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.

Geographic coordinates: 28 00 N 84 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Comparative: slightly larger than Arkansas

Coastline: 0 km (landlocked)

Maritime claims: none (landlocked)

Climate: varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south

Terrain: Terai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south central hill region rugged Himalayas in north

Natural resources: quartz water timber hydropower scenic beauty small deposits of lignite copper cobalt iron ore

Irrigated land: 8,500 km² (1993 est.)

Natural hazards: severe thunderstorms flooding landslides drought and famine depending on the timing intensity and duration of the summer monsoons

Geography
Note: landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains eight of world's 10 highest peaks

Population: 24,702,119 (July 2000 est.)
Growth rate: 2.34% (2000 est.)
Below poverty line: 42% (1995-96 est.)

Ethnic groups: Newars Indians Tibetans Gurungs Magars Tamangs Bhotias Rais Limbus Sherpas

Languages: Nepali (official) over 20 other languages divided into numerous dialects

Religions: Hindu 90% Buddhist 5% Muslim 3% other 2% (1981)

Population growth rate: 2.34% (2000 est.)

Birth rate: 33.83 births/1000 population (2000 est.)

Death rate: 10.41 deaths/1000 population (2000 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2000 est.)

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

Infant mortality rate: 75.93 deaths/1000 live births (2000 est.)

Total fertility rate: 4.68 children born/woman (2000 est.)

Government type: parliamentary democracy

Capital: Kathmandu

Administrative divisions: 14 zones (anchal singular and plural); Bagmati Bheri Dhawalagiri Gandaki Janakpur Karnali Kosi Lumbini Mahakali Mechi Narayani Rapti Sagarmatha Seti

Independence: 1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah)

National holiday: Birthday of His Majesty the King 28 December (1945)

Constitution: 9 November 1990

Legal system: based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction

Suffrage: 18 years of age; universal

Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives 10 by the king and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Sarbochha Adalat) chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council

Political parties and leaders: Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML [Madhav Kumar NEPAL general secretary]; Marxist-Leninist [Sahana PRADHAM chairman Bam Dev GAUTAM general secretary]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA]; Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP [Gajendra Narayan SINGH president]; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE party chair]; Nepali Congress or NC [Girija Prasad KOIRALA party president Sushil KOIRALA general secretary]; Rastriya Jana Morcha [Chitra Bahadur K. C. chairman]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [Lila Mani POKHAREL general secretary]

International organization participation: AsDB CCC CP ESCAP FAO G-77 IBRD ICAO ICFTU ICRM IDA IFAD IFC IFRCS ILO IMF IMO Intelsat Interpol IOC ISO (correspondent) ITU MONUC NAM OPCW SAARC UN UNCTAD UNESCO UNIDO UNIFIL UNMIBH UNMIK UNMOP UNMOT UNTAET UPU WFTU WHO WIPO WMO WToO WTrO (applicant)

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 nearly half of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and accounting for 41% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute sugarcane tobacco and grain. Production of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and accounted for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in the past three years. Agricultural production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with annual population growth of 2.3%. Since May 1991 the government has been moving forward with economic reforms particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment e.g. by reducing business licenses and registration requirements in order to simplify investment procedures. The government has also been cutting expenditures by reducing subsidies privatizing state industries and laying off civil servants. More recently however political instability - five different governments over the past few years - has hampered Kathmandu's ability to forge consensus to implement key economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by 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 and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The international community's role of funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth.

Real gdp growth rate: 3.4% (1999 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1100 (1999 est.)

Agriculture products: rice corn wheat sugarcane root crops; milk water buffalo meat

Industries: tourism carpet textile; small rice jute sugar and oilseed mills; cigarette; cement and brick production

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Labor force: 10 million (1996 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 81%
By occupation services: 16%
By occupation industry: 3%

Unemployment rate: NA%; substantial underemployment (1999)

Population below poverty line: 42% (1995-96 est.)

Fiscal year: 16 July - 15 July

Inflation rate consumer prices: 11.8% (FY98/99 est.)

Exports: $485 million (f.o.b. 1998) but does not include unrecorded border trade with India
Commodities: carpets clothing leather goods jute goods grain
Partners: India 33% US 26% Germany 25% (FY97/98)

Imports: $1.2 billion (f.o.b. 1998)
Commodities: gold machinery and equipment petroleum products fertilizer
Partners: India 31% China/Hong Kong 16% Singapore 14% (FY97/98)

Debt external: $2.4 billion (1997)

Exchange rates: Nepalese rupees (NRs) per US$1 - 68.784 (January 2000) 68.253 (1999) 65.976 (1998) 58.010 (1997) 56.692 (1996) 51.890 (1995)

Electricity
Production: 1.17 billion kWh (1998)
Consumption: 1.212 billion kWh (1998)
Exports: 72 million kWh (1998)
Imports: 196 million kWh (1998)

Telephones
Main lines in use: 236,816 (January 2000)
Mobile cellular: NA

Telephone system: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network

Internet
Service providers isps: NA

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $44 million (FY96/97)
Percent of gdp: 0.9% (FY96/97)

Airports: 45 (1999 est.)

Disputes international: over approximately 96,500 Bhutanese refugees in Nepal

Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic and international drug markets; transit point for opiates from Southeast Asia to the West