First Impressions of Nepal

First Impressions of Nepal

Asia

Nepal lies between China and India, in the region of the highest mountain on earth, Mt. Everest at 8848m. On an area that is almost 3 ½ times larger than Switzerland and also has 3 ½ times more inhabitants than Switzerland. ¾ of the country is mountainous and the rest is lowland in the south with a subtropical climate. The rainy season lasts from July to October.

Nepal lies between China and India, in the region of the highest mountain on earth, Mt. Everest at 8848m. On an area that is almost 3 ½ times larger than Switzerland and also has 3 ½ times more inhabitants than Switzerland. ¾ of the country is mountainous and the rest is lowland in the south with a subtropical climate. The rainy season lasts from July to October.

Location

According to topmbadirectory, Nepal is located in South Asia and extends approximately from the 26th to 30th north latitude and from the 80th to 88th east longitude. Nepal covers an area of ​​147,181 square kilometers, of which about 143,000 square kilometers are land and the remaining 4,000 square kilometers are inland waters. The east-west extent is 885 kilometers and the maximum north-south extent reached in western Nepal is around 241 kilometers. Nepal lies between Tibet to the north and India to the south. Nepal borders (from west to east) the Indian states of Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal and the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which has joined the Union of India.

Himalayas

Geologically speaking, the Himalayas are relatively young at around 45 million years and are therefore less rounded and smoothed by erosion than other mountains. Several rivers, all of which eventually flow into the Ganges, have dug deep gorges through the mountains, the Kali Gandaki is the deepest gorge at around 6000 meters – measured against the eight-thousanders Dhaulagiri (8167 m) and Annapurna (8091 m) opposite there the earth.

Population

Ethnically and culturally, Nepal is a mosaic of minorities. A census in 2001 counted over 100 different ethnic groups and castes and 124 different languages ​​and dialects (most of which are threatened with extinction). The Nepalese caste system is still present as a social phenomenon, although the rules are now interpreted less strictly and discrimination against individual castes was declared unlawful by the 1962 constitution, which spoke of a Hindu monarchy. Caste boundaries are partially porous, and the categories of ethnicity and caste overlap or depend on the viewer’s perspective.

Cities

To this day, the population of Nepal is largely rural and farming; the proportion of urban dwellers, at 15% of the total population, remains one of the lowest in the world. However, urbanization has risen sharply in recent years, with growth rates in this area of ​​3.5% per year and higher. Nepal was governed centrally down to the local level until the early 1990s. In the context of democratization and decentralization, the municipalities were released into independence in several phases. The “city rights” entitled “Nagarpalika”, “Up-Maha-Nagarpalika” and “Maha-Nagarpalika” are thus granted by the government.

Early days

In the early days, the valley where today’s capital Kathmandu is located was a large mountain lake. After this had disappeared due to an earthquake, numerous people from surrounding areas immigrated and united to form the mixed people of the so-called Newar. This is how the pagoda style of construction developed by the Nepalese from the Kathmandu Valley emerged in the seventh century in the Chinese Empire and also spread to Japan.

Kingdom

After Nepal had been under Indian Rajput rule for a long time, the Newar Jayadharma Malla finally succeeded in unifying and liberating the valley in the 14th century. His grandson, Yakasha Malla, was later able to expand the dominion even further and thus ensure great prosperity in his kingdom. His four sons, however, divided the land among themselves again and thus weakened it in all respects. The sub-principality of Gorkha continued to expand its sphere of influence and united about 50 principalities under Prithvi Narayan Shah to form the Kingdom of Gorkha (1768). Pushing south, the Gorkhali, as they called themselves, came across the sphere of influence of the British East India Company, which was pushing north.

First Impressions of Nepal