About Nepal (Please refer to your favourite travel guidebook or the internet for a more
in-depth overview)
Capital City
Kathmandu, Nepal's capital, is set in a valley surrounded by the Himalayan
mountains. At the heart of the old city’s maze-like alleys is Durbar Square, which
becomes frenetic during Indra Jatra, a religious festival featuring masked dances. A2015 earthquake damaged or destroyed many of the city's historic sites.
Currency
The Nepalese rupee, symbol ..; code NPR, is the official currency of the Federal
Democratic Republic of Nepal. It is subdivided into 100 paisa. The Nepal Rastra Bank,
the central bank of Nepal, controls the issuance of the currency. The Nepalese rupee
(..) has been pegged to the Indian rupee at the rate .1.60 = ₹ 1 since 1994.
Language
Nepali is the language of Nepal, an Indo-Aryan language written in the Devanagari
script. It is spoken by 78% of the population either as a first or second language and
has official language status. The other 121 languages are all recognised national
languages. Maithili is the second most spoken language.
Religion
According to the 2021 census, 81.19% of the Nepalese population is Hindu, 8.21%
are Buddhist, 4.39% are Muslim, 3.17% are Kiratist (indigenous ethnic religion),
1.76% are Christian, 0.01% are Sikhs, and 0.01% are Jains.
Location and size
Nepal is an Asian country that lies along the southern slopes of the Himalayan
Mountain ranges. It is landlocked and located between India to the east, south, and
west and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north. The country occupies147,516 sq. km of land and lies between coordinates approximately 28°N and 84°E.
Nepal falls in the temperate zone north of the Tropic of Cancer. The entire distance
from east to west is about 800 km, while from north to south, it is only 150 to 250
km.
Population
The current population of Nepal was estimated at 29,637,150 at the time of writing.