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NEPAL General Information |
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| King |
King
Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev |
| Capital |
Kathmandu |
| Area |
total:
140,800 sq km
land: 136,800 sq km
water: 4,000 sq km |
| Land
boundaries: |
total:
2,926 km
border countries: China 1,236 km, India 1,690 km |
| Climate |
Varies
from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical
summers and mild winters in south |
| Natural Resources |
Quartz,
water, timber, hydropower potential, scenic beauty, small
deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore |
| Irrigated
land |
8,500
sq km (approx.) |
| Natural
hazards |
Severe
thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, and famine
depending on the timing, intensity, and duration of the
summer monsoons |
| Environment-international
agreements |
party
to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Desertification,
Endangered Species, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea,
Nuclear Test Ban, Ozone Layer Protection, Tropical Timber
83, Tropical Timber 94, Wetlands
signed, but not ratified: Marine Dumping, Marine Life
Conservation |
| Population |
24,302,653
(approx.) |
| Birth
rate |
35.32
births/1,000 population (approx.) |
| Death
rate |
10.18
deaths/1,000 population (approx.) |
| Net
migration rate |
0
migrant(s)/1,000 population (approx.) |
| Sex
ratio |
at
birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.06 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.04 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.99 male(s)/female
total population: 1.05 male(s)/female (approx.) |
| Life
expectancy at birth |
total
population: 58.42 years
male: 58.47 years
female: 58.36 years (approx.) |
| Religions |
Hindu 90%,
Buddhist 5%, Muslim 3%, other 2%
note: only official Hindu state in the world, although no sharp
distinction between many Hindu and Buddhist groups |
| Legislative
Body |
bicameral
Parliament consists of the National Council |
| Official
Language |
Nepali
(official), 20 other languages divided into numerous dialects |
| Literacy |
definition:
age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 27.5%
male: 40.9%
female: 14% (approx.) |
| Currency |
1 Nepalese
rupee (NR) = 100 paise Current
Exchange Rate
 |
| Legal System |
Based on
Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted
compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
| GDP: Purchasing Power Parity |
-$26.2
billion (approx.) |
| GDP - real
growth rate |
4.9%
(approx.) |
| GDP - per
capita |
purchasing
power parity-$1,100 (approx.) |
| GDP -
Composition by sector |
agriculture:
41%
industry: 22%
services: 37% (approx.) |
| Economy Overview |
Nepal is
among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with
nearly half of its population living below the poverty line.
Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood
for over 80% of the population and accounting for 41% of GDP.
Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural
produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Production
of textiles and carpets has expanded recently and accounted for
about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in the past three years.
Apart from agricultural land and forests, exploitable natural
resources are mica, hydropower, and tourism. Agricultural
production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with
annual population growth of 2.5%. The government has been moving
forward with economic reforms particularly those that encourage
trade and foreign investment, e.g., by eliminating business
licenses and registration requirements in order to simplify
investment procedures. The government has also been cutting
expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries,
and laying off civil servants. More recently, however, political
instability-five different governments over the past few years-has
hampered Kathmandu's ability to forge consensus to implement key
economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating
economic growth by exploiting its potential in hydropower and
tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for
foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor,
however, because of the small size of the economy, its
technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked
geographic location, and its susceptibility to natural disaster.
The international community's role of funding more than 60% of
Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of total budgetary
expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth. |
| Population
below poverty line |
42%(approx.) |
| Household
income |
lowest
10%: 3.2%
highest 10%: 29.8%(approx.) |
| Inflation
rate (consumer prices) |
7.8%
(approx.) |
| Industries |
Tourism,
carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills;
cigarette; cement and brick production |
| Agriculture-
products |
Rice,
corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat |
| Exports |
$394
million (approx.), but does not include unrecorded border trade
with India |
| Exports-commodities |
Carpets,
clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain |
| Exports-partners |
India, US,
Germany, UK |
| Imports |
$1.7
billion (approx.) |
| Imports-commodities |
Petroleum
products 20%, fertilizer 11%, machinery 10% |
| Imports-partners |
India,
Singapore, Japan, Germany |
| Communication |
|
| Telephones |
115,911
(approx.) |
| Telephone
system |
Poor
telephone and telegraph service; fair radiotelephone communication
service
domestic: NA
international: radiotelephone communications; satellite earth
station-1 Intelsat (Indian Ocean) |
| Radio
Broadcast stations |
AM 88, FM
1, short wave 0 |
| Radios |
690,000
(approx.) |
| Television
broadcast station |
6
(approx.) |
| Televisions |
45,000
(approx.) |
| Transportation |
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| Railways |
total: 101
km; note-all in Kosi close to Indian border
narrow gauge: 101 km 0.762-m gauge |
| Highways |
total:
7,700 km
paved: 3,196 km
unpaved: 4,504 km (approx.) |
| Ports and
harbors |
None |
| Airports |
45
(approx.) |
| Tax
Structure |
Tax Structure |
| International Membership |
AsDB, CCC,
CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC,
IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, ISO (correspondent),
ITU, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMIBH,
UNMOP, UNPREDEP, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO
(applicant)
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General Section
