flag is red and its edges are blue. Within the red zone are the sun and the moon, which represent the two royal dynasties. This flag was adopted in 1962.
The National Anthem of Nepal. It is known as Sayaun Thunga Phool Ka, which in Nepali means “made of hundreds of flowers.” Its lyrics were composed by Nepalese poet Pradeep Kumai Rai, and the music by Amber Gurung. It has been used as the official anthem since 2007.
The coat of arms of Nepal. It was adopted on June 13, 2020. At the top the flag of Nepal appears over Mount Everest and some green hills. In the center of the shield appears a white silhouette with the shape of the country and below it two arms holding hands, one male and one female. All these elements appear surrounded by a garland made with red flowers. At the bottom of the shield there is a laurel wreath and a red ribbon.

Economic activities of Nepal

The official currency of Nepal is the Nepalese rupee. The most important economic activities in Nepal are:

Agriculture. It is one of the main economic activities in Nepal, and employs the majority of the rural population. The main crops are rice, corn, wheat, barley, sugar cane and mustard.
Tourism. It is a growing activity in Nepal due to its mountainous landscapes. Climbing Everest and the mountain trails of the Himalayas are some of the activities most sought after by tourists who come to Nepal. Cultural and religious sites such as the temples and monasteries of Kathmandu and Lumbini, the birthplace of Buddha, are also attractive tourist destinations.
Manufacturing industry. It focuses on the production of textiles and clothing. The products derived from this activity constitute Nepal's main export, along with handmade carpets, highly valued in international markets.

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History of Nepal

The Nepali Congress Party promoted the establishment of a democratic regime.

References to the territory of present-day Nepal appear in ancient Hindu and Buddhist texts. In fact, according to Buddhist tradition, it was in the Nepalese village of Lumbini where Gautama Buddha was born. As for the archaeological evidence, it suggests that there was a strong Buddhist presence in the region in early times, especially during the reign of Asoka of the Mauryan Empire in the 3rd century BC. c.

Between the 5th and 8th centuries AD. C. a kingdom of the Licchavi dynasty (of Indo-Aryan origin) was established in the Kathmandu Valley. Starting in the 15th century, the territory was divided into principalities.

In 1768, King Prithvi Narayan Shah of the Gurkha principality conquered the Kathmandu Valley and established his capital there, giving birth to the Kingdom of Nepal. The ruling dynasty promoted expansion through confrontations with China in Tibet (1788-1792) and with the British in India (1814-1816), but the results were adverse.

Between 1846 and 1951 the Rana family exercised power, holding government positions hereditarily and turning the kings into decorative figures. The Rana collaborated with the British in suppressing a rebellion in India in 1857 and allowed the recruitment of Nepalese military units (called Gurkhas) in exchange for British recognition of Nepal's political autonomy.

Following Indian independence in 1947 and the British withdrawal from the region, the Nepalese government lost external support. In 1951 a revolution broke out against the Rana family and a series of transitional governments were formed. In 1959, general elections were held and won by the Nepali Congress Party.

The new government was overthrown by a coup d'état by King Mahendra in 1960, who established an absolutist regime. In 1990 there were protests from sectors demanding political reforms and King Birendra, who was ruling at the time, agreed to form a transitional government that established a constitutional monarchy and a multi-party system.
In 1991 there were the first free elections in the country that gave the majority to the Nepali Congress Party. In 1996 the Nepal Communist Party attempted an armed insurrection to proclaim a Maoist state. Thus began a civil war that lasted for ten years and left around thirteen thousand dead. In 2008 Nepal was declared a republic.

References

Ecured (sf) Nepal. https://www.ecured.cu/
IFAD (2023) Nepal. https://www.ifad.org/
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2023) Nepal. Country sheet. Diplomatic Information Office of Spain. https://www.exteriores.gob.es/
Terrasa, D. (2019) Nepal: physical geography. https://geografia.laguia2000.com/
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“Nepal” at https://www.britannica.com/