Nepal is blessed with one of the richest cultures in the world. Culture has been called 'the way of life for an entire Nepalese society' where every aspect of life, food, clothing and even occupations are culturally guided. The culture of Nepal is a unique combination of tradition and novelty. The traditions are followed as they were and new customs are created to keep pace with the changing times. Culture in Nepal is an assemblage of music, architecture, religion and literature. Nepal is multi-ethic and multi-lingual and is rich with unique cultural groups. Nepalese are culturally warm, hospitable and affectionate hosts who place their heart above their head.
Geographic and Demographic Views Nepal country has an area of 147,181 square kilometers and is bordered by the two most populous countries of the world, China and India. It extends 885 kilometres from east to west and is non − uniform north to south both in dimension (average 193 kilometers) and in terms of terrain. Nepal has an extremely large variety of topography − ranging from lowland plains to the highest mountains in the world. For administrative purposes, Nepal is divided into 75 districts which are grouped into three geographical and five development regions. Within each district there are village development committees in rural areas and municipalities in urban areas. In total there are 58 municipalities and more than 3,900 village development committees corresponding to about 36 thousand wards (the lowest administrative units in the country). The first population “count” of Nepal was undertaken in 1911. Since then nine more censuses have been accomplished in the country. The last census was conducted in 2001. The next census is due in the year 2011.
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Area
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147,181 sq. km
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Geography
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Situated between China in the north and India in the South
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Location
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Latitude: 2612' to 3027' North Longitude:804' to 8812' East
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Capital
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Kathmandu
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People
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101 ethnic groups and 92 spoken languages
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Climate
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Sub-tropical in low lands to arctics in higher altitudes
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Population
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28,676,547 (2005)
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Growth Rate
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2.2%
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Life expectancy (Average)
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59.8 Years
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Literacy Rate (Average)
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53.74%
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◊◊Political situation◊◊
Historically, Nepal had many small kingdoms and the modern state was formed with the Unification of Nepal by Prithvi Narayan Shah on December 21, 1768. Prior to 2006, Nepal was a kingdom. Nepal is now a federal democratic republic. Its recent history has involved struggles for democratic government with periods of direct monarchic rule. From 1996 until 2006, Nepal suffered from a Civil War between government forces and guerrillas of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist).
On December 28, 2007, the Interim Parliament passed a bill and declared Nepal to be a Federal Democratic Republic. The first meeting of the Constituent Assembly officially implemented that declaration on May 28, 2008.
◊◊ Nepali Dress ◊◊
Daura-Suruwal, typically termed as 'Labeda-Suruwal' is the traditional Nepali dress. The dress has several religious beliefs identifying its designs and has therefore remained the same from the years. The Daura has eight strings that serve to tie itself up around the body. It is believed that those eight strings denote the Goddess “Aasamatrika”.Also, the Daura has five pleats or Kallis, signifying Pancha Buddha or Pancha Ratna. And the closed neck of the Daura signifies the snake around the Lord Shiva's neck. The Nepali dress for women is a cotton sari (Guniu) that is gaining great popularity in the fashion world.
◊◊Religion◊◊
Religion in Nepal is not only a system of social coherence based on certain rituals and beliefs. It is the binding force that ties with each other. Event though there are huge population of Hindu people living in country, it equally respect to other religions as well.
| Hinduism |
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86.51% |
| Buddhism |
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7.78% |
| Islam |
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3.53% |
| Christianity, Tantrism & others |
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2.17% |
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