NEPAL

officially Kingdom of Nepal, Nepali Nepal Adhirajya country of Asia, lying along the southern slopes of the Himalayan mountain ranges. It is a landlocked country located between India to the east, south, and west and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north. Its territory, which has an area of 56,827 square miles (147,181 square kilometres), extends roughly 500 miles (800 kilometres) from east to west and 90 to 150 miles from north to south. The capital is Kathmandu. Nepal, long under the rule of hereditary prime ministers favouring a policy of isolation, remained closed to the outside world until a palace revolt in 1950 restored the crown's authority in 1951; the country gained admission to the United Nations in 1955. In 1991 the kingdom established a multiparty parliamentary system. Wedged between two giants, India and China, Nepal seeks to keep a balance between the two countries in its foreign policyand thus to remain independent. A factor that contributes immensely to the geopolitical importance of the country is the fact that a strong Nepal can deny China access to the rich Gangetic Plain; Nepal thus marks the southern boundary of the Chinese sphere north of the Himalayas in Asia. As a result of its years of geographic and self-imposed isolation, Nepal is one of the least developed nations of the world. In recent years many countries, including India, China, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Denmark, Germany, Canada, and Switzerland, have provided economic assistance to Nepal. The extent of foreign aid to Nepal has been influenced to a considerable degree by the strategic position of the country between India and China. officially Kingdom of Nepal, Nepali Nepal Adhirajya landlocked country of southern Asia, bordered on the north by Chinese Tibet and the Himalayas and bounded by India to the east, south, and west. It covers an area of 56,827 square miles (147,181 square km). The capital is Kathmandu. Nepal extends for about 500 miles (800 km) from southeast to northwest and for about 90 to 150 miles (140 to 240 km) from north to south. It contains some of the most rugged and difficult mountainous terrain in the world. As a result of its years of geographic and self-imposed isolation, Nepal is one of the least-developed nations of the world. The population of Nepal in 1990 was estimated to be 18,910,000. Additional reading Geography General works on Nepal's geography include Pradyumna P. Karan, Nepal, a Cultural and Physical Geography (1960); Leo E. Rose and John T. Scholz, Nepal: Profile of a Himalayan Kingdom (1980), a concise study of the society, economy, and politics; and Chandra K. Sharma, Natural Resources of Nepal (1978). Problems of the natural environment are surveyed in Pradyumna P. Karan and Shigeru Iijima, Environmental Stress in the Himalaya, Geographical Review, 75:7192 (January 1985).Noted studies on the people of Nepal include Alexander W. Macdonald, Essays on the Ethnology of Nepal and South Asia (1975); Dor Bahadur Bista, People of Nepal, 4th ed. (1980); Susanne Von Der Heide, The Thakalis of North-Western Nepal (1988); Suraj Subba, Botes, The Ferrymen of Tanahun (1989); and Christoph Von Frer-Haimendorf, The Sherpas of Nepal: Buddhist Highlanders, 3rd ed. (1979). For information on demography, see United Nations. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, Population of Nepal (1980); and Judith Banister and Shyam Thapa, The Population Dynamics of Nepal (1981). Studies specifically on the women of Nepal include Michael Allen and S.N. Mukherjee (eds.), Women in India and Nepal (1982); Indra Majupuria, Nepalese Women (1989); Pushkar Raj Reejal, Integration of Women in Development: The Case of Nepal (1981); and Kanchan Verma, Women in Development (1989). For a discussion of the country's cultural geography, see Prem K. Khatry, Aspects of Nepali Culture (1989); Pradyumna P. Karan and Cotton Mather, Art and Geography: Patterns in the Himalaya, Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 66:487515 (December 1976); Michael J. Hutt, Nepali: A National Language and Its Liturature (1988), and Michael J. Hutt (ed. and trans.), Himalayan Voices: An Introduction to Modern Nepali Literature.Bengt-Erik Borgstrm, The Patron and the Panca: Village Values and Pancayat Democracy in Nepal (1976, reissued 1980), focuses on the country's former panchayat political system. For information on the country's economy, see B.P. Shreshtha, An Introduction to Nepalese Economy, 4th ed. (1981); Ram Krishna Shrestha and Pitamber Sharma (eds.), Nepal, Atlas of Economic Development (1980); Sriram Poudyal, Planned Development in Nepal (1983), a study of the functioning of the economic planning institutions since their introduction in 1956; and Gunanidhi Sharma, A Macroeconomic Study of the Nepalese Plan Performance (1989). Piers Blaikie, John Cameron, and David Seddon, Nepal in Crisis: Growth and Stagnation at the Periphery (1980); and Rizwanul Islam, Azizur Rahman Khan, and Eddy Lee, Employment and Development in Nepal (1982), explore the country's economic stagnation. For information on agriculture, see Manesh C. Regmi, Landownership in Nepal (1976), and Land Tenure and Taxation in Nepal, 2nd ed. (1978). David Seddon, Nepal, a State of Poverty (1987), examines the causes of social deprivation of the population. History R.S. Chauhan, Society and State Building in Nepal: From Ancient Times to Mid-Twentieth Century (1989), is an important social and historical survey of Nepal. For the early periods, see Alexander W. Macdonald (ed.), Les Royaumes de l'Himlaya: histoire et civilisation: le Ladakh, le Bhoutan, le Sikkim, le Npal (1982). Among the works on the modern period are Ludwig F. Stiller, The Rise of the House of Gorkha: A Study in the Unification of Nepal, 17681816 (1973), a definitive analysis of the first 50 years of the dynasty; Rishikesh Shaha, Modern Nepal: A Political History, 17691955, 2 vol. (1990); and Krishna B. Thapa, Main Aspects of Social, Economic, and Administrative History of Modern Nepal (1988). Evolution of elitist politics under the Shah dynasty is addressed in Leo E. Rose and Margaret W. Fisher, The Politics of Nepal: Persistence and Change in an Asian Monarchy (1970); and Rishikesh Shaha, Essays in the Practice of Government in Nepal (1982). Other studies of internal politics include Satish Kumar, Rana Polity in Nepal: Origin and Growth (1967), focusing on the period from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries; Frederick H. Gaige, Regionalism and National Unity in Nepal (1975), on the problem of national integration; and Lok Raj Baral, Nepal's Politics of Referendum: A Study of Groups, Personalities & Trends (1983). For a cultural history of Nepal, see Mary Shepherd Slusser, Nepal Mandala: A Cultural Study of the Kathmandu Valley (1982); and Alexander W. Macdonald and Anne Vergati Stahl, Newar Art: Nepalese Art During the Malla Period (1979), a well-illustrated historical survey. A historical survey of religion is found in Grard Toffin, Socit et religion chez Nwar du Npal (1984). Nepal's foreign relations are discussed in Yadu Nath Khanal, Essays in Nepal's Foreign Affairs (1988); S.D. Muni, Foreign Policy of Nepal (1973); Govind R. Agrawal and Jai P. Rana (eds.), Nepal and Non-Alignment (1982); Jagadish Sharma, Nepal, Struggle for Existence (1986); Eugene Bramer Mihaly, Foreign Aid and Politics in Nepal (1965), on the effect of aid programs; Leo E. Rose, Nepal: Strategy for Survival (1971), on relations with India and China; and Shankar Kumar Jha (ed.), Indo-Nepal Relations (1989). Pradyumna P. Karan Leo E. Rose Administration and social conditions Government Although reforms in the 1950s began to move the kingdom toward a democratic political system, the crown dissolved Parliament in 1960 and subsequently banned political parties. Thereafter, Nepal became only nominally a constitutional monarchy, and the constitution of 1962 (amended 1967, 1976, and 1980) effectively gave the king autocratic control over a multitiered system of panchayats (local bodies, or councils). In the 1980s, political restrictions were eased, and organizations such as the Nepali Congress Party, the Communist Party of Nepal, numerous small left-leaning student groups, and several radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups were allowed to operate more or less openly. Political parties, however, were not again legalized until 1990, when nationwide unrest forced King Birendra to accept the formation of a multiparty parliamentary system. A new constitution promulgated on Nov. 9, 1990, greatly reduced the power of the monarchy. The king remained the head of state, but effective executive power was given to the Council of Ministers, headed by the prime minister. Appointed by the king, the prime minister is required to be either the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives (the lower house of Parliament) or, if there is no majority party, a representative who can form a coalition majority. The king is constitutionally also a part of Parliament and is charged with giving assent to bills that have been passed by both legislative chambersthe House of Representatives and the National Council (the upper house). The House of Representatives consists of 205 members popularly elected to five-year terms. The 60 members of the National Council hold six-year terms; 10 are nominated by the king, 35 are elected by the House of Representatives (of which 3 must be women), and 15 are selected by an electoral college. The constitution gives the House of Representatives considerably more power than the National Council. All Nepalese citizens 18 and older are eligible to vote. Because most voters in Nepal are illiterate, candidates are chosen by party symbol (e.g., a tree for the Nepali Congress Party and a sun for the United Marxist-Leninist Party of Nepal). Some voters, moreover, must travel long distances, in some cases for hours along mountain paths, in order to reach a polling station. Prior to 1990 the country was divided for administrative purposes into 5 development regions, 14 zones, and 75 districts; in addition, there were corresponding regional, zonal, and district courts, as well as a Supreme Court. The 1990 constitution mandated the elimination of the regional and zonal courts, which were to be replaced by appellate courts. The administrative divisions themselves continued to exist as provisional units. The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica Armed forces and police Nepal's armed forces consist of the Royal Nepalese Army, predominantly an infantry force. The Army Flight Department operates all aircraft. Except for a few simple weapons, all military supplies are imported. Nepal is famous for the fighting qualities of its Gurkha soldiers; nearly 10,000 of these serve in British Gurkha units, and 50,000 in Indian Gurkha units. The British maintain a recruiting centre at Dharan. Gurkha veterans are a valuable human resource of Nepal. For police purposes the country is divided into three zones: eastern, central, and western, with headquarters at Bir atnagar, Kathmandu, and Nepalganj, respectively. Each zonal headquarters, under a deputy inspector general of police, is responsible for several subsections composed of four to five police districts operating under a superintendent of police. A district superintendent is in charge of police stations in his area, and each station normally is supervised by a head constable. Cultural life The relaxation of censorship that followed the overthrow of Rana rule in 1951 encouraged a revival of artistic and intellectual expression. In literature and poetry, Nepali works emphasize the cultural renaissance and national patriotism. King Mahendra, a poet whose Nepali lyrics have been published in English translation under the name of M.B.B. Shah (for Mahendra Bir Bikram Shah), did much to promote the revival of arts and literature. The cultural heritage of Nepal, particularly contributions made by the Newar of Kathmandu Valley to sculpture, painting, and architecture, is a source of great pride. Hindu and Buddhist religious values have provided the basic source of inspiration to Newar artisans. The themes of most artistic works have been primarily religious; the lives of the gods, saints, and heroes and the relationship of man to society and to the universe are expounded in sculpture, architecture, and drama. In Kathmandu Valley some 2,500 temples and shrines display the skill and highly developed aesthetic sense of Newar artisans. Music and dance are favourite pastimes among the Nepalese. Religious ceremonies require the use of drums and wind instruments preserved from ancient times. Important in most religious and family occasions are devotional songs that have elements of both classical and folk music and that have been used by some contemporary musical revivalists in their attempt to bridge the gap between the two. The government-owned Radio Nepal broadcasts programs in Nepali and English. The country's first television station, at Kathmandu, began broadcasting in 1986. Newspapers and periodicals are published in Nepali and in English. Newspapers are frequently sensational in tone and are poorly staffed and financed. Gorkha Patra, published by the government, occupies a commanding position in the Nepalese press. Nepalese newspaper readers rely on the foreign press, particularly Indian newspapers, which are flown daily into Kathmandu, for more sophisticated coverage of world and national news. After 1960 King Mahendra required newspapers to obtain official clearance for all reports of political activity. Subsequently the government increased its censorship, and in 1985 the publication of many newspapers was suspended. In 1990, reflecting the change in the country's political climate, freedom of the press was restored. Pradyumna P. Karan