Nepal is located between two-giant nations India in the south, east and west and China in the north. It is multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-culture country. According to the Census of 2001 (so far the latest one) the population of Nepal makes up of 106 castes/ethnic groups, 10 different regions and 100-mother tongues speakers. As well Nepal is very famous for arcealogical and cultural researcher, this is one of the evident on how diverse the country is.
Similarly, Nepal is the home of the eight-highest mountains above 8,000 m. (out of 14 in the world), including the highest mountains in the earth and over 1300 mountains above 6,000 m, as many as 400 mountains of these are so far opened for operating any sorts adventurous sports. These all the mountains can be explored through the well-developed trekking trails.
Not just mountain alone, Nepal has many more to offer from steamy jungle in the plain lands, mighty white-water rafting to the diverse flora and fauna and many more. A data shows that Nepal is home to 2 percent of all the flowering plants in the world, home to over 850 species of birds and over 500 species of butterflies, over 600 indigenous plant families, over 320 exotic orchids and many more. These fact are explicit enough how diverse Nepal is what it can offer to any travelers from around the world.
Nepal in brief
Location: Between India and the Tibetan autonomous region of the Republic of China
Area: 147,181 square kilometer
Capital: Kathmandu
Location: Situated between China in the north and India in the south, east and west
Population: 25.8 million
People: Nepal has more than 106 ethnic/caste groups and 100 spoken languages.
Language: Nepali is the national language; people involved in travel and trade understand and speak English as well.
Religion: Nepal is a secular state with predominance of Hindu and Buddhist population.
Political System: Federal Democratic Republic
Climate: Nepal has four major seasons (1) winter: December-February, (2) spring: March-May, (3) summer: June-August, (4) autumn: September-November. Nepal can be visited the whole year round.
How to get into Nepal
By air:
Nepal Airlines is the national flag carrier of Nepal with flights to/from Delhi, Kuala Lumpur, Dubai, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Osaka. Other international airlines operating from/to Kathmandu are Air Arabia (Sharjah), Air China (Lhasa, Chengdu), Biman Bangladesh (Dhaka), China Southern Airlines (Guanzhou), Cosmic Air (Delhi, Varanasi), Dragon Air (Hong Kong), Druk Air (Delhi, Paro), Etihad Airways (Abu Dhabi), GMG Airlines (Dhaka), Gulf Air (Bahrain, Muscat), Indian Airlines (Delhi, Kolkotta, Varanasi), Jet Airways (Delhi), Jet Lite (Delhi), Korean Air (Seoul), Pakistan International Airlines (Karachi), Qatar Airways (Doha), Silk Air (Singapore), Thai Airways (Bangkok).
By land:
All visitors coming to Nepal by land must enter only through one of these entry points (1) Kakarbhitta (2) Birgunj (3) Belhiya, Bhairahawa (4) Nepalgunj (5) Dhangadi and (6) Mahendranagar in the Nepal-India border and (7) Kodari in the Nepal-China border. The overland tourists entering the country with their vehicles must possess an international carnet or complete customs formalities.
Festivals
We often joke in Nepal that we have more festivals than days in a year.
Dasain, celebrated nationwide in October, is the most important of all Nepalese celebrations and features the biggest animal sacrifice of the year. Running a close second is Tihar (November), Other festivals celebrated nationally include the water-tinged Holi (March) and Chaitra Daisan (April), Hindu festivals number the Haribodhini Ekadashi (November) and Maha Shivaratri (March), both celebrated in Pashupatinath, the Gai Jatra (August) in Kathmandu and the Krishna Jayanti (August/September) in Patan. Buddhist celebrations are just as thick on the ground, and include Mani Rimdu (November) in Solu Khumbu, Buddha Jayanti (May) in Kathmandu, and Losar (Tibetan New Year) (February) in Swayambhunath, Jawlakhel and highland communities.
Language
Nepali is the official language. English is understood by majority of people in the cities. The country is a home of more than 60 ethnic groups & sup-groups and has over 70 different languages & dialects.
Religion
Hindus and Buddhists coexisted in Nepal for centuries in total harmony.There are about 2 % Muslims, 20 – 25% Buddhists and rests arre Hindus.Unlike in India the Hindus in Nepal are open and receptive to new ideas.Nepal is the birthplace of Lord Buddha and a country greatly influenced by Buddhism.In Upper Dolpo, Mustang and other regions you find few people still practicing ancient Bonpo religion.Shamanism is also popular in certain areas.
Lumbini , the birthplace of Lord Buddha is a world famous pilgrimage site and attracts thousands of Buddhist pilgrims each year from China ,Korea , Japan, Srilanka, Myanmar and Thailand.Simillarly Pashupatinath is a great Hindu temple attracting a great no of pilgrims from India and abroad each year.