Country Profile: NEPAL

Land area:
52,819 sq mi (136,801 sq km)
Total area:
54,363 sq mi (140,800 sq km)
Geography:
Situated between China in the north and India in the South
Location:
Latitude: 26°22' to 30°27' North Longitude: 80°4' to 88°12' East
Population (2006 est.):
28,287,147 (growth rate: 2.2%); birth rate: 31.0/1000; infant mortality rate: 65.3/1000; life expectancy: 60.2; density per sq mi: 536
Capital and largest city (2003 est.):
Kathmandu, 1,203,100 (metro. area), 729,000 (city proper)
Other large cities:
Biratnagar, 174,600; Lalitpur, 169,100
Monetary unit:
Nepalese rupee
Languages:
Nepali 48% (official), Maithali 12%, Bhojpuri 7%, Tharu 6%, Tamang 5%, others. English spoken by many in government and business (2001)
Ethnicity/race:
Brahmin 12.5%, Chetri 15.5%, 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)
Religions:
Hindu 81%, Buddhist 11%, Islam 4%, Kirant 4% (2001)
Literacy rate:
48.6% (15 years and above, 2004 est.)
Political System:
Multiparty democracy
GDP/PPP (2005 est.):
$42.26 billion; per capita $1,500
Real growth rate: 2.5%
Inflation: 7.8% (Oct. 2005 est.).
Unemployment: 42% (2004 est.).
Arable land: 16%.
Agriculture: rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, buffalo meat.
Labor force:
10.4 million; note: severe lack of skilled labor (2004 est.); agriculture 76%, industry 6%, services 18%.
Industries:
tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarettes, cement and brick production.
Natural resources:
quartz, water, timber, hydropower, scenic beauty, small deposits of lignite, copper, cobalt, iron ore.
Exports:
$822 million f.o.b. (2005 est.), but does not include unrecorded border trade with India: carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain.
Imports:
$2 billion f.o.b. (2005 est.): gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer.

Major trading partners: India, U.S., Germany, China, UAE, Saudi Arabia