General informationNepal is in South Asia and located south to Republic of China and north to Republic of India. Kathmandu is the capital city and Hinduism is the national and major religion in Nepal. Nepal is the only country that set Hinduism as its official religion. The north part of the country has many famous mountains such as Mountain Everest and south part is highly populated and developed.
Religions, languages and festivals (Culture)
Although Hinduism is the official religion in Nepal, there are a variety of religions that Nepalese practice such as Buddhism (2nd largest), Christianity, and Islam (both minor). “Hindu and Buddhist worshippers may regard the same god with different names while performing religious rites. Though Nepal is the only Hindu Kingdom in the world, many other religions like Islam, Christianity and Bon are practiced here.” [1]
There are more than 92 languages spoken in Nepal. Four major groups of languages are Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian, and Indigenous. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali, Maithili, Bhojpuri, and so on.
There are more than 50 major festivals in Nepal and most of them are religious-related. One of the biggest festivals is Dashain and many Nepalese people outside their country celebrate themselves missing their home country. “The entire population of Nepal celebrates the festival that falls between mid September to mid October. Nepalis celebrate Dashai by buying new clothes, eating good food and visiting family members. Card games are very popular during this time. Various fairs and celebration events are organized during the Dashain fortnight in both villages and cities”. [2]
When Nepalese women get married, they wear red clothes. Likewise, if they get divorced or become widows, they no longer wear red, instead, wear white color only for the rest of their lives.
History
In the mid-18th century, the kingdoms of Nepal unified. “Prithivi Narayan Shah is known as the creator of Nepal…Nepal was defeated and the Sugauli Treaty was signed in 1816, under which Nepal lost one-third of its territory…. The period between1836-1846 is marked with confusion and intrigues… Then began the Rana period in Nepal which lasted up to 104 years. During this period, the country was kept in isolation and the people were deprived of political and social rights… Mahendra’s son King Birendra reinstated multipart after the movemenmt in 1989. When the late King ‘Birendra’ and his entire family were killed on 2001, his brother, Gyanendra Shah became the king of Nepal. Gyanendra reinstated the parliament aftewr popolar struggle in 2006. In 2008, the newly elected constitution assembly declared the country a republic.” [3]
Geography
“There is no coast in Nepal, as it shares three quarters of its borders with India (south, east and west) and the remaining northern border with China.” [4]
Terai is southern lowland and usually urbanized. Hill is on higher altitude and has subtropical to temperate climates. The capital city, Kathmandu, is on Hill region. The mountainous are (Mountain region) is famous for Mountain Everest in Great Himalayan Range. This region is on the northern part of the country.
Nepal has four distinct seasons (spring, summer, autumn and winter). There is a raining period during summer and it is called ‘monsoon’ and tourists can have good opportunities to travel around and enjoy the natural beauty of Nepal.
. “Even though the arrival of the summer monsoon can vary by as much as a month, in Nepal it generally arrives in early June, is preceded by violent lightning and thunderstorms, and lasts through September, when it begins to recede.” [5]
Cited Sources
1. Nepal Tourism. info (A complete tourism information)
http://nepaltourism.info/nepal_religions.html
4. Kwintessntial – Geography of Nepal
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/article/Nepal/Geography-of-Nepal/332
5. The Library of Congress Country Studies; CIA World Factbook (original source)
http://www.photius.com/countries/nepal/climate/nepal_climate_climate.html
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