Salient Features of Nepal

Land-locked country

Situated far away from the sea, Nepal is a land-locked country surrounded by the autonomous province of Tibet of China and the mountains in the North, and India in the east, south and west. The nearest sea is the Bay if Bengal which is 700 miles from Nepal’s east border. Nepal’s overseas trade takes place via Indian roads before using Indian port of Kolkata.

Developing Country

Nepal is in its very early stage as far as development is concerned. Even the basic infrastructure like roads is lacking. There are myriad of geographic, economic and political problems impending Nepal on its way to development. However, this country is showing its determination to modernize itself with its short-term and long-term plans. Efforts are being made to alleviate poverty by providing opportunities for those living below the poverty line and cannot even afford the basic needs viz. food, shelter, and clothes. So Nepal is known as a developing country in the world.

Third Pole country

There are two poles of the earth: North Pole and South Pole. But when Marshall Kurtz came to Nepal in 1933, he described Nepal as a Himalayan Kingdom and the Third Pole country. Later G.O. Diren Forth justified this christening saying that in Nepal there are, including other mountain peaks, eight of the ten highest peaks of the world. So this center of attraction for the mountaineers is also popular as the Third Pole country in the world.

Country of diversity

 Nepal is a country of diversity. In spite of its size, one can see very diverse elements assimilated in the entity called Nepal. In the words of Great King Prithvi Narayan Shah, the maker of the nation, “Nepal is a garden of four varnas (colors) and 36 castes”. There lies diversity in dress, language, and lifestyle. There are about 40 languages spoken, and four religious and several sects followed. Even geographically, the altitude varies from 60 feet (Kechana, Jhapa) to 29,028 feet (Mt. Everest). Visiting foreigners easily feel the difference of diversity when they see the varied geographical setting, different types hospitality offered by people of different places.

Non-aligned country

Nepal follows the foreign policy of non-alignment and is an active founder member of non-aligned movement (NAM). It is not aligned to any military pact and maintains friendly relations with all nations. Nepal believes that every controversy of international level should be solved through peace. This policy of peaceful non-alignment has enabled Nepal not to give in to anyone.

A very small country

Nepal lies between two giants of Asia: India and China. The former is 22 times bigger in area than and the latter is 68 times as much as Nepal. Nepal occupies a small area of land bordering with India provinces of Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and also with the autonomous province of China. Great King Prithivi Narayan Shah symbolically expressed the position of Nepal saying, “Nepal is a yam between two boulders”.

 Country of Specialty

Nepal is not only the country of diversity but also the country of specialty. Nepal stands out for the Everest, formidable Gurkha warriors, the lowest gorge of the world, the highest lake of the world, the large size variety of the rhododendron, rare bird Kakatuwa etc. Another specialty of this country is that it is the only Hindu country in the world. These specialties make Nepal known to the rest of the world.