Feb 26, 2007 22:49
NEPAL: An Introduction
BACKGROUND In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. A Maoist insurgency, launched in 1996, gained traction and threatened to bring down the regime, especially after a negotiated cease-fire between the Maoists and government forces broke down in August 2003. In 2001, the crown prince massacred ten members of the royal family, including the king and queen, and then took his own life. In October 2002, the new king dismissed the prime minister and his cabinet for "incompetence" after they dissolved the parliament and were subsequently unable to hold elections because of the ongoing insurgency. While stopping short of reestablishing parliament, the king in June 2004 reinstated the most recently elected prime minister who formed a four-party coalition government. Citing dissatisfaction with the government's lack of progress in addressing the Maoist insurgency and corruption, the king in February 2005 dissolved the government, declared a state of emergency, imprisoned party leaders, and assumed power. The king's government subsequently released party leaders and officially ended the state of emergency in May 2005, but the monarch retained absolute power until April 2006. After nearly three weeks of mass protests organized by the seven-party opposition and the Maoists, the king allowed parliament to reconvene on 28 April 2006. In November 2006, the government and Maoists signed the Comprehensive Peace Accord to end the ten-year insurgency.
GEOGRAPHY
Location: Southern Asia, between China and India Geographic coordinates: 28 00 N, 84 00 E
Area: total 147,181 sq km land 143,181 sq km water 4,000 sqkm
Area - comparative: slightly larger than Arkansas
Land boundaries: total 2,926 km border countries China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km
Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)
Climate: varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south
Terrain: Tarai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north
Elevation extremes: lowest point Kanchan Kalan 70 m highest point Mount Everest 8,850 m
Natural resources: quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore
Land use: arable land 16.07% permanent crops 0.85% other 83.08% (2005)
Irrigated land: 11,700 sq km (2003)
Natural hazards: severe thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, and famine depending on the timing, intensity, and duration of the summer monsoons
Environment - current issues: deforestation (overuse of wood for fuel and lack of alternatives); contaminated water (with human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, and industrial effluents); wildlife conservation; vehicular emissions
Environment - international agreements: party to Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Life Conservation
Geography - note: landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains eight of world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest and Kanchenjunga - the world's tallest and third tallest - on the borders with China and India respectively
PEOPLE
Population: 28,287,147 (July 2006 est.)
Age structure: 0-14 years: 38.7% (male 5,648,959/female 5,291,447) 15-64 years: 57.6% (male 8,365,526/female 7,925,941) 65 years and over: 3.7% (male 513,777/female 541,497) (2006 est.)
Median age: total 20.3 years male 20.1 years female 20.4 years (2006 est.)
Population growth rate: 2.17% (2006 est.) Birth rate: 30.98 births/1,000 population (2006 est.)
Nationality: Nepalese
Ethnic groups: Chhettri 15.5%, Brahman-Hill 12.5%, Magar 7%, Tharu 6.6%, Tamang 5.5%, Newar 5.4%, Muslim 4.2%, Kami 3.9%, Yadav 3.9%, other 32.7%, unspecified 2.8% (2001 census)
Religions: Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census)
Languages: Nepali 47.8%, Maithali 12.1%, Bhojpuri 7.4%, Tharu (Dagaura/Rana) 5.8%, Tamang 5.1%, Newar 3.6%, Magar 3.3%, Awadhi 2.4%, other 10%, unspecified 2.5% (2001 census)
note: many in government and business also speak English
Literacy: definition age 15 and over can read and write total population 48.6% male 62.7% female 34.9% (2000-2004 est.)
GOVERNMENT
Country name: Nepal Government type: parliamentary democracy
Capital: Kathmandu geographic coordinates: 27 43 N, 85 19 E
time difference: UTC+5.75 (10.75 hours ahead of Washington, DC during Standard Time)
Administrative divisions: 14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri, Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti
Constitution: 9 November 1990; the government began working on an interim constitution in May 2006
Legal system: based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal
Flag description: red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun
ECONOMY
Overview: Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with almost one-third of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for three-fourths of the population and accounting for 38% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Tourism is a key source of foreign exchange. Nepal has considerable scope for exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location.
GDP (purchasing power parity): USD41.92 bil (2006 est.) GDP (official exchange rate): USD7.154 bil (2006 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 5% (2006 est.) GDP - per capita (PPP): USD1,500 (2006 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture 38% industry 21% services 41% (2005 est.)
Labor force: 10.4 million note: severe lack of skilled labor (2004 est.)
Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 76% industry 6% services 18% Unemployment rate: 42% (2004 est.)
Population below poverty line: 31% (2003-2004)
Household income or consumption by percentage share: lowest 10%: 2.6% highest 10%: 39.1% (2003-2004)
Distribution of family income - Gini index: 37.7 (FY04/05) Inflation rate (consumer prices): 7.8% (October 2005 est.)
Budget: revenues USD1.153 billion expenditures USD 1.789 billion; including capital expenditures of $NA (FY05/06)
Agriculture - products: rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat
Industries: tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production
Industrial production growth rate: 3.8% (FY04/05)
Electricity - production: 2.565 billion kWh (2005) Electricity - consumption: 1.85 billion kWh (2005)
Electricity - exports: 111 million kWh (2005) Electricity - imports: 241 million kWh (2005)
Oil - production: nil Oil - consumption: 11,980 bbl/day (2005 est.) Oil - imports: 11,760 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Exports: USD822 million f.o.b.; note - does not include unrecorded border trade with India (2005 est.)
Exports - commodities: carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain
Exports - partners: India 53.7%, US 17.4%, Germany 7.1% (2005)
Imports: USD2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.)
Imports - commodities: gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer
Imports - partners: India 47.7%, UAE 11.2%, China 10.8%, Saudi Arabia 4.9%, Kuwait 4.2% (2005)
Debt - external: USD3.34 billion (March 2005) Economic aid - recipient: USD424 million (FY00/01)
Currency (code): Nepalese rupee (NPR) Fiscal year: 16 July - 15 July
Exchange rates: Nepalese rupees per USD - 71.368 (2005), 73.674 (2004), 76.141 (2003), 77.877 (2002)
COMMUNICATIONS
Telephones - main lines in use: 448,600 (2005) Telephones - mobile cellular: 248,800 (2005)
Telephone system: general assessment: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network
domestic: NA international: country code - 977; radiotelephone communications; microwave landline to India; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)
Radio broadcast stations: AM 6, FM 5, shortwave 1 (January 2000) Television broadcast stations: 1 (plus 9 repeaters) (1998)
Internet country code: .np Internet hosts: 17,789 (2006) Internet users: 175,000 (2005)
TRANSPORTATION
Airports: 48 (2006)
Airports - with paved runways: total: 10 over 3,047 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 7 under 914 m: 2 (2006)
Airports - with unpaved runways: total: 38 1,524 to 2,437 m: 1 914 to 1,523 m: 8 under 914 m: 29 (2006)
Railways: total 59 km narrow gauge 59 km 0.762-m gauge (2005)
Roadways: total 17,380 km paved 9,886 km unpaved 7,494 km (2004)