Revised Country Report

Nepal is located in Southern Asia, between India and China, on the Himalayan mountain range. There has been a long standing history of Hindu and Buddhist culture in Nepal and for about the last 250 years Nepal has had a Monarchial government. In the 1970’s, the monarchy established a parliament within its power to help govern the people. In 1996 Maoist rebels started a civil war that lasted for 10 years. According to ‘Neutrally Nepal’, tragedy struck the royal family in 2001 as every member of the family, except the brother of the previously standing king and his family, was murdered (1). The former king’s brother took power and almost immediately dissolved parliament, but by 2006 protest pressured the king in to reestablishing parliament. An election was held in 2008 and parliament met for the first time by may. In this first meeting, parliament dissolved the monarchy that had controlled Nepal for nearly 250 years.

Nepal has a primarily Hindu culture but also includes many other religious communities including Buddhist, Muslim, Kirant and more. According to Nepal .com, there are few disputes between these religious communities because of legal provisions established by the government forbidding prejudice against other religions (2). Nepal has also had a caste system for centuries, but recently the government has been attempting to make bridges between the castes and eliminate the system all together. Some of these attempts at dissolving the caste system included creating government positions to represent people from lower castes and creating equal job opportunities for all castes. Younger generations are no longer holding the traditions associated with the caste system, such as limiting social contact to within your caste, or acting in a manner that is suitable towards your caste.

There are many languages used throughout Nepal, but the primary language is Nepali. In grade school in Nepal English is the primary language instead of Nepali. The school system is rather similar to the system in the US as it has a k-12 system, but differs in the style of progression. There is no grading system in the Nepalese school system; instead a comprehensive test is taken at the end of each year of schooling to progress to the next year of schooling.

According to Nepal.com, 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. (2)

(1) "Nepal's History." NATURALLY NEPAL. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. http://welcomenepal.com/promotional/main.php?menuid=1&submenuid=418826185526.
(2) "Culture and Traditions in Nepal." Nepal.com. Web. 27 Oct. 2009. http://www.nepal.com/culture/.