Country Full Name: The Kingdom of Nepal 

Area: Approximately 147,000 sq km, stretching 800 km from east to west and from 90 to 230 km north to south.

Population: An estimated 23.4m. Annual rate of growth of 2.5%.

Capital City: Kathmandu. Population of about 800,000 in the city itself. Believed approximately 1.5m in the fertile Kathmandu valley.

Peoples: Tribal groups include Gurung, Limbu, Newar, Rai, Sherpa, Tamang and Tharu with diverse smaller groups. Major caste groups are the Brahmans and Chhetris. Large numbers of Indians and some Tibetans make their home in the country.

Language(s): Nepali 58% (official language), Newari 3%, mainly in Kathmandu. Tibetan languages (20%) mainly in the hill areas and Indian languages (20%) mainly in the Terai areas bordering India. Nepal has over 30 Languages and dozens of dialects.

Religion(s): Nepal is the only Hindu monarchy in the world. Officially 90% Hindu, 8% Buddhist and 2% Islamic but these figures are thought misleading. Hinduism and Buddhism overlap considerably in Nepal. Recent estimates also suggest that there are 400,000 Christians in the country.

Currency: Nepalese Rupee (NPR)

Geography: Nepal covers approximately 147,000 sq km, stretching 800 km from east to west and 90 to 230 km from north to south. Nepal is land-locked between China (including the Chinese autonomous region of Tibet) and India. Nepal has three geographic regions; the mountainous Himalayan belt (including 8 of the 10 highest mountain peaks in the world), the hill region and the plains region. Nepal contains the greatest altitude variation on earth, from the lowland Terai, at almost sea-level to Mount Everest (Sagarmatha) at 8848 m.

Economy: Basic Economic Facts.

GDP: Purchasing power parity - $33.7 billion (2000 estimate).

GDP per head: US$ 220

Annual Growth: 3.5% (2002 estimate)

Inflation: 5% (estimate Financial Year 01/02)

Major Industries: Tourism, carpet, textile, small rice, jute, sugar and oilseed mills; cigarettes; cement and brick production.

Major trading partners: India 33%, US 26%, Germany 25%. 

Nepal has a per capita income of US$220 (1997). 53% of the population is estimated to be living below the poverty line. The economy is largely based on agriculture, which accounts for 90% of employment though only just over 40% of GNP. Manufacturing production grew rapidly in the 1980s, but its share of GDP is still only about 9%. Construction and the financial sector contribute about 10% of GDP each. The main foreign currency earners are carpet exports (mostly to Germany), garment exports (to the USA) and tourism. Around 491,504 tourists visited Nepal in 1999. One third were Indian, most of the rest came from Western Europe and South East Asia.

Nepal\'s relations with the UK: Relations between the UK and Nepal are friendly. There are close links between the Royal Families. The late Crown Prince Dipendra paid an official visit to the UK in June 1997, and the Prince of Wales visited Nepal in February 1998. The late King Birendra visited the UK privately in November 1998, July 1999, and July 2000.