All about Nepal
Location: |
Southern Asia, between China and India |
Geographic coordinates: |
28 00 N, 84 00 E |
Area: |
total: 140,800 sq km water: 4,000 sq km land: 136,800 sq km |
Land boundaries: |
total: 2,926 km(landlocked) border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km |
Geography note: |
landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains eight of world's 10 highest peaks, including Mount Everest - the world's tallest - on the border with China |
Population: |
27,070,666 (July 2004 est.) |
Population growth rate: |
2.23% (2004 est.) |
Birth rate: |
31.96 births/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Death rate: |
9.66 deaths/1,000 population (2004 est.) |
Ethnic groups: |
Brahman, Chetri, Newar, Gurung, Magar, Tamang, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Tharu, and others (1995) |
Religions: |
Hinduism 86.2%, Buddhism 7.8%, Islam 3.8%, other 2.2% note: only official Hindu state in the world (1995) |
Languages: |
Nepali (official; spoken by 90% of the population), about a dozen other languages and about 30 major dialects; note - many in government and business also speak English (1995) |
Constitution: |
9 November 1990 |
Legal system: |
based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
Suffrage: |
18 years of age; universal |
Executive branch: |
chief of state: King head of government: Prime Minister |
Legislative branch: |
Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) |
Judicial branch: |
Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council). appeal court and 75 district court . |