Nepal

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Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal.

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Etymology

Before the unification of Nepal, the Kathmandu Valley was known as Nepal. The precise origin of the term Nepāl is uncertain. Nepal appears in ancient Indian literary texts dated as far back as the fourth century AD. An absolute chronology cannot be established, as even the oldest texts may contain anonymous contributions dating as late as the early modern period. Academic attempts to provide a plausible theory are hindered by the lack of a complete picture of history and insufficient understanding of linguistics or relevant Indo-European and Tibeto-Burman languages.

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History

By 55,000 years ago, the first modern humans had arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa. The earliest known modern human remains in South Asia date to about 30,000 years ago. The oldest discovered archaeological evidence of human settlements in Nepal dates to around the same time.

After 6500 BC, evidence for the domestication of food crops and animals, construction of permanent structures, and storage of agricultural surplus appeared in Mehrgarh and other sites in what is now Balochistan.

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Geography

Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, about 800 kilometres (500 mi) long and 200 kilometres (120 mi) wide, with an area of 147,516 km2 (56,956 mi2). It lies between latitudes 26° and 31°N, and longitudes 80° and 89°E. Nepal's defining geological processes began 75 million years ago when the Indian plate, then part of the southern supercontinent Gondwana, began a north-eastward drift caused by seafloor spreading to its south-west, and later, south and south-east. Simultaneously, the vast Tethyn oceanic crust, to its northeast, began to subduct under the Eurasian Plate.

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Government and politics

Nepal is a parliamentary republic with a multi-party system. Nepal has been referred as the 'Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal' since 2015. Nepal has six political parties represented in the House of Representatives: Rastriya Swatantra Party, Nepali Congress, Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist), Nepali Communist Party, Shram Sanskriti Party, and Rastriya Prajatantra Party. Additionally, the Janata Samajbadi Party and the Rastriya Janamorcha are represented in the National Assembly. Of the two traditional major parties that both officially espouse democratic socialism, CPN (UML) is considered leftist while Nepali Congress is considered centrist.

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Economy

Nepal is one of the least developed countries, which ranks 165th in the world in nominal GDP per capita and 162nd in GDP per capita at PPP. Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for 2019 was $34.186 billion. Nepal has consistently been ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. Nepal has been a member of WTO since 23 April 2004.

The 16.8-million-worker Nepali labour force is the 37th largest in the world. The primary sector makes up 27.59% of GDP, the secondary sector 14.6%, and the tertiary sector 57.81%.

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Infrastructure

The bulk of energy in Nepal comes from biomass (80%) and imported fossil fuels (16%). Most of the final energy consumption goes to the residential sector (84%) followed by transport (7%) and industry (6%); the transport and industry sectors have been expanding rapidly in recent years. Except for some lignite deposits, Nepal has no known oil, gas or coal deposits. All commercial fossil fuels (mainly oil, LPG and coal) are imported, spending 129% of the country's total export revenue. Only about 1% of the energy need is fulfilled by electricity.

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Demographics

The citizens of Nepal are known as Nepali or Nepalese. The Nepali are descendants of four major migrations from India, Tibet and North Burma, Central Asia via Hindu Kush, and the Chinese province of Yunnan via Assam. Among the earliest inhabitants were the Kirat of the eastern region, Newars of the Kathmandu Valley, aboriginal Tharus of the Terai plains and the Khas Pahari people of the far-western hills. Despite the migration of a significant section of the population to the Terai in recent years, the majority of Nepalese still live in the central highlands, and the northern mountains are sparsely populated.

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Culture

Traditional Nepali society is sometimes defined by social hierarchy. The Nepali caste system embodies much of the social stratification and many of the social restrictions found in South Asia. Social classes are defined by more than a hundred endogamous hereditary groups, often termed as jātis, or "castes". Nepal declared untouchability to be illegal in 1963 and has since enacted other anti-discriminatory laws and social welfare initiatives.

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