Nepal
Nepal
Nepal, a landlocked
Himalayan country in South Asia, shares a border with Tibet to the north
and India to the south, east and west. This small territory possesses
uncommonly diverse landscapes. From the mountains in the north, the
Himalayas and the famous Mount Everest, to the humid region in the
south, the diversity of the landscape is without compare..
More than 80% of Nepalese people follow the Hindu religion, higher than
the percentage of Hindus in India, making it the single most Hindu
nation in the world.
Unfortunately, the
Nepalese live in great poverty with about 31% of the population living
below the poverty line (CIA source, 2003-2004). Agriculture supports the
mainstay of the economy.
History
After a long history with
a variety of absolute rulers, Nepal became a Constitutional monarchy in
1990. Since then, the country has experienced increasing political
instability. Beginning in 1996, a decade of civil war between Maoist
guerilla fighters opposed to the monarchy and the existing political
parties, most civil violence ended with about 13,000 deaths.
In recent years, Nepal has
experienced several landmark events. In 2002, the King closed down the
Parliament and fired the Prime Minister blaming them for the non
resolution of the Maoist Conflict and in 2005 he declared the state of
emergency and took all the executive powers. But last April, a great
democratic movement forced the king return sovereign power to the people
and to reinstate the House of Representatives. Last November, the
Maoists and Nepalese agreed on a new governing strategy.
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