Nepal, south Asian country, bounded on the north by the Tibetan Autonomous Region and on the south by India. Its area is 147,181 sq km (56,827 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Kathmandu.

II. Land and Resources

Mountains dominate Nepal's landscape. Of the eight highest mountains in the world, seven—including the highest, Mount Everest (8848 m/29,028 ft)—are located entirely or partly within Nepal's borders. The Tarai region in the south and the Valley of Kathmandu in the central region are the only sizable flat areas. In the mountains, temperatures remain cold throughout the year. In the Tarai and the Valley of Kathmandu, summers are hot and rainy, and winters are cool.

III. Population

Nepal's population (1997 estimate, 23,107,464) is mainly concentrated in the Kathmandu and Tarai regions. It consists of two major groups, the Indo-Nepalese and the Tibeto-Nepalese. Nepali is the official language of about half the inhabitants, but at least 30 other languages are spoken.

IV. Government

Nepal's government is based on a multiparty system, with the king as chief of state. The king appoints the majority party leader to head the government as prime minister. The legislative power is vested in a two-house assembly, the Pratinidhi Sabha, with 205 elected legislators serving five-year terms, and the Rashtriya, with 60 members—some appointed and some elected—holding six-year terms.

V. Economy

One of the least developed countries, Nepal has 94 percent of its labor force employed in agriculture. Crops include rice, corn, wheat, potatoes, sugarcane, millet, cotton, jute, and tobacco. The unit of currency is the Nepalese rupee (56.69 Nepalese rupees equal U.S.$1; 1996).

VI. History

Rajput military forces overran Nepal in 1324 and ruled until 1768, when Gurkhas invaded the country. The British gained control of Nepal after a war in 1814 and 1815. In 1846 Sir Jung Bahadur, of the Rana family, seized government control and became prime minister. The Rana family made the office of prime minister hereditary and dominated Nepal for many years. In the mid-20th century increasing criticism of the Rana regime by dissidents and King Bir Bikram Tribhuvana of Nepal led to government reform along democratic lines. Prime Minister Rana was eventually removed from power and a Congress Party-Independent cabinet, headed by Congress Party leader Matrika Prasad Koirala, was formed in 1951.

Opposition to the democratic trend prompted political unrest, which continued during the remainder of the 1950s with several changes of government and intervals in which the king resumed direct rule. When King Tribhuvana died in 1955, his son Mahendra Bir Bikram became king and later promulgated Nepal's first democratic constitution. A new government with a bicameral parliament was formed by the Congress Party but was dismissed by the king in 1960 as corrupt and inefficient. The king proclaimed a new constitution, minus the parliament, in 1962.

King Mahendra died in 1972 and was succeeded by his son King Birendra Bir Bikram, who initially exercised strong control, although he relaxed somewhat as antimonarchist sentiments grew and serious riots challenged his authority. Following prodemocracy protests in early 1990, the king ended the ban on political parties, a multiparty coalition government took office, and a new constitution was adopted. The government remained relatively stable in the 1990s. Prime Minister Krishna Prashad Bhattarai of the Nepali Congress Party took office in 1998.