Nepal is a small country wedged between China and India, comprised of the hot terai flatlands in the south and the towering Himalayas (in Sanskrit himalaya means ‘abode of the snows’) and Mt. Everest, the highest point in the world. Tourism thrives because of the countries’ amazing biodiversity, and 18% of the land is under some sort of government protection. There are nine national parks, three conservation areas, three wildlife reserves, and one hunting reserve. The dry season lasts from October to May, and the wet monsoon season is from June to September. It’s temperate in the fall and spring, and weather-wise these are the most optimal times of year to visit.

History in the Kathmandu Valley begins in the 7th century BC when the Hindu Kiratis first arrived from the Mongolian plains. Prince Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha) was born in the 6th century BC near Lumbini. Over the next 500 plus years the Kathmandu Valley enjoyed a golden era in which they controlled trade routes to Tibet and the country was for the most part stable. The rest of what comprised Nepal today was at that time 50 independent states, which had separate armies and spoke different languages. In 1483 Kathmandu Valley was split between three rival Malla sons; the kingdom was divided into Bhaktapur, Kathmandu, and Patan. Each spent massive amounts of money on architecture and public works to out do one another. The Malla rule came to an end in 1768 when Prithvi Narayan Shah from Gorkha defeated the Malla’s armies and unified Nepal, and disputed borders with China to the north and the British to the south. Nepal’s official boundaries were drawn in 1861, and Nepal cut off all contact with the outside world until the 1950’s.

Modern history has been tumultuous, with trumped attempts at democratic rule and the new strength of the Maoists. In 1996, the Maoists declared a people’s war, sighting government corruption. In 2001, the Maoists intensified their struggle for power, and in the same year Crown Prince Dipendra killed the majority of the royal family. Nepal has managed to regain stability, and it entered into the World Trade Organization in 2004. In 2006 parliamentary democracy was restored: Private commerce is again on the rise, and international visitors are once again flowing freely through the kingdom.

Quick Facts

Size: 147,181 km2

Population: 23 million. Nepal has about thirty-six different ethnic groups and multiple languages.

Government: Parliamentary Democracy and Constitutional Monarchy

Currency: Nepali Rupee

Official Language: Nepali, English