Location: South Asia, between China and India. Land locked country.
Area: 147181 Sq. Km. (one of the small countries in the world)
Altitude variation: From 70mter to 8850mtr (Mt. Everest)
Capital: Kathamndu, one of the biggest cities and first tourist destination as Kathamndu has the only international airport of the country. Population of Kathamndu is 1 million.
Population: 30 million
People and culture: Nepalese are mainly of 2 distinct groups: Aryans who follow the Hindu religion and Mongols who follow different religions like Buddhism, Bon and Kirants. There are more than 50 ethnic groups and 70 spoken languages and dialects.
Language: Nepali is the official language; English in tourism sector. Educated people generally understand English. German, French and Japanese are also spoken by some employees in tourism sector.
Religion: 60 % Hindus, 12% Buddhists, 2% Kirants, 2% Christians, 4% Muslims and some other minor religious groups.
Political System: Nepal is the youngest republic. Monarchy of 240 years was demolished in recent political movements (2008) since then it has a president as ceremonial head of the state and prime minister as head of the executive.
Seasons: Nepal being small country has different topographic variation. So, there are different seasons. Feb-April is spring; May- Jun is summer, Jul-Sep Monsoon, October-Nov, fall and December-January winter. Spring-Summer and Fall season are good for trekking and mountaineering activities.
Time: Nepalese time is 5.45hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT).
Currnecy: Nepalese Rupees, USD 1 is worth 72 rupees and Euro 1 is worth 100 Rupees; Pound (UK) worth 120 rupees, Australian dollar worth 74 rupees. (PLEASE CHECK UPDATE)
Entry points: Nepal has one internation airport Kathmandu that is well connected with major cities in Asia. More than 80% visitors to Nepal come by air and some come from India and China via Tibet.
Major Industries: Agriculture is the main source of living. Tourism support about 15% of the country's income.
Literacy: About 70%
Life expectancy: 60 years
