About in Nepal

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All Nepal is very sweet place

Ne Muni

Historians and local traditions say that ahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_saints">Hindu sage named "Ne" established himself at the valley of Kathmandu during prehistoric times and that the word "Nepal" came into existence as the place protected ("pala" in Sanskrit) by the sage "Ne". The etymology of the name Nepal means, "the country looked after by Ne".^[6]

He used to perform religious ceremonies at Teku, the confluence of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers.^[7] He is said by legend to have selected a pious cowherd to be the first of the many kings of the Gopala Dynasty.^[8] These rulers are said to have ruled Nepal for over 500 years.^[9] He selected Bhuktaman to be the first king in the line of the Gopal (Cowherd) Dynasty.^[10] The Gopal dynasty ruled for 621 years. Yakshya Gupta was the last king of this dynasty.However,this mythology can be challenged as no such name as Ne exists in Nepali or other sanskrit derived languages.

Truely recorded history begins with the Kirati dynasty.

According to Skanda Purana, a rishi called "Ne" or "Nemuni" used to live in Himalaya.^[11] In the Pashupati Purana, he is mentioned as a saint and a protector.^[12] He is said to have practicedpenance at the Bagmati and Kesavati rivers^[13] and to have taught his doctrines there too.^[14] Other possible derivations

Another legend ties the name to agriculture; "Ne" means wool in the Tibetan language and "pal" means house orgodown.^{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed]}

Others believe the word “Nepal” was derived from the word “Nepa:” which refers to theNewar Kingdom ofKathmandu Valley and surrounding areas. The Newars, a linguistic community (derived from various ethnicities) of present day Nepal, are believed to be among the earliest settlers of the Kathmandu valley called "Nepa:". Thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nepal_Sambat">Nepal Sambat calendar, named after this Newar kingdom and devised 1200 years ago, is still one of the major calendars used in Nepal and testifies to its antiquity. "Nepal" was historically the name of present day Kathmandu valley only.^{[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed">citation needed]}

Language

All the languages spoken in Nepal are the national languages^[15].Nepali is the official language of Nepal^[16]. It was originally called Khaskura, but became known as Nepali during the 20th century^[17]. However, all languages spoken in Nepal can be used for official purposes and documentation irrespective of what the official language is^[18].

History

Main article: History of Nepal

Prehistory

Neolithic tools found in theKathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. It appears that people who were probably ofKirant ethnicity lived in Nepal 2,500 years ago.^[19]Ancient

Nepal is mentioned inHindu scriptures such as the Narayana Puja^[20] and the Atharva Siras (800-600 BC).^[21]Around 1000 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the region. From one of these, the Shakya confederation, arose a prince namedSiddharta Gautama (563–483 BC), who later renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha ("the enlightened one").7th Kirata king Jitedasti was on throne in Nepal valley at the time. By 250 BC, the region came under the influence of theMauryan empire of northern India, and later became a vassal state under theGupta Dynasty in the fourth century AD. From the late fifth century, rulers called the Licchavis governed the area. There is a good and quite detailed description of the kingdom of Nepal in the account of the renowned Chinese Buddhist pilgrim monk,Xuanzang, dating from c. 645 AD.^[22][23]

The Licchavi dynasty went into decline in the latehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8th_century">eighth century and was followed by aNewari era, from 879, although the extent of their control over the entire country is uncertain. By the late 11th century, southern Nepal came under the influence of theChalukaya Empire ofhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_India">southern India. Under the Chalukayas, Nepal's religious establishment changed as the kings patronised Hinduism instead of the prevailing Buddhism.

Map of Nepal

Medieval

By the early 12th century, leaders were emerging whose names ended with the Sanskrit suffix malla ("wrestler"). Initially their reign was marked by upheaval, but the kings consolidated their power and ruled over the next 200 years; by the late 14th century, much of the country began to come under a unified rule. This unity was short-lived; in 1482 the region was carved into three kingdoms:Kathmandu,Patan, andBhadgaon.

Hindu temples in Patan, capital of one of the three medieval Newar kingdoms

After centuries of petty rivalry between the three kingdoms, in the mid-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eighteenth_century">18th centuryPrithvi Narayan Shah, aGorkha King set out to unify the kingdoms. Seeking arms and aid from India, and buying the neutrality of bordering Indian kingdoms, he embarked on his mission in 1765. After several bloody battles and sieges, he managed to unify Kathmandu Valley three years later in 1768. However, an actual battle never took place to conquer the Kathmandu valley; it was taken over by Prithvi Narayan and his troops without any effort, during Indra Jatra, a festival ofNewars, when all the valley's citizens were celebrating the festival. This event marked the birth of the modern nation of Nepal.

Modern

There is historical evidence that, at one time, theboundary of Greater Nepal extended fromTista River on the East toKangara, acrossSutlej River, in the west. A dispute and subsequently war with Tibet over the control of mountain passes forced the Nepalese to retreat and pay heavy reparations. Rivalry between Nepal and theBritish East India Company over the annexation of minor states bordering Nepal eventually led to theAnglo-Nepalese War (1815–16). The valor displayed by the Nepalese during the war astounded their enemies and earned them their image of fierce and ruthless"Gurkhas". The war ended theTreaty of Sugauli. This treaty cededSikkim and lands in Terai to the Company.

Factionalism inside theroyal family had led to a period of instability. In 1846 a plot was discovered, revealing that the reigning queen had planned to overthrowJung Bahadur Rana, a fast-rising military leader. This led to theKot Massacre; armed clashes betweenmilitary personnel and administrators loyal to the queen led to the execution of several hundred princes and chieftains around the country. Jung Bahadur Rana emerged victorious and founded theRana lineage. The king was made a titular figure, and the post of Prime Minister was made powerful and hereditary. The Ranas were staunchly pro-British, and assisted them during the IndianSepoy Rebellion in 1857 (and later in bothWorld Wars). The decision to help British East India Company was taken by the Rana Regime, then led by Jang Bahadur Rana. Some parts of Terai Region were given back to Nepal by the British as a friendly gesture, because of her military help to sustain British control in India during theSepoy Rebellion. In 1923, the United Kingdom and Nepal formally signed an agreement of friendship, in which Nepal's independence was recognized by the UK.

Nepalese royalty in the 1920s

Slavery was abolished in Nepal in 1924.^[24]

In the late 1940s, newly emerging pro-democracy movements and political parties in Nepal were critical of the Rana autocracy. Meanwhile, with the assertion ofChinese control inTibet in the 1950s, India sought to counterbalance the perceived military threat from its northern neighbour by taking pre-emptive steps to assert more influence in Nepal. India sponsored both KingTribhuvan as Nepal's new ruler in 1951, and a new government, mostly comprising theNepali Congress Party, thus terminating Rana hegemony in the kingdom. After years of power wrangling between the king and the government, the monarch scrapped the democratic experiment in 1959, and a "partyless"panchayat system was made to govern Nepal until 1989, when the "Jan Andolan" (People's Movement) forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms and to establish a multiparty parliament that took seat in May 1991.^[25]

In 1996, theCommunist Party of Nepal (Maoist) started a bid to replace the royalparliamentary system with a people's socialist republic. This led to the longNepal Civil War and more than 12,000 deaths. Onhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/June_1">June 1,2001, there was a massacre in the royal palace; it left the King, the Queen and the Heir ApparentCrown Prince Dipendra among the dead. Prince Dipendra was accused of patricide and of committing suicide thereafter, alleged to be a violent response to his parents' refusal to accept his choice of wife. However, there are lots of speculations and doubts among Nepalese citizens about the person(s) responsible for the Royal Massacre. Following the carnage, the throne was inherited by King Birendra's brotherGyanendra. Onhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_1">February 1,2005, Gyanendra dismissed the entire government and assumed full executive powers to quash the violent Maoist movement. In September 2005, the Maoists declared a three-month unilateral ceasefire to negotiate their demands.

In response to the2006 democracy movement, the king agreed to relinquish the sovereign power back to the people and reinstated the dissolved House of Representatives onhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_24">April 24,2006. Using its newly acquired sovereign authority, onhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_18">May 18,2006, the newly resumed House of Representatives unanimously passed a motion to curtail the power of the king and declared Nepal asecular state, abolishing its time honoured official status as a Hindu Kingdom. On December 28, 2007, a bill was passed in parliament, to amend Article 159 of the constitution - replacing "Provisions regarding the King" by "Provisions of the Head of the State" - declaring Nepal afederal republic, and thereby abolishing the monarchy.^[4][26] The bill came into force onhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_28">May 28,2008 as a constituent assembly meeting in the capital,Kathmandu, overwhelmingly voted to abolish royal rule.^[27]

End of monarchy

The Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) won the largest number of seats in theConstituent Assembly election held onhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_10">10 April2008, and is trying to form a coalition government with some smaller parties. The Maoists had insisted on the abolition of the monarchy and the removal ofGyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev as King with Nepal becoming a federal democratic state with an elected head of state. The newly-elected Assembly met in Kathmandu on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_28">May 28, 2008 and abolished the monarchy that had reigned for 240 years. There was a polling of constituent Assembly members and out of a total of 564 Assembly members, 560 voted to end Nepal's monarchical rule.^[28][29][30] The proposal declared that Nepal had become an independent, indivisible, sovereign, secular and an inclusive democratic republic.^[31]

Nepal's government has announced a public holiday for three days, fromhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_28">May 28 tohttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_30">May 30, to celebrate the country becoming a republic.

The Narayanhity palace removed the royal flag that was flying on its premises and replaced it with Nepal's national flag on 29 May 2008.^[32]

Geography

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Oyu">Cho Oyu, Nepal

Topographic map of Nepal.

Main articles: Geography of Nepal and Geology of Nepal

Geography of Nepal is uncommonly diverse. Nepal is of roughly trapezoidal shape, 800 kilometres (500 mi) long and 200 kilometres (125 mi) wide, with an area of 147,181 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Square_kilometre">square kilometres (56,827 sq mi). SeeList of territories by size for the comparative size of Nepal.

Nepal is commonly divided into three physiographic areas: the Mountain,Hill,Siwalik region andTerai Regions. These ecological belts run east-west and are vertically intersected by Nepal's major, north to south flowing river systems.

The southern lowland Plains bordering India are part of the northern rim of theIndo-Gangetic plains. They were formed and are fed by three major rivers: the Kosi, the Narayani (India's Gandak River), and theKarnali. This region has a hot, humid climate.

The Hill Region (Pahad) abuts the mountains and varies from 1,000 to 4,000 metres (3,300–13,125 ft) in altitude. Two low mountain ranges, theMahabharat Lekh andShiwalik Range (also called the Churia Range) dominate the region. The hilly belt includes the Kathmandu Valley, the country's most fertile and urbanised area. Unlike the valleys called Inner Tarai (Bhitri Tarai Uptyaka), elevations above 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) are sparsely populated.

The Mountain Region, situated in the Great Himalayan Range, makes the northern part of Nepal. It contains the regions of highestaltitude in the world; the world's highest mountain, 8,850 metres (29,035 ft) heighthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest">Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali) is located here on the border withTibet. Seven other of the world'sten highest mountains are located in Nepal:Lhotse,Makalu,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cho_Oyu">Cho Oyu,Kanchenjunga,Dhaulagiri,Annapurna and cold zone 2,400 to 3,600 metres (7,875–11,800 ft), thesubarctic zone 3,600 to 4,400 metres (11,800–14,400 ft), and theArctic zone above 4,400 metres (14,400 ft).

Nepal experiences five seasons: summer,monsoon, autumn, winter and spring. The Himalaya blocks cold winds from Asia in winter, and forms the northern limit of the monsoon wind patterns. Once thickly forested, deforestation is a major problem in all regions, with resulting erosion and degradation of ecosystems.

Nepal is a hotspot of mountaineering, containing some of the highest and most challenging mountains in the world, including Mount Everest. Technically, the south-east ridge on the Nepali side of the mountain is easier to climb; so, most climbers prefer to trek to Everest through Nepal.

Until the Sugauli Sandhi (treaty) was signed, the territory of Nepal also included Darjeeling, and Tista to the east,Nainital to the south-west andKalapani, Susta,Garhwal to the west. However, as of today these areas remain annexed by India. As a result, Nepal shares no boundary withBangladesh now and the two countries are separated by a narrow strip of land about 21 kilometre (13 mi) wide, called theSiliguri Corridor‎ or Chicken's Neck. Efforts are underway to make this area afree-trade zone.^[33]The border dispute between India and Nepal has often been a cause of tension between the two countries. These days, there is a call for a revolution in the ethnic Nepalese dominated area of Darjeeling for establishing a state, to be known asGorkhaland, that was part of the formerGreater Nepal.

Subdivisions

Subdivisions of Nepal

Nepalese woman

Main articles: Zones of Nepal, Districts of Nepal, and Regions of Nepal

Nepal is divided into 14zones and 75districts, grouped into 5development regions. Each district is headed by a permanent chief district officer responsible for maintaining law and order and coordinating the work of field agencies of the various government ministries. The 14 zones are:

Bagmati Bheri Dhawalagiri Gandaki Janakpur Karnali Kosi

Lumbini Mahakali Mechi Narayani Rapti Sagarmatha Seti

Neotectonics of Nepal

^[34] The collision between theIndian subcontinent and theEurasian continent, which started inPaleogene time and continues today, produced theHimalaya and theTibetan Plateau, a spectacular modern example of the effects of plate tectonics. Nepal lies completely within this collision zone, occupying the central sector of the Himalayan arc, nearly one third of the 2400km-long Himalayas. The Indian plate continues to move northward relative toAsia at the rate of ~50mm/yr.^[35] Given the great magnitudes of the blocks of the Earth’s crust involved, this is remarkably fast, about twice the speed at which human fingernails grow. As the strong Indian continental crust subducts beneath the relatively weak Tibetan crust, it pushes up the Himalaya mountains. This collision zone has accommodated huge amounts of crustal shortening as the rock sequences slide one over another. Erosion of the Himalayas is a very important source of sediment, which flows via great rivers (Indus,Ganges,Brahmaputra) to thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Ocean">Indian Ocean.^[36]

Structural and Neotectonic pattern of Nepal

The main structures of Nepal consist of several north-dipping [thrust fault]s; the more important ones are the main frontal thrust (MFT), the main boundary thrust (MBT) and the main central thrust (MCT) (F. Jouanne et al.,2004). These thrust faults lie to the south of the South Tibetan Detachment System( STDS) which is a system of low angle [normal fault]s and is also an important aspect of Nepal Himalayan tectonics.

Geological Map of Nepal Showing Major Tectonic Thrusts.

The thrust faults trend generally 120°N in western Nepal, curving to 90°N in the eastern part of the country (Upreti & Le Fort 1999). These thrust faults, with generally southerly transport directions (Brunel 1986; Pecher 1991; Mugnier et al.,1999), are inferred to branch off the major basal detachment of the Himalayan thrust belt called the main Himalayan thrust (MHT) that localizes the underthrusting of the Indian lithospere beneath the Himalayas and Tibet (Zhao et al., 1993). All the cross-sections made through the Himalayan belt advocate a mid-crustal ramp, below a large-scale antiformal structure of the Lesser Himalayas and to be north of a synformal structure(Schelling & Arita 1991; Srivastava & Mitra 1994; Pandey et al. 1990; DeCelles et al. 1998; Mugnier et al. 2003). Geological, geophysical and structural data indicate that there are lateral variations in the geometry of the MHT (Zhao et al.,1993; Pandey et al.1995,1999), but direct knowledge of the geometry of the MHT is sparse and therefore the validity of the profiles is still in debate. The thrusts are generally younger from north to south (24-21 Ma for the MCT, less than 2 Ma for the MFT) (Hodges et al. 1996; Harrison et al. 1997). On the basis of these faults, the structure of Nepal is generally subdivided into five tectonic zones:

1. Gangetic Plain (Terai) (area on the south of MFT)
2. Sub-Himalayas (Siwaliks)( area between MFT and MBT)
3. Lesser Himalayas (area between MBT and MCT)
4. Higher Himalayas (area between MCT and STDS)
5. Tibetan-Tethys ( area north of STDS)

Present-day deformation of Nepal

The modern deformation of the Himalayas is characterized by bigearthquakes. Almost half of the continuing convergence between India and Eurasia is absorbed by underthrusting of the Indianlithosphere, beneath the Himalayas and Tibet along the MHT, as proposed by seismic investigations (Zhao et al.1993). Three of the big Nepalese earthquakes (1905,1934 and 1950, with magnitudes around 8) were caused by the mid-crustal ramp along MHT (Pandey & Molnar 1989). The territory of Nepal is characterized by very intense microseismic activity, most of which follows approximately the topographic front of the Higher Himalaya (Pandey et al.,1999). Most of the earthquakes cluster between the MCT and MBT (Fig: Seismicity in the Himalayas of Nepal).

Seismicity in the Himalayas of Nepal.

Earthquakefocal mechanisms indicate that the intermediate magnitude earthquakes are shallow depth (10-20km) beneath the Lesser Himalayas, demonstrating the activation of thrust planes gently dipping to the north (Ni and Barazangi, 1984). Detailed analysis of the Uttarkashi earthquake (Cotton et al. 1996) in the west of Nepal indicates that this event was initiated to the south of the Higher Himalayas front at 12±3 km depth corresponding to the southward propagation of a rupture along this segment of the MHT. A detailed study of the microseismic clusters suggests segmentation of the Himalayan arc (Pandey et al. 1999) and two major discontinuities segment the microseismicity belt at 82.5°E and 86.5°E. The projection along cross sections of the microseismic event (Fig:Cross-section and Projection of Microseimic Activity) reveals a noticeable change in shape of the clusters between central Nepal (rounded clusters are located in the vicinity of the flat-ramp transition of the MHT) and western Nepal (clusters are elongated and nearly horizontal) (F. Jouanne et al.,2004). Similarly, vertical displacement rates, expressed with reference to the Gangetic plain, indicate current uplift of the high Himalayas at 6mm/yr, but also suggest active displacement along frontal thrusts inducing localized uplift (B. Antoine et al., 2004). There is change in maximum elevation between central (8500m) and western (7500m) Nepal and also a big difference in incision between eastern-central Nepal (6000m) and western Nepal (4500m)(B. Antoine et al., 2004). This is reflected in gentler relief in western Nepal and confirms the segmentation of geology and deformation observed with microseismicity andGPS measurements (Fig:Cross-section and Projection of Microseimic Activity).

Cross-section and Projection of Microseimic Activity.

Conclusion: To summarise, the neotectonic deformation of Nepal is characterised by three major thrust faults (MCT, MBT and MFT) which are inferred to be the splay thrust of MHT that marks the underthrusting of Indian lithosphere beneath the Himalayas. Likewise, there is a sudden change in geometry of the MHT between central and western Nepal, which is also marked in the Himalayan relief. The MHT is the main structure responsible for recent uplift and continuing deformation in Nepal. This hypothesis is reinforced by the observation that Quaternary displacement along the Main Frontal Thrust, southern emergence of the MHT and the convergence rate estimated across the Himalayas by GPS are both estimated at 18-20 mm/yr, which suggests that nearly all the displacement between India and Tibet is today transferred along the MHT (B. Antoine et al., 2004).

Economy

Main article: Economy of Nepal

Terraced farming on the foothills of the Himalayas.

Nepal's gross domestic product (GDP) for the year 2005 was estimated at just over US$39 billion (adjusted toPurchasing Power Parity), making it the 83rd-largest economy in the world. Agriculture accounts for about 40% of Nepal'sGDP, services comprise 41% and industry 22%. Agriculture employs 76% of the workforce, services 18% and manufacturing/craft-based industry 6%. Agricultural produce——mostly grown in the Terai region bordering India——includes tea, rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops, milk, and water buffalo meat. Industry mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce, includingjute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Its workforce of about 10 million suffers from a severe shortage of skilled labour. The spectacular landscape and diverse, exotic cultures of Nepal represent considerable potential for tourism, but growth in this hospitality industry has been stifled by recent political events. Therate of unemployment and underemployment approaches half of the working-age population. Thus many Nepali citizens move to India in search of work; the Gulf countries and Malaysia being new sources of work. Nepal receives US$50 million a year through the Gurkha soldiers who serve in theIndian and British armies and are highly esteemed for their skill and bravery. The total remittance value is worth around 1 billion USD, including money sent from Persian Gulf and Malaysia, who combined employ around 700,000 Nepali citizens. A long-standing economic agreement underpins a close relationship with India. The country receives foreign aid fromIndia,Japan, theUnited Kingdom, theUnited States, theEuropean Union,China,Switzerland, andScandinavian countries. Poverty is acute; per-capita income is less than US$ 300.^[37] Thedistribution of wealth among the Nepalis is consistent with that in many developed and developing countries: the highest 10% of households control 39.1% of the national wealth and the lowest 10% control only 2.6%.

The government's budget is about US$1.153 billion, with expenditures of $1.789bn (FY05/06). TheNepalese rupee has been tied to theIndian Rupee at an exchange rate of 1.6 for many years. Since the loosening of exchange rate controls in the early 1990s, the black market for foreign exchange has all but disappeared. Theinflation rate has dropped to 2.9% after a period of higher inflation during the 1990s.

Nepal's exports of mainly carpets, clothing, leather goods,jute goods and grain total $822 million. Import commodities of mainly gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products and fertilizer total US$2 bn. India (53.7%), the US (17.4%), and Germany (7.1%) are its main export partners. Nepal's import partners include India (47.5%), theUnited Arab Emirates (11.2%), China (10.7%),http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia">Saudi Arabia (4.9%), andSingapore (4%).

A Rs.500 banknote of The Republic of Nepal. (Yet the watermark on the right contains picture of King Gyanendra, later admitted clerical error by state owned Nepal Rashtra Bank.^[38])

Nepal remains isolated from the world’s major land, air and sea transport routes although, within the country, aviation is in a better state, with 48 airports, ten of them with paved runways; flights are frequent and support a sizeable traffic. Hilly and mountainous terrain in the northern two-thirds of the country has made the building of roads and other infrastructure difficult and expensive. There were just over 8,500 km of paved roads, and one 59 km railway line in the south in 2003. There is only one reliable road route from India to the Kathmandu Valley. The only practical seaport of entry for goods bound for Kathmandu is Kolkata in India. Internally, the poor state of development of the road system (22 of 75 administrative districts lack road links) makes volume distribution unrealistic. Besides having landlocked, rugged geography, few tangible natural resources and poor infrastructure, the long-running civil war is also a factor in stunting the economic growth.^[39]

There is less than one telephone per 19 people. Landline telephone services are not adequate nationwide but are concentrated in cities and district headquarters. Mobile telephony is in