Nepal typically is a mountainous country, occupying only a small portion in South Asia. The closest neighbors of this Himalayan Kingdom are the People’s Republic of China located in north and all its south, east & west are encountered by the Indian territories, making Nepal a landlocked country. Nepal is the world’s 93rd largest country in mass and ranked 40th most populous nations. Kathmandu is the capital and also the largest metropolitan of the country. Nepal’s geographical positioning & latitudinal variation is placed in such a way resulting in a rich bio-diversity. The country boasts elevations as low as 60 meters above sea-level to the highest-point on earth, Mt. Everest at 8,888 meters, that too within a close distance of 150 kms. As a result it produces a remarkable climatic conditions ranging from subtropical to arctic. Such kind of unique variation nurtures an incredible form of eco-system also, crafting the greatest chain of mountain ranges on earth ‘the Himalayas’ as well as harvesting thick tropical jungles swarming with wildlife, roaring Himalayan white rivers, wooded hills & frozen valleys. A mixture of dissimilar ethnic groups & sub-groups inhabit the land with their individual culture & tradition, speaking more than 70 languages & dialects. Such manner of diverse culture & tradition yields numerous festivals & events too which leaves Nepalese celebrating round the year. The land of the Himalayas offers the most diverse sightseeing attractions merged with abundant adventure possibilities rare elsewhere.

General Information:
AREA: 147,181 sq. km
GEOGRAPHY: Located in between China in the north & India in the south.
CAPITAL: Kathmandu
POPULATION: More than 26 Million
CURRENCY: Rupee
GDP per head: US$165
LANGUAGE: Nepalese ‘Devnagri’ script.
CURRENCY: Nepalese Rupee (US$ 1 equals Rs. 78 approx.)
INTERNET TLD: .np
CALING CODE: 977
POLITICAL SYSTEM: Parliamentary democracy
TIME: GMT/UTC plus 5 hours 45 minutes
ELECTRICITY: 220V, 50 Hz

Some remarkable facts on Nepal:
- The land of the Himalayas ’Nepal’ holds.
- 2% of all the flowering plants in the world.
- 8% of the world’s population of birds (more than 848 species).
- 4% of mammals on earth.
- 11 of the world’s 14 families of butterflies (more than 500 species).
- 600 indigenous plant families.
- 319 species of exotic orchids.

History:
Nepal embraces a splendid history with rich culture & tradition dating back to time immemorial. Numerous rulers came in & out from the limelight for centuries which includes Kirats, Lichhivees & Mallas in the pre-historic & ancient times. Then in the medieval period, Nepal is finally unified by a king from ‘Gorkha’, King ‘Prithivi Narayan Shah’- the founder of Nepal, during the mid the 18th century. This firmly established the shah dynasty monarchy but only up till the modern era. Subsequently, modern Nepal observed and went through several transformations in the last century and also the elimination of monarchy and at present times as the youngest republic nation in the world.

Geography:
Though appearing very small in the world map, Nepal has a rich topography & dramatic land pattern. Towards the north is the Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China and all of it’s eastern, southern & western territories are adjoined by India. Nepal typically is a mountainous country with 80% of it’s land covered by mountains where it extends 885 kms toward East-West & breadth varies from 145-241 kms North-South. Three major geographical regions have been determined according to the land-formation; Himalayan region, Mountainous region & Terai region ‘the plains’.

Himalayan Region: are those territories which are at the uppermost section with altitudes ranging between 4,877 meters to 8,848 meters. Eight of the 14 highest mountains in the world are located in this region that includes Mt. Everest, Annapurna, Dhualagiri and others.

Mountainous Region: covers about 68% of the total area of Nepal. The region is produced with the ‘Mahabharat’ ranges ascending up till 4,877 meters as well as the lower ‘Churia’ ranges.

Terai Region: ‘the plains’: is the lowermost area of Nepal, occupying about 17% of the total area where lush vegetation are abundant.

Religion:
Nepal is a religiously harmonious state where most of the prominent religions of the world go side by side. Though thought to be doubtful, the officially declared figure is 90% Hindu, 8% Buddhist & 2% Muslim. Hinduism & Buddhism significantly lie on top. Nevertheless, a good number of Christians also resides with estimated figure of about 400,000.

People:
Nepal is the amalgamation of various races & ethnic groups with their diverse culture, languages & dialects, occupying this Himalayan land from the Himalayas to the Terai plains. Nepal boast more than 26 million population that includes ethnic groups such as Gurung, Rai, Limbu, Sherpa, Newar, Tharu, Yadav, Brahmin, Chhetri etc. Primarily, the west is inhabited by the Gurungs & Magars; the Rais, Limbus & Sunwars in the hills & valleys of the eastern mid-hills. The Himalayan region is populated by the Sherpas whereas the Newars in the capital valley of Kathmandu and the Tharus, Yadavas, Satars, Rajvansis & Dhimals in the Terai plains. The Brahmins, Chhetris & Thakuris are commonly scattered all over of the country. A caste system is still a reality predominantly in rural Nepal; nonetheless the tradition is gradually subsiding along with the broad-minded new generation.

Language:
The official language is ‘Nepali’ written in ‘Devanagari’ script, where more than 70 other languages plus several dialects are spoken by different ethnic groups. The other most frequently spoken languages apart from Nepali are Newari, Hindi, Awadhi, Bahing, Limbu, Maithili & Mundari. Though, in more urban areas & tourist places, English is widely understood & spoken if required.

Volunteer in Nepal General Information:
Volunteerism has been the distinct tradition and an existing part of the Nepalese society. Generally, many ethnic communities solve most of their problems through voluntary services such as roads, temples, water-taps which are used to be built on voluntary basis. Most noticeably the relief task carried out during natural calamities like flood, earthquake, famine, epidemic etc. which are mostly on voluntary basis. There are several local volunteering organizations as well as those volunteering organizations working in the national level, providing volunteering services in different sectors. Nepal is the much preferred destination for most international volunteering organizations such as Peace Corps (US), Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO-UK), MS Nepal (Denmark), German Development Service (GTZ-GDS), SNV (Netherlands), JOCV (Japan), SPW (UK), UNV (United Nations). All of these involved organizations are mostly working in areas of basic & primary education, primary health and other areas like HIV & AIDS, local governance (including social mobilization), income generation activities (saving & credit schemes), empowerment (particularly of women, socially disadvantaged groups & physically handicapped).

Volunteering has been equally popular in the rural & remote regions of Nepal. Observing the scale of volunteers being mobilized in the past four decades, rural Nepal has benefited immensely by their contributions toward improving the status of various sectors like health, education, social awareness, agricultural production etc. Thus, rural Nepal is considered among the few places in the world where volunteers enjoy working with the local people, because volunteers, no matter from where, are much welcomed and adored by these rural communities inhabiting this Himalayan Kingdom which boasts diverse culture & tradition. It’s kind of life altering experience, helping these needy people and really become part of their lives as much as they become part of yours. In general, a choice of volunteering programs are offered in Nepal from teaching English at locals schools to working at health camps/programs, helping out at orphanages, contribute towards environmental protection & community development or women issues etc.

Nepal has the high mortality rate for mothers during childbirth plus the short life expectancy of the people in general causes a great number of children, mostly between the ages of 4 & 15, without parents. The outcome, these children will be deprived of even the basic education nor any health attentions, sooner or later to work as child laborers in restaurants, factories, hotels or as trash collectors. Volunteers will play a major role in uplifting their living conditions, taking care & encouraging them as well as act an old sibling. They will educate them, teach general life skills including apprised them to be concerned of their health and indulge in creative activities like art, crafts or music. Basically, any volunteering program in Nepal starts off with learning the basic Nepalese language & using the most-used phrases with a cultural orientation classes. This can be of a week’s program/class, eventually to be transferred at the place/location where the volunteering job has been assigned.

Nepal Govt. Regd. No. 64/066/067, SWC Affiliation No.28092, PAN No. 303812656.