Preliminary report on Nepal

Geography

Nepal is located in Southern Asia between China and India on the Southwestern edge of the Himalaya mountain range.

History

In 1951 the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by heredity and established a cabinet system of government. After years of dispute and reform, in 1990 a multiparty democracy was established within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. An insurgency led by Maoist extremists broke out in 1996 leading to a civil war that lasted until 2006. In 2001 most of the royal family was wiped out in a horrific tragedy which left only Gyanendra, the king's brother, and his family as the only royal survivors. Gyanendra was crowned king and in short time he dissolved the cabinet and parliament system to assume absolute power as king. In 2006 strikes and protests in the capitol, Kathmandu, lead to a 19-day curfew and the political parties joined with the Maoist rebels to pressure king Gyanendra. Gyanendra eventually relented and agreed to reinstate parliament. A nation-wide election followed in April of 2008. The newly formed Constituent Assembly met for the first time on May 28th, 2008 and abolished the monarchy, turning Nepal's government into a Federal Democratic Republic with a president as head of state and a Prime Minister as head of government.

Culture

Nepal has about 36 different ethnic groups as well as different religions and languages. Nepal is constitutionally a Hindu kingdom with legal provisions of no prejudice against other religions. The ratio between religions is about as follows: "Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9%" (2001 census). As for ethnic groups, the ratio is: "Chhettri 15.5%, Brahman-Hill 12.5%, Magar 7%, Tharu 6.6%, Tamang 5.5%, Newar 5.4%, Muslim 4.2%, Kami 3.9%, Yadav 3.9%, other 32.7%, unspecified 2.8%" (2001 census).

There are many cultural customs involved in everyday activity in Nepal. For greetings, it is traditional to put your hands together in a prayer like manner called a “Namaste”. Nepal was only recently introduced to western culture and thus many Nepalese are hesitant to shake hands. It is common to use the right hand only to eat because it is common to use your left hand to wash yourself after using the toilet in Nepal. In fact hands are usually used to eat and the use of forks, spoons or other eating utensils is rather rare. Showing affection between men and women in public is unacceptable in Nepal. As for dress, both men and women dress very modestly. Women avoid baring their legs and ankles as it would attract unnecessary attention.

Works Cited

"CIA - The World Factbook -- Nepal." Central Intelligence Agency Website. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. .

Nepal Channel. "Culture and Tradition of Nepal." Nepal Channel Website. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. .

"Nepal's History : NATURALLY NEPAL." Welcome Nepal. Web. 20 Oct. 2009. .