Country Facts - Nepal

The People

Nationality

Nepalese (singular and plural)

Ethnic Composition

Newars, Indians, Tibetans, Gurungs, Magars, Tamangs, Bhotias, Rais, Limbus, Sherpas, Tharu, among many others.

Religious Composition

Hindu	86.2%
Buddhist	7.8%
Muslim	3.8%
Other	2.2%

Note: only official Hindu state in the worldd

Languages Spoken

Nepali, plus 20 other languages divided into numerous dialects. Educated Nepalese can speak some English.

Education and Literacy

A free countrywide primary education system is under development. Five years of schooling are compulsory. Literacy is estimated at 70 percent for adult males; and 70 percent for adult females.

Labor Force

Total: 10 million

By occupation:

Agriculture	81%
Services	16%
Industry	3%

Note: severe lack of skilled labor

Geography

Land Mass Total

54,363 sq mi (

140,800 sq km)

Land

52,818 sq mi (136,800 sq km)

Water

1,544 sq mi (4,000 sq km)

Land Boundaries

Total: 1,818 mi (2,926 km)

Border countries: China 768 mi (1,236 km), India 1,050 mi (1,690 km)

Climate/Weather

Varies from cool summers and severe winters in north to subtropical summers and mild winters in south.

Terrain

Terai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in north.

Elevation extremes

Lowest: Kanchan Kalan 229 ft (70 m)
Highest: Mount Everest 29,035 ft (8,850 m)

Natural Resources

Quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore.

Land use

Arable land	20%
Permanent crops	1%
Other	79%

(1998)

Natural hazards

Severe thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, and famine depending on the timing, intensity, and duration of the summer monsoons.

Environment - current issues

Deforestation (overuse of wood for fuel and lack of alternatives); contaminated water (with human and animal wastes, agricultural runoff, and industrial effluents); wildlife conservation; vehicular emissions.

Geography Note

Landlocked; strategic location between China and India; contains 8 of world's 10 highest peaks.

Demographics

Population

25,873,917 (July 2002)

Age structure

0-14 years:	40%	male 5,346,422	female 5,007,416
15-64 years:	56.4%	male 7,476,202	female 7,125,471
65 years and over:	3.6%	male 453,263	female 465,143

Growth Rate

2.29% (2002)

Life Expectancy

58.61 years (2002)
female: 58.2 years
male: 59.01 years

GDP Per Capita

Purchasing power parity
US$1,400 (2001)

Infant Mortality

72.36 deaths/1,000 live births (2002)

Sex ratio

At birth:	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15 years:	1.07 male(s)/female
15-64 years:	1.05 male(s)/female
65 years and over:	0.97 male(s)/female
Total population:	0.05 male(s)/female

Net migration rate

0 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2002)

Economy & Trade

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 percent of the population and accounting for 41 percent of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Textile and carpet production, accounting for about 80 percent of foreign exchange earnings in recent years, contracted significantly in 2001 due to the overall slowdown in the world economy and pressures by Maoist insurgents on factory owners and workers. Security concerns in the wake of Maoist activity, the June massacre of many members of the royal family, and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the U.S. led to a decrease in tourism, another key source of foreign exchange. Agricultural production is growing by about 5 percent on average as compared with annual population growth of 2.3 percent. Since May 1991, the government has been moving forward with economic reforms, particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment, e.g., by reducing business licenses and registration requirements 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 aid community's role of funding more than 60 percent of Nepal's development budget and more than 28 percent of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth. However, even this type of quasi-investment will be hampered in 2003-04 unless the political stability issues are brought under control.

Unemployment

47% (2001)

Inflation Rate

2.1% (FY00/01)

Industries

Tourism, carpet, textiles; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes; cement and brick production.

Exports

US$757 million (f.o.b., FY00/01 est.), but does not include unrecorded border trade with India

Imports

US$1.6 billion (f.o.b., FY00/01)

Total Trade

Purchasing power parity
GDP US$35.6 billion (2001)

Top Export Partners

India 48%, US 26%, Germany 11% (FY00/01)

Top Import Partners

India 39%, Singapore 10%, China/Hong Kong 9%, (FY00/01)

Top Exports

Carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain.

Top Imports

Gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer.

Debt - external

US$2.55 billion (FY00/01)

Economic aid

US$424 million (FY00/01)

Fiscal Year:

July 16 to July 15

Business Workweek

	Monday - Friday	Saturday - Sunday
Offices	9a.m. to 5p.m.	Closed
Retail	Sunday to Friday 10a.m. to 7p.m. Many businesses are closed or work shorter hours on Fridays. Business hours are also shortened during the winter.	Closed
Banks	Kathmandu Valley: 9:30a.m. to 2:30p.m. In most other areas, hours are customarily Sunday to Thursday 10a.m. to 2:30p.m., and Friday 10a.m. to noon. Licensed currency exchange offices are usually open 12 hours daily.	Closed
Government	9a.m. to 5p.m. December through February: 9a.m. to 4p.m.	Closed

Holidays

Official Holidays

Holidays	2003	2004	2005
National Unity Day	January 11	January 11	January 11
Martyr's Memorial Day	January 29	January 30	January 30
Democracy Day	February 19	February 19	February 19
Maha Shivaratri¹	March 12	March 1	March 18
Women's Day	March 8	March 8	March 8
Holi Festival	March 18	March 18	March 18
Nepali New Year	April	April	April
Monlam Festival	March 11 to 19	February 28 to March 7	February 16 to 25
Buddha Birth Festival²	May 1	May 19	May 8
King's Birthday	July 7	July 7	July 7
Children's Day	August 20	August 20	August 20
Krishna's Birthday³	August 30	August 19	August
Gaura Parba	August 31	August 31	August 31
Constitution Day	November 9	November 9	November 9

¹	Holiday in honor of Shiva.
²	Buddhist celebration commemorating the birth, enlightenment, and entry into Nirvana of Gautama Buddha. Dates are determined by the first full moon in May.
³	Holiday in honor of Lord Krishna, celebrated in August.

Note : The government of Nepal announces the exact dates of holidays at the beginning of each Nepali year (April).

Country information used by permission of World Trade Press