Parent portals : Geography / Asia / Nepal

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Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mainly situated in the Himalayas, but also includes parts of the Indo-Gangetic Plain. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China to the north, and India to the south, east, and west, while it is narrowly separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim. Nepal has a diverse geography, including fertile plains, subalpine forested hills, and eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the largest city. Nepal is a multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural state, with Nepali as the official language.

The name "Nepal" is first recorded in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, the era in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was founded, the predominant religion of the country. In the middle of the first millennium BC, Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Parts of northern Nepal were intertwined with the culture of Tibet. The centrally located Kathmandu Valley is intertwined with the culture of Indo-Aryans, and was the seat of the prosperous Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala. The Himalayan branch of the ancient Silk Road was dominated by the valley's traders. The cosmopolitan region developed distinct traditional art and architecture. By the 18th century, the Gorkha Kingdom achieved the unification of Nepal. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal and later formed an alliance with the British Empire, under its Rana dynasty of premiers. The country was never colonised but served as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India. Parliamentary democracy was introduced in 1951 but was twice suspended by Nepalese monarchs, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War in the 1990s and early 2000s resulted in the establishment of a secular republic in 2008, ending the world's last Hindu monarchy.

The Constitution of Nepal, adopted in 2015, affirms the country as a federal parliamentary republic divided into seven provinces. Nepal was admitted to the United Nations in 1955, and friendship treaties were signed with India in 1950 and China in 1960. Nepal hosts the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative. (Full article...)

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The Fifth Deuba cabinet was the Government of Nepal from 13 July 2021 to 26 December 2022. It was formed after Sher Bahadur Deuba was appointed as the new prime minister of Nepal by president Bidya Devi Bhandari following an order from the Supreme Court, which declared the dissolution of the House of Representatives on the recommendation of former prime minister KP Sharma Oli to be unlawful. The fifth Deuba cabinet was replaced by the Dahal cabinet, 2022 on 26 December 2022, when Pushpa Kamal Dahal's CPN (Maoist Centre) broke away from the electoral alliance with Nepali Congress and joined hands with other opposition parties to form a government in the aftermath of the 2022 general election.

The cabinet consisted of an alliance of political parties formed in opposition of former prime minister Oli's dissolution of the House of Representatives. It consisted of Nepali Congress, the CPN (Maoist Centre), CPN (Unified Socialist) and People's Socialist Party, Nepal during formation. The Loktantrik Samajbadi Party, Nepal and Rastriya Janamorcha provides confidence and support to the government. (Full article...)

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The Seven Mother Goddesses (Matrikas) flanked by Shiva (left) and Ganesha (right)

Matrikas (Sanskrit: मातृका (singular), IAST: mātṝkā, lit. "mothers") also called Mataras or Matri, are a group of mother goddesses who are always depicted together in Hinduism. The Matrikas are often depicted in a group of seven, the Saptamatrika(s) (Seven Mothers). However, they are also depicted as a group of eight, the Ashtamatrika(s). In the Brihat Samhita, Varahamihira says that "Matrikas are forms of Parvati taken by her with cognizance of (different major Hindu) gods corresponding to their names." They are associated with these gods as their energies (Shaktis). Brahmani emerged from Brahma, Vaishnavi from Vishnu, Maheshvari from Shiva, Indrani from Indra, Kaumari from Kartikeya, Varahi from Varaha and Chamunda from Chandi. And additionals are Narasimhi from Narasimha and Vinayaki from Ganesha.

Originally the seven goddesses of the seven stars of the star cluster of the Pleiades, they became quite popular by the seventh century CE and a standard feature of the Hindu goddesses's temples from the ninth century CE onwards. In South India, Saptamatrikas worship is prevalent whereas the Ashtamatrikas are venerated in Nepal, among other places. (Full article...)

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Chitwan National Park is the first national park in Nepal. It was established in 1973 and granted the status of a World Heritage Site in 1984. It covers an area of 932 km2 (360 sq mi) and is located in the subtropical Inner Terai lowlands of south-central Nepal in the districts of Nawalparasi, Parsa, Chitwan and Makwanpur


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Bhandari in 2019

Bidya Devi Bhandari (Nepali: विद्यादेवी भण्डारी, pronounced [bid̚djadebi bʱʌɳɖaɾi]; born 19 June 1961) is a Nepali former politician who served as the second president of Nepal from 2015 to 2023. She formerly served as the minister of defence and minister of environment and population.

She is the first woman to hold the presidential office in the country. She served as the vice-chairperson of the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist–Leninist) and was the chair of the All Nepal Women's Association before being elected president. Bhandari previously served as the Minister of Defence, the first woman to hold the office, from 2009 to 2011. She also served as the Minister of Environment and Population in 1997, and has been an active campaigner for environmental awareness and women's rights in Nepal. In June 2017, she visited the headquarters of the International Union for Conservation of Nature in Gland, Switzerland and met with the director general Inger Andersen to discuss enhanced collaboration on nature conservation and sustainable development. In 2016, Forbes placed her at number 52 on its list of the world's 100 most powerful women. She was dropped off the list in 2017. (Full article...)

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"Lāgwa" meatball (center right) and "lāpi" meat patty (center left) on a large ceremonial plate.

Chunlā (Newar: चुंला, "ground meat") is a traditional meat dish of the Kathmandu Valley in Nepal. It is meat finely chopped by a chopping knife or meat grinder. Chunlā is a popular dish in Newar cuisine and is similar to Qeema found in other parts of South Asia. (Full article...)

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  • In Nepal there are 8 of the world’s 14 highest mountains above 8000 meters, including Mount Everest.
  • Nepal has not been occupied by any other country.
  • The highest lake on Earth, Tilicho, is in Nepal. It rests at 4800 meters.

Wiki Loves Nepal

The following pages at Wikimedia Commons contain a plethora of images taken in Nepal.
Suspension bridge over he Kali Gandaki river near Tatopani.: Wiki Loves Earth 2017 3rd Price Winner Gokyo Lakes This image won the 2nd prize in the national contest of Nepal in Wiki Loves Earth 2017: Sunrise near Samagauon village – Manaslu trek area.

Wiki Loves Earth is an international photographic competition to promote natural heritage sites around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons).


Wiki Loves Monuments is an international photographic competition to promote cultural monuments around the World through Wikimedia projects (mainly Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons.

Provinces

Below is a clickable map of Nepal's Provinces

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