History:
Nepal is a country of ancient
civilization which can be traced
thousand of years before the birth of
Christ (B.C.). In its along and glorious
history Nepal has remained always
sovereign and never bowed to any foreign
power. Although Nepal was modernised by
King Prithivi Narayan Shah of present
dynasty after consolidating number of
principalities and conquering the
Kathmandu Valley in 1768 A.D., there
were many glorious dynasties who
contributed a lot to its sovereignty, In
fact most of the monuments, Pagodas and
Stupas, Monasteries which stand as an
example of our glorious past orginated
from the Mall dynasty i.e. from 12 to 18
century.
With the fall of Rana regime in February
1951 after a popular revolution, Nepal
saw the dawn of democracy. A democratic
revolt of 1990 has restored the
Multi-Party-Democratic Country with
constitutional monarchy according to the
new constitution of November 1990.
Geography:
Nepal extends about 885 km from east to
west and up to 241 km from north to
south, covering an area of 147,818
square kilometers, as Swiss and Austria
together.
Closed in between India and China it
divides itself into 4 climatic and
geographic zones: Terai, Siwaliks,
Mahabharat Lekhs and Pahar, the high
Himalaya.
The Terai, downland in the south of
Nepal is part of the Ganga plains, once
densely forested with subtropical
climate. More than 450 birds are found
here, and Tiger, Leopard, Buffalo,
Elephant, Gharial, Rhinos, are the most
famous animals. The jungles are covered
mainly with Sal trees and Elephant
grass.
The inflow of immigrants from other
(hilly) parts in the last 30 years and
the simultaneously growth of the
population has reduced the jungles. More
than 10 Million Nepali are settled in
the Terai. But here we can see also the
tectonic work of the great earth plates,
in fact here the Indian subcontinent
"crashes with the Asiatic plate,
creating all other following zones and
many earthquakes.
Flooded every year by the rivers during
monsoon, the Terai is highly fertile.
Beside of this, many industries are
settled here.
The People:
The Nepali are subdivided into two main
streams: the indoarian races and the
tibeto- burmese races. All together
there are more than 30 different tribes
and also languages, unified by the
languages the Gorkhali or Nepali. The
indoarian races come mainly from India
and live in the Terai and Mahabarath
Leks. Hinduism and shamanism (Jhankri)
are there faiths, mixed among them and
in the valley of Kathmandu also visible.
The tibeto- burmese races are mainly
living in the north, in the high
Himalayas, mostly belonging to the
buddhist faith.
Religion:
In Nepal, religions are very important,
main religions are: Hinduism, Buddhism,
Shamanism. The religions are
interconnected, most Nepal is are Hindu,
but the High Himalayas are permanently
Buddhist.
The valley of Kathmandu is too a
stronghold of Buddhism becoming, once
because the Newars are believers of both
faiths, once because Tibetan refugees
are settling in the valley. Shamanism is
interwoven with both faiths and you can
find "Jankhri" all over in Nepal. The
Jankhri play a important role in the
Nepalese society. Other religions like
Islam or Christianity are nearly not
present in the country. Nepal is
Official religion is the Hinduism.
Economy, Society & Politics:
The Nepalese economy is based upon 90 %
on agriculture. The industry produces
mostly beverages, cigarettes and
processed food. Clothing is connected to
agriculture. The main exports are
carpets, handicrafts and tourism plays
an important role for Nepal. So the
social structure is still based somehow
in the old days, supported by the Hindu
cast system, which divides all tribes
into own categories.
Of course, mostly Brahmins have
economical and political power, only few
other have bigger influence, as in the
tourism, Manangi, Sherpa does.
Politically Nepal is not stable, as
democracy is shortly introduced, so
governments change often, which is a
dangerous problem for the long term
future development of the country.
Nevertheless, for tourists this means in
no way a danger, as the Nepalese do not
extend their quarrels to "outsiders". |
