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 insugency launched in 1996 has gained traction and is threatening to bring down the regime. Ten members of the royal family including the king and queen were massacred in a family dispute in 2001. 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. The country is now governed by the king and his appointed cabinet until elections can be held at some unspecified future date.

Geographic coordinates: 28 00 N 84 00 E

Map reference: Asia

Area
Total: 140,800 km²
Water: 4,000 km²
Land: 136,800 km²
Comparative: slightly larger than Arkansas

Land boundaries
Total: 2,926 km
Border countries: (2) China 1,236 km; , India 1,690 km

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

Elevation
Extremes lowest point: Kanchan Kalan 70 m
Extremes highest point: Mount Everest 8,850 m (1999 est.)

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

Land use
Arable land: 20.27%
Permanent crops: 0.49%
Other: 79.24% (1998 est.)

Irrigated land: 11,350 km² (1998 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 including Mount Everest - the world's tallest - on the border with China

Population: 25,873,917 (July 2002 est.)
Growth rate: 2.29% (2002 est.)
Below poverty line: 42% (FY95/96 est. )

Nationality
Noun: Nepalese (singular and plural)
Adjective: Nepalese

Ethnic groups: Brahman Chetri Newar Gurung Magar Tamang Rai Limbu Sherpa Tharu and others (1995)

Languages: Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population) about a dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in government and business also speak English (1995)

Religions
Note: only official Hindu state in the world (1995)

Age structure
0-14 years: 40% (male 5,346,422; female 5,007,416)
15-64 years: 56.4% (male 7,476,202; female 7,125,471)
65 years and over: 3.6% (male 453,263; female 465,143) (2002 est.)

Population growth rate: 2.29% (2002 est.)

Birth rate: 32.94 births/1000 population (2002 est.)

Death rate: 10.03 deaths/1000 population (2002 est.)

Net migration rate: 0 migrant(s)/1000 population (2002 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
International agreements party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification, Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber 83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
International agreements signed but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life Conservation

Sex ratio
At birth: 1.05 male/female
Under 15 years: 1.07 male/female
15-64 years: 1.05 male/female
65 years and over: 0.97 male/female
Total population: 1.05 male/female (2002 est.)

Infant mortality rate: 72.36 deaths/1000 live births (2002 est.)

Life expectancy at birth
Total population: 58.61 years
Female: 58.2 years (2002 est.)
Male: 59.01 years

Total fertility rate: 4.48 children born/woman (2002 est.)

Hivaids
Adult prevalence rate: 0.29% (1999 est.)
People living with hivaids: 34,000 (1999 est.)
Deaths: 2,500 (1999 est.)

Literacy
Definition: age 15 and over can read and write
Total population: 27.5%
Male: 40.9%
Female: 14% (1995 est.)

Country name
Conventional long form: Kingdom of Nepal
Conventional short form: Nepal

Government type: parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy

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 King GYANENDRA 7 July (1946)

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

Executive branch
Chief of state: King GYANENDRA Bir Bikram Shah (succeeded to the throne 4 June 2001 following the death of his nephew, King DIPENDRA Bir Bikram Shah)
Head of government: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur CHAND (since 11 October 2002)
Cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister
Elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch
Note: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev died in a bloody shooting at the royal palace on 1 June 2001 that also claimed the lives of most of the royal family; King BIRENDRA's son, Crown Price DIPENDRA, is believed to have been responsible for the shootings before fatally wounding himself; immediately following the shootings and while still clinging to life, DIPENDRA was crowned king; he died three days later and was succeeded by his uncle

Legislative branch
Note: Nepal's Parliament was dissolved on 22 May 2002 and elections are scheduled for 13 November 2002: 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)
Election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana Morcha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, others 14.8%; seats by party - NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana Morcha 5, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 1, NWPP 1
Elections: House of Representatives - last held 3 and 17 May 1999 (next to be held 13 November 2002)

Judicial branch: Supreme Court or 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]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA chairman]; National People's Front (Rastriya Jana Morcha) [Chitra Bahadur chairman]; Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP [Bhadri Prasad MANDAL acting party 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]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [Lila Mani POKHAREL general secretary]

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

Diplomatic representation
In the us chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Jai Pratap RANA
In the us chancery: 2,131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20,008
In the us consulates general: New York
In the us fax: [1] (202) 667-5,534
In the us telephone: [1] (202) 667-4,550
From the us chief of mission: Ambassador Michael E. MALINOWSKI
From the us embassy: Panipokhari, Kathmandu
From the us mailing address: use embassy street address
From the us telephone: [977] (1) 411,179
From the us fax: [977] (1) 419,963

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. Textile and carpet production accounteing for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in recent years contracted significantly in 2001 due to the overall slowdown in the world economy and pressures by Maoist insurgents on factory owners and workers. Security concerns in the wake of Maoist activity the June massacre of many members of the royal family and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US led to a decrease in tourism another key source of foreign exchange. 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 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: 2.6% (2001 est.)

Real gdp per capita: purchasing power parity - $1400 (2001 est.)

Gdp composition by sector of origin
Agriculture: 41%
Industry: 22%
Services: 37% (2000 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: 8.7% (FY99/00)

Labor force
Note: severe lack of skilled labor (1996 est.)
By occupation agriculture: 81%
By occupation services: 16%
By occupation industry: 3%

Unemployment rate: 47% (2001 est.)

Population below poverty line: 42% (FY95/96 est. )

Household income or consumption by percentage share
Lowest 10: 3%
Highest 10: 30% (1995-96)

Distribution of family income gini index: 37 (1995-96 )

Budget
Revenues: $665 million
Expenditures: $1.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.)

Fiscal year: 16 July - 15 July

Inflation rate consumer prices: 2.1%

Exports: $757 million f.o.b. but does not include unrecorded border trade with India (FY00/01 est.)
Commodities: carpets clothing leather goods jute goods grain
Partners: India 48% US 26% Germany 11% (FY00/01)

Imports: $1.6 billion f.o.b. (FY00/01 est.)
Commodities: gold machinery and equipment petroleum products fertilizer
Partners: India 39% Singapore 10% China/Hong Kong 9% (FY00/01)

Debt external: $2.55 billion (FY00/01)

Exchange rates: Nepalese rupees per US dollar - 76.675 (January 2002) 74.961 (2001) 71.094 (2000) 68.239 (1999) 65.976 (1998) 58.010 (1997)

Electricity
Production: 1.454 billion kWh (2000)
Production by source fossil fuel: 10%
Production by source hydro: 90%
Production by source other: 0% (2000)
Production by source nuclear: 0%
Consumption: 1.431 billion kWh (2000)
Exports: 95 million kWh (2000)
Imports: 174 million kWh (2000)

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

Telephone system
General assessment: poor telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication service and mobile cellular telephone network
Domestic: NA
International: radiotelephone communications; microwave landline to India; satellite earth station - 1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean)

Internet
Country code: .np
Service providers isps: 6 (2000)
Users: 60,000 (2002)

Military expenditures
Dollar figure: $51.5 million (FY01)
Percent of gdp: 1% (FY01)

Airports: 45 (2001)
With paved runways total: 9
With paved runways over 3047 m: 1
With paved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With paved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7 (2002)
With unpaved runways total: 36
With unpaved runways 15-24 to 2437 m: 1
With unpaved runways 914 to 1523 m: 7
With unpaved runways under 914 m: 28 (2002)

Railways
Total: 59 km
Narrow gauge: 59 km 0.762-m gauge
Note: all in Kosi close to Indian border (2001)

Waterways: none

Disputes international: formed Joint Border committee with India in 2001 to resolve 53 disputed sections of boundary covering an area of 720 km²; approximately 100,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal 90% of whom reside in seven UN Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees camps place decades-long strains on Nepal

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