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Area :
147,181 sq km (56,827 sq miles).
Population :
22,367,048 (official estimate 1999).
Population Density :
152.0 per sq km.
Capital :
Kathmandu.
Population : 535,000 (1993).
GEOGRAPHY : Nepal is a landlocked kingdom sharing borders with Tibet to the north
and northwest, and India to the west, south and east. The country can
be divided into five zones: the Terai, the Siwaliks, the Mahabharat
Lekh, the Midlands or Pahar and the Himalayas. The greater part of the
country lies on the southern slope of the Himalayas, extending down
from the highest peaks through hill country to the upper edge of the
Ganges Plain. The hilly central area is crossed by the Lower Himalayas
where there are eight of the highest peaks in the world, leading up to
Mount Everest. Wildlife in Nepal includes tigers, leopards, gaur,
elephants, buffalo, deer and rhinos.
Government :
Constitutional monarchy.
Head of State :
King Maharajadhira Gyanendra since 2001.
Head of Government :
Prime Minister Surya Bahadur Thapa since 2003.
Language :
The official language is Nepali.
There are many other languages, including Maithili and Bhojpuri.
English is spoken in business circles and by people involved in the
travel trade.
Religion :
Mainly Hindu and Buddhist with a small Muslim
minority.
Time :
GMT + 5.45.
Electricity :
220 volts AC, 50Hz. There are frequent power
cuts.
Communications :
Telephone :
IDD is available to all major
cities. Country code: 977. Outgoing international code : 00. The
Telecommunication Office, Tripureshwar, deals with telephone calls and
cables. The International Telephone Office is open Mon-Thurs 0900-1400
and Fri 0900-1330. Hotels and private communication centres provide
long-distance telephone services (ISD, STD).
Mobile telephone :
The Nepalese mobile network uses PDC
(Personal Digital Cellular System) technology, which is not compatible
with GSM or other mobile services.
Fax :
Services are available in most
hotels, travel agencies and communications centres. The Nepal
Telecommunications Corporation booth at the airport has fax
facilities.
Telegram :
The Central Telegraph Office offers
a 24-hour international telephone and telegram service seven days a
week.
Internet :
ISPs
include World Link (website:
www.wlink.com.np).
There are Internet cafes in Kathmandu, Patan and Pokhara. Internet
services are also provided by hotels.
Post :
Postal services are available in
most centres. Make sure that letters are hand-cancelled at the post
office (post boxes should not be used for important communications).
The general post office in Kathmandu (near the Dharahara Tower) is
open Sun-Fri 1000-1700. Poste restante services are available from
1000-1600. Express post services are also available. Main hotels will
also handle post.
Press :
English-language dailies available
in Nepal are The Kathmandu Post and Rising Nepal. The Independent, The
Telegraph and Nepal Chronicle are published weekly in English. The
International Herald Tribune, Time and Newsweek can all be found in
Kathmandu. Himal is a magazine published monthly, devoted to issues
throughout the South Asian region. At certain times of day, there are
radio and television news broadcasts in English.
Radio :
BBC
World Service (website :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice)
and Voice of America (website :
http://www.voa.gov) can be received. From
time to time the frequencies change and the most up-to-date can be
found online. |
