| Official Name |
Kingdom of Nepal |
| Political system |
Constitutional monarchy and multi-party democracy |
| Head of State |
His Majesty King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev |
| Head of Government |
Council of Ministers under the chairmanship of His Majesty
King Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah Dev sine February 1, 2005 |
| Political parties in parliament |
Parliament is currently dissolved |
| |
|
| Surface area |
147,181 sq. km |
| Population |
24 million |
| Population density |
163 per sq. km |
| |
|
| GDP per capita |
$240 (at purchasing power parity $1,400) |
| Currency |
Nepali Rupee (NR) |
| Exchange rates |
|
| |
|
| Official language |
Nepali. English is widely used in business, higher education
and the professions. |
| Other principal languages |
Maithili, Bhojpuri, Newari, Magar |
| |
|
| Principal religions |
Hindu(80.6%), Buddhist(10.7%), Muslim(4.2%), Kirati (3.6%),
other (0.9%) |
| |
|
| Time Zone |
GMT +5.45 |
| |
|
| Working days: |
Sunday to Friday |
| Working hours: |
Mid February to mid November: 10am to 5pm
Mid November to mid February: 10am to 4pm |
| |
|
| Climatic conditions |
Sub-tropical in the Terai plains along the southern border,
temperate in the hills along the middle belt, and alpine in
the mountainous region along the northern belt. The Kathmandu
valley has a pleasant climate with average summer and winter
temperatures of 19 - 27ºC and 2-12º C respectively.
Rainfall is heavy in the eastern part during June –August,
while the western part gets more rain in winter.
Annual precipitation varies from around 300 mm in the north
and west to over 2,500 mm in the east. The Kathmandu valley
receives 1,200 mm of annual rainfall. |
| |
|
| Main cities/towns and numbers of inhabitants |
Kathmandu: 671,846
Biratnagar: 166,674
Lalitpur:162,991
Pokhara: 156,312
Birgunj:112,484 |
