Facts in Nepal

Nepal in facts and figures

Nepal sits between India and China, stretched along the Himalayan range for roughly 800 kilometres east to west and rarely more than 200 kilometres north to south. That narrow shape packs an extraordinary range of climate: tropical plains at around 60 metres above sea level in the south, and the highest point on earth at 8,848.86 metres on the northern border.

The country is a federal republic with seven provinces and 77 districts, and 753 local units that handle much of the day-to-day administration of schools, health posts and local roads. Administratively, that means a small country with a large number of named places — useful to remember when you are trying to locate a village in a report.

Quick reference

Item	Detail
Capital	Kathmandu
Total area	147,516 square kilometres
Provinces / districts / local units	7 / 77 / 753
Official language	Nepali, with many other languages recognised in practice
Currency	Nepali rupee (NPR)
Calendar	Bikram Sambat, roughly 56–57 years ahead of the Gregorian year
Highest point	Mount Everest (Sagarmatha), 8,848.86 m
National symbols	Rhododendron (flower), cow (animal), danphe (bird)

Landscape and records

Nepal contains eight of the world's fourteen peaks above 8,000 metres, which is why mountaineering is both a national industry and a national risk. Beyond the high peaks, the country is better understood as three horizontal belts: the Terai plain, the mid-hills with their terraced slopes, and the high mountain zone. Rivers run generally south from snow-fed headwaters, which is why water is abundant in the monsoon and scarce in the dry season.

People and languages

The population is a mosaic of more than a hundred caste and ethnic groups and well over a hundred languages and dialects. Nepali is the lingua franca and the language of administration and school textbooks, but Maithili, Bhojpuri, Newar, Tamang, Tharu, Awadhi and many others are everyday languages in their regions. Religion is similarly layered: Hindu and Buddhist traditions dominate, with Muslim, Kirat, Christian and other communities present across the country.

Culture and festivals

Dashain and Tihar are the largest national festivals, both falling in autumn. Lhosar is celebrated by Sherpa, Tamang and other communities at different times of year, Chhath is important in the Terai, and Buddha Jayanti marks the birth of the Buddha at Lumbini, one of the country's most significant historical sites.

Keep reading

For a wider set of records and curiosities see interesting facts about Nepal, and for the longer story go to history of Nepal.

Quick answers