his article is about the country. For other uses, see Nepal (disambiguation).
Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र
नेपाल (Nepali)
Saṅghīya Lokatāntrika Gaṇatantra Nepāla
Flag
Emblem
Motto: जननी जन्मभूमिश्च स्वर्गादपि
गरीयसी (Sanskrit)
Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi
"Mother and Motherland are Greater Than Heaven"
Anthem: सयौँ थुँगा फूलका (Nepali)
Sayaun Thunga Phulka
"Made of Hundreds of Flowers"
Duration: 1 minute and 10 seconds.1:10
Location of Nepal
Territory claimed but not controlled
Nepal on the globeAdministrative map of NepalShow
all
Capital Kathmandu[1]
and largest city 28°10′N 84°15′E
Official langua Nepali[2]
ges
Recognised All mother-tongues[3][4]
national languag (see Languages of Nepal)
es
Ethnic groups 30.12% Khas Arya
(2021)[5] 16.45% Chhetri
11.29% Bahun
1.7% Thakuri
0.68% Sanyasi
6.9% Magars
6.2% Tharu
5.62% Tamang
5.04% Kami
4.86% Musalman
4.6% Newar
4.21% Yadav
2.2% Rai
32.63% other
Religion 81.19% Hinduism
(2021)[6] 8.21% Buddhism
5.09% Islam
3.17% Kirant
1.76% Christianity
0.35% Prakriti
0.23% Bon
0.01% Jainism
Demonym(s) Nepali
Nepalese
Government Federal parliamentary republic
• President Ram Chandra Poudel
• Vice President Ram Sahaya Yadav
• Prime Minister K. P. Sharma Oli
• Chief Justice Bishowambhar Prasad Shrestha
Legislature Federal Parliament
• Upper house National Assembly
• Lower house House of Representatives
Formation
• Unification 25 September 1768[7]
• Treaty of 4 March 1816
Sugauli[8]
• Nepal–Britain 21 December 1923
Treaty of 1923[9]
• Federal Republic 28 May 2008
• Current 20 September 2015
constitution
Area
• Total 147,516 km2 (56,956 sq mi)
(93rd)
• Water (%) 2.8%
Population
• 2024 estimate 31,122,387[10] (49th)
• Density 180/km2 (466.2/sq mi) (72nd)
GDP (PPP) 2024 estimate
• Total $169.120 billion[11] (85th)
• Per capita $5,348[11] (151th)
GDP (nominal) 2024 estimate
• Total $43.673 billion[11] (100nd)
• Per capita $1,381[11] (161th)
Gini (2022) 30.0[12]
medium inequality
HDI (2022) 0.601[13]
medium (146nd)
Currency Nepalese rupee (Rs, रू) (NPR)
Time zone UTC+05:45 (Nepal Standard
Time)
Date format YYYY/MM/DD
Calling code +977
ISO 3166 code NP
Internet TLD .np
Nepal,[a] officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal,[b] is a landlocked
country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of
the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north,
and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated
from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim.
Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and
eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on
Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic,
multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.
The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian
subcontinent, the era in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was founded, the predominant
religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the
founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal
were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is
intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the
prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the
ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's traders. The cosmopolitan region
developed distinct traditional art and architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha
Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom
of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana
dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state
between Imperial China and British India. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in
1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005.
The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of
a secular republic in 2008, ending the world's last Hindu monarchy.
The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a
federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces. Nepal was admitted to
the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and
China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for
Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a
member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative.
Etymology
