Country

Nepal

Also Known As Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal

Southern Asia

Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia, lying between the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north and India to the south, east and west. It occupies nearly one third of the 2,400 kilometer Himalayan range and is home to eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including Mount Everest at 8,848.86 meters on Nepal's northern border with China. Prithvi Narayan Shah, the king of Gorkha, conquered the Kathmandu Valley in 1769, completing the unification of the modern Nepali state under a single kingdom. That kingdom endured until a constituent assembly declared Nepal a federal republic on 28 May 2008, ending its status as the world's only Hindu kingdom. Kathmandu, the capital, sits in a broad valley in the country's hill region. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

Facts

Capital

Kathmandu 2

Population

31,122,387 2

Population Estimate Year

2024 2

Area (sq km)

147,181 2

Independence or Founding Year

1769 2

Nepal was never colonized. 1769 marks Prithvi Narayan Shah's conquest of the Kathmandu Valley, completing the unification of the modern Nepali state, not decolonization, the same founding-date reading this atlas already gives China's 1949. The monarchy that state created was abolished when Nepal became a federal republic on 28 May 2008.

Classification

Sovereignty Status

UN Member State 1

Learn More

Between Two Giants

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

Nepal's geography is not an accident of borders so much as a consequence of them. Squeezed between the world's two most populous countries, India to the south and China north across the Himalayan crest, Nepal has spent much of its modern history managing that position rather than escaping it. Prithvi Narayan Shah's unification of the Kathmandu Valley in 1769 built a buffer kingdom that both the British Raj and Qing China had reason to leave alone rather than absorb, and the strategy mostly worked: unlike its neighbors on both sides, Nepal was never formally colonized. That same position now shapes its economy and its trade routes, most of which run south through India rather than north across the mountains, and its diplomacy, which has long balanced goodwill toward both neighbors rather than choosing between them.

A Kingdom That Ended Twice

This article records tradition as it has been passed down and reported. Its sources are not yet part of the atlas's verified catalogue.

The Shah dynasty that Prithvi Narayan Shah founded in 1769 did not rule continuously in practice. For over a century, from the mid nineteenth century, the hereditary Rana family held the office of prime minister and the real power of the state while the Shah kings reigned in name only, a system a 1951 revolution finally broke, restoring functioning monarchy under the same dynasty. That restored monarchy lasted only until 2008 in any binding form. A decade long Maoist insurgency, a royal massacre in 2001 that killed King Birendra and much of his family, and a mass pro-democracy movement in 2006 together brought the monarchy to its actual end: on 28 May 2008 a newly elected constituent assembly abolished it outright, declaring Nepal a federal democratic republic and ending its long status as the only Hindu kingdom in the world.

Nepal

Cities

FAQs

Is the Buddha's birthplace in Nepal?

Yes, according to Buddhist tradition he was born at Lumbini, in Nepal.

Buddhist tradition places the Buddha's birth at Lumbini, and Lumbini lies in Nepal. Wikipedia notes that the Mauryan emperor Ashoka made a pilgrimage there and erected a pillar whose inscriptions mark the start of Nepal's properly recorded history. Lumbini is today one of the country's four UNESCO world heritage sites.

Connections

Associated With

Annapurna

Annapurna sits in Gandaki Province, north-central Nepal.

Source Annapurna (Wikipedia)

Annapurna Conservation Area

Annapurna Conservation Area is Nepal's largest protected area.

Source Annapurna Conservation Area (Wikipedia)

Bagmati Province

Bagmati Province is associated with Nepal.

Source Bagmati Province (Wikipedia)

China

Nepal borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north. Mount Everest sits on this border.

Source Nepal (Wikipedia)

Chitwan National Park

Source Chitwan National Park (Wikipedia)

India

India is Nepal's largest neighbor, bordering its southern, eastern and western frontier.

Source India (Wikipedia)

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is Nepal's capital.

Source Kathmandu (Wikipedia)

Kathmandu

Source Kathmandu (Wikipedia)

Mount Everest

Everest lies on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Source Nepal (Wikipedia)

Nepal (Wikipedia)

This source names Nepal directly: "The Wikipedia article on Nepal, consulted for its population, area, unification and republic-transition dates, and its location between India and China."

Source Nepal (Wikipedia)

Sagarmatha National Park

Sagarmatha National Park is in the Himalayas of eastern Nepal.

Source Sagarmatha National Park (Wikipedia)

South Asia

Nepal lies in South Asia, between India and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.

Source Nepal (Wikipedia)

The Ganges

Source Ganges (Wikipedia)

The Himalayas

Nepal occupies nearly one third of the 2,400 kilometer Himalayan range and is home to eight of the world's ten highest mountains.

Source Nepal (Wikipedia)

The Tibetan Plateau

Source Tibetan Plateau (Wikipedia)

Has Capital

Kathmandu

Kathmandu is the capital of Nepal.

Source Kathmandu (Wikipedia)

Long-Form Articles

A Kingdom That Ended Twice

Between Two Giants

In the Other Atlases

Nationals Include

Kalyan Shrestha

Also in Law Atlas: a national of this subject.

Raghav Lal Baidya

Also in Law Atlas: a national of this subject.

Source Raghav Lal Baidya - WikipediaLead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article

Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article

Raghav Lal Baidya (Nepali:राघबलाल बैद्य) is the Attorney General of Nepal.

Sushila Karki

Also in Law Atlas: a national of this subject.

Source Wikipedia: Sushila KarkiLead sentence 1

Quote, Lead sentence 1

Sushila Karki (born 7 June 1952) is a Nepalese lawyer and stateswoman who served as chief justice of Nepal from 2016 to 2017 and as interim prime minister of Nepal from 2025 to 2026.

Origin Of

Chhurpi

Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Chhurpi (Wikipedia)

Cucumber

Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Cucumber, Wikipedia

Dal Bhat

Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Dal bhat (Wikipedia)

Kodo Millet

Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Momo

Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Momo (food), Wikipedia

Tsampa

Also in Food and Drink Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Tsampa (Wikipedia)tier 3

Edicts of Ashoka

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Gautama Buddha

Also in History Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Wikidata: Gautama Buddha

Songs of Realization

Also in Literature Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Wikipedia: Songs of realization

Panchayat System

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Panchayat (Nepal) (Wikipedia)Lead

Quote, Lead

Panchayat (Nepali: पञ्चायत) was a political system in Nepal from 1961 to 1990.

Sky Burial

Also in Society and Culture Atlas: which originated in this subject.

Source Wikipedia: Sky Burialopening linestier 3

Quote, opening lines

Sky burials are endemic to Tibet, Qinghai, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia, as well as in Mongolia, Nepal, Bhutan, and parts of India such as Sikkim

Site Of

Boudhanath

Also in Divinity Atlas: which is located in this subject.

Gorakhnath

Also in Divinity Atlas: which is located in this subject.

Lumbini

Also in Divinity Atlas: which is located in this subject.

Pashupatinath

Also in Divinity Atlas: which is located in this subject.

The Kathmandu Valley

Also in Divinity Atlas: which is located in this subject.

Nepal Rastra Bank

Also in Economics Atlas: which is located in this subject.

South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation

Also in Economics Atlas: which is located in this subject.

Tribhuvan University

Also in Education Atlas: which is located in this subject.

Source Tribhuvan University (Wikipedia)Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia articletier 2

Quote, Lead paragraph of the cited Wikipedia article

Tribhuvan University (TU; Nepali: त्रिभुवन विश्वविद्यालय) is a public university located in Kirtipur, Kathmandu, Nepal.