Nepal , a small sovereign Independent, secular nation, is located between 80° 04' and 88° 12' East longitudes and between 26° 22' and 30° 27' North latitudes. It is a landlocked country bounded in the East, West, and South by India and in the North by the Tibetan autonomous region of the People's Republic of China. With a land area of 1, 47,181 square kilometers. Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal.

Geographically the country is divided into three zones. The snow clad High Himalayas in the Northern Belt , the Mountainous Region embracing Mahabharata Range in the middle with long terraced slopes leading to fertile valleys and subtropical plain land in the down south. Along with varied topographical feature, the High Himalayan Region extends in the north from West to East at an altitude of 4000 meters to 8848 m. The world famous peaks Mt. Everest (8848m.), Kanchanjungha (8586m.), Makalu (8463m.), Dhaulagiri (8167m.) Annapurna (8091m.) and many other dominate the formidable range of eternal snow . The mountain region in the middle part of topography covers picturesque Mahabharata Ranges with mean elevation of 1525m. Below this there lies Churia Range consisting of newly formed sandy hill ranging from 610m. to 1524 m. Number of fertile valleys with various sizes, green lust forest belts are added features of this region. The southern belt of the land called Terai, stretching from east to west occupies the width of 26 to 32 kms. at a maximum elevation of about 305 m. It is the birth place of Buddha , the ultimate destination for the travellers and holidaying tourist , the home of the yak & yeti, dense green forests along with the world's most endangered species like; one-horned Rhinoceros, Royal Bengal tiger,Asian elephant,swamp deer,red panda and musk deer . Nepal is a land of inspiring scenery, time-worn temples, deepest gorge, highest lake, eight out of 14 highest peaks including Mt. Everest (8848m) and some of the best challenging hiking trails on earth . It's a poor country, but it is rich in picturesque majesty and cultural treasures. You can count more festivals than the number of days in this unique country, where we have got ten World Heritage Sites, out of which seven are located within a distance of 20 km inside Kathmandu valley. We even got Living Goddess Kumari here.

The climate

Nepal has five climatic zones, broadly corresponding to altitude. The tropical and subtropical zones lie below 1,200 metres (3,940 ft), the temperate zone 1,200 to 2,400 metres (3,900–7,875 ft), the cold zone 2,400 to 3,600 metres (7,875–11,800 ft), the subarctic zone 3,600 to 4,400 metres (11,800–14,400 ft), and the Arctic zone above 4,400 metres (14,400 ft). Nepal experiences five seasons: summer, monsoon , autumn, winter and spring. The Himalaya blocks cold winds from Central Asia in winter, and forms the northern limit of the monsoon wind patterns.

PEOPLE AND CULTURE

Nepal is a country of rich socio-cultural diversity. Concentrating upon particular geographic regions, 23.2 million people of more than 60-caste or ethnic groups are peacefully living in the country. Diversity in terms of ethnicity, language, cultures and religion and harmony as well as peaceful coexistence are the characteristic feature of Nepalese society. From the very early period the migrants from the east, the north and the south entered the land and settled there with the natives. They are the Nepalese people ethnically, all native Nepalese representing different group fall either in Indo-Aryan or Tibeto-Burman family. The Bramhins, Kshytriyas, Newars, Tamangs, Thakuris, Tharus, Dhimals, Yadavs, Rais, Limbus, Sherpas, Gurrungs, Magars, Thakalis are some of the major sects of Nepalese Society.
Nepalese people by nature are religious followers and religious rituals are part of their daily life. Though Hinduism is declared as a state religion, harmony and coexistence among the different religions is an outstanding example everfound. According to the 1991 census figure, 86 % of the total population is Hindus, 7.8% are Buddhists, 3.5% are Muslims and 2.2 % are Jain, Christian and others.Nepal is a multilingual Kingdom.It is the lingua franca of the country and is written in Devnagari. Maithili, Tharu, Newari, Bhojpuri, Gurrung, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Magar, Bhote and so on are other languages spoken in the country. English is spoken and understood by people in most urban centers.
Nepal is a country of rich cultural heritage. Unique culture inherited from the ancient days is deeply rooted in the way of life of the Nepalese people. Nepal has maintained one of the world's oldest and richest continues cultures. Her culture finds exquisite expressions in a number of fields such as religion, art and music, social and socio-religious festivals, temples, pagodas, shrines, intricate wood carvings, bronze and stone sculptors of great beauty represent the heritage of world fame. Festivals are prominent features of Nepalese life. Dasain (Durga Puja) Tihar (Festival of Lights), Shivaratri (in honour of Lord Shiva), Baishak Purnima (to homage to Lord Buddha), and a host of other festivals are celebrated throughout the year.

In 1990s, Weeks of street protests and general strikes forced King Birenda to proclaim a new constitution that legalized political parties, asserted human rights, abolished the panchayat system, and vastly reduced the king's powers in a constitutional monarchy. In the 1991 parliamentary elections, the centrist Nepali Congress party won a slim majority and formed a government, which collapsed in 1994. Following a succession of failed coalition governments & the Congress party once again won a majority in the 1999 legislative elections. Meanwhile, a Maoist insurgency began in rural Nepal during the mid-1990s.

In June, 2001, the king and many members of the royal family were killed. The king's brother, Prince Gyanendra, succeeded to throne; Gyanendra, unlike Birenda, had opposed the 1990 constitution.

In November, 2001, negotiations with the Maoist rebels broke down and serious fighting began; the rebels won control of a significant portion of Nepal . In May, 2002, Congress party infighting led Deuba to dissolve parliament and seek new elections, which prompted the party to expel him and call for his cabinet to resign, which mostly did not. When Dueba called (Oct., 2002) for the postponement of elections for a year, the king removed him from office and named Lokendra Bahadur Chand, a former prime minister and monarchist, to the post. Elections were postponed indefinitely.

In Jan., 2003, a cease-fire was signed with the rebels, and negotiations began, although there were occasional violations of the cease-fire. In May growing opposition demonstrations against the government led Chand to resign, but hopes for a compromise with the opposition were dashed when the king named Surya Bahadur Thapa, a royalist, as prime minister and effectively brought all of the country's administrative powers under control of the crown. The rebels withdrew from the inconclusive negotiations in Aug., 2003, and fighting between government troops and rebel forces soon resumed. Neither the army nor the Maoists gained full control of the countryside; parliament remained dissolved, and there were increasing public protests against the king.

In April, 2004, the king promised to hold parliamentary elections in 2005. The following month the prime minister resigned, and in June the king appointed Deuba to the post. Deuba subsequently formed a broad-based coalition government. Despite government offensives against the rebels, they remained strong enough to enforce their will. In August and December the rebels again called successful blockades of the capital; they also began forcing the closure of a number of businesses.

Declaring that the cabinet had failed, the king dismissed the government in Feb., 2005, and declared a state of emergency, placing opposition figures under arrest. He assumed direct control of the government as chairman of a new cabinet. Many political prisoners were released in April, and the emergency ended in May, but the king retained the powers he had assumed. In July, 2005, Deuba and several others were convicted and sentenced on corruption charges by an anticorruption commission established by the king.

Nepal 's two largest parties, the Congress and the Communist (United Marxist-Leninist), subsequently ended their support for a constitutional monarchy, and in September the Maoist rebels declared a three-month cease-fire. Nepal 's opposition parties and the rebels agreed in Nov., 2005, jointly to support the reestablishments of constitutional democracy in the country, and the rebels then extended their cease-fire for a month. In Jan., 2006, however, the rebels announced the cease-fire would end because the government had continued its operations against them. By April, when the king offered to restore a democratic government, the situation in the country had become even more troubled, with the pro-democracy demonstrations and the government response to them increasingly confrontational and violent.

The reinstatement of parliament in April ushered in a rapid series of governmental changes. Koirala again became prime minister, and his government responds to the rebels' three-month cease-fire with an indefinite one. The monarchy was stripped of its powers and privileges, although not abolished, and Nepal was declared a secular nation. The government began talks with the rebels, who in June agreed in principle to join an interim government.

A Nov., 2006, accord called for the rebels to join the government and assemble in camps and place their weapons under UN supervision, and the following month an interim constitution under which the monarch was not head of state was agreed to. The question of the ultimate abolition of the monarchy was left to a constituent assembly that would be elected in 2007. Human-rights groups accused the rebels, however, of continuing to engage in extortion and conscription. In Jan., 2007, the rebels joined the interim parliament and the interim constitution came into effect; in April they joined a new interim government. Although some 31,000 rebels were in camps by late February, far fewer numbers of weapons had been sequestered. As of July 2007; many of Nepal 's new political leaders, including the former Maoist rebels, now want the monarchy abolished. The former king has already lost his powers as head of state and head of the army and the government has decided to stop paying all allowances.