Geography, Climate, Religion & Culture of Nepal

Geography

Nepal, a sovereign Independent Kingdom, lies between 80-degree 12' east longitude and 26 degree 22' and 30 degree 27' north latitude. It is bounded on the north by the Tibet Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China; on the east by Sikkim and West Bengal of the Indian Union on the south by Indian States of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh and on the west by Uttaranchal Pradesh of Indian Union. The length of the Kingdom is 885 kilometers east west and its breath varies from 145 to 241 kilometers north south. Climatically, it lies in the Temperate Zone with the added advantage of altitude. The country can be divided into three main geographic regions:

1. Himalayan Region: The altitude of this region ranges between 4877 meters and 8848 meters with the snow line running around 48848 meters. It includes 8 of the existing 14 summits in the world which exceed an altitude of 8000 meters. They represent. (1) Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) 8848 m, (2) Kanchanjanga - 8586 m, (3) Lhotse - 8516m, Makalu - 8463m, (5) ChoOyo- 8201 m, (6) Dhaulagiri - 8167m, (7) Manaslu - 8163m, and Annapurna- 8091 m.

2. Mountain Region: This region accounts for about 64 percent to total land area. The Mahabharat range that rises to 4877 meters forms the region. To its south lies the lower Churia range whose altitude varies from 610 meters to 1524 meters.

3. Terai Region: The low-land Terai region which has a width of about 26 to 32 kilometers and a maximum altitude of 305 meters, which occupies about 17% of total land area of the nation. Kechanakawal the lowest point of the country with an altitude of 70 meters lies in Jhapa District of the eastern Terai

Climate

Nepal's climate varies with its topography and altitude. It ranges from tropical to arctic. The Terai region, which lies in the tropical southern part of the country, for instance, has a hot, humid climate. The mid-land regions are pleasant almost all the year round, although winter nights are cool. The northern mountain region around an altitude above 3353 meters has an alpine climate with a considerably lower temperature in winter as can be expected. Nepal has four climatic seasons. (a) Spring: March-May, (b) summer: June- August (c) autumn: September - November and (d) winter: December - February.

Religion & Culture

Hinduism and Buddhism constitute two major religions of Nepal sharing between them some 86.5 and 7.8 percent of the total population respectively; though Nepal is declare as an independent state in terms of religion by the public government in July 2006. Both these religions are bound together by a sense of oneness particularly displayed in their worship of common deities and joint celebration. Kumari, the Virgin Hindu Goddess, for instance, is selected from a Buddhist clan.