Namaste! Welcome to a land you will never forget – a land of snow – capped mountains and quiet river valleys, of ancient preserved cities and towering pagoda temples, of friendly people and fascinating folkways. Nepal offers unique pleasures for everyone – tourist, trekkers, wildlife enthusiast, mountaineers, art connoisseurs, poets and those in search of a personal Shangri – La.

Tucked within the borers of all small country is an astounding variety of animals, plants, and geologic formations. The world’s tallest point, the summit of Sagarmatha (Mt.Everest), commands the north, while the luxurious jungles of the Terai, filled with birds and wilderness perks and reserves you can find everything from the majestic Royal Bengal tiger and the Great One – horned rhinoceros to the nimble Musk deer and the elusive snow leopard.

Nepal is a land for all the seasons – year around there are a myriad places to go, people to meet and sites to see. Year around there are exciting adventure activities: trekking, white water rafting, biking, mountaineering and jungle safaris. And year around there is a delightful, never – ending procession of colourful festivals.

Nepal is land where the arts and culture are as well preserved as the valley and forest – temples enriched with woodcarving and bronzes, millennium – old status standing along the wayside, songs and dances unchanged for centuries, and entire cities preserved in traditions are as vital as they were a thousand years ago, a place where one can buy woodcarvings, statues, gems and weavings similar to those of the ancient world.

These are the things, which will have a taste of many wonders that make up the Kingdom of Nepal – the beautiful scenery, that colorful festival, the rich wildlife and the friendly people. As you will see as you travel in Nepal, this is only a taste, for all the remarkable features of this little country could not fit in a thousand volumes.

LOCATION
Located between 80 , 4’ and 88, 12’ east longitude and between 26, 22’ and 30, 27’ north latitude, the kingdom of Nepal extends along the south slope of the Himalayas in central Asia. Its total land area is 147,181 square kilometers, and its borders are contiguous with India in the west, south and east and with Tibet Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China in the north. Nepal’s boundary limits are follows:

In the east, the Mechi river and singallia ridge separate the country from Sikkim and West Bengal. In the south, boundary pillars and about nine meters of no – man’ land on either side demarcate Nepalese territory and the Indian states of West Bengal, Bihar and Utter pradesh

In the west, the Mahakali River is the natural border separating the Kingdom from Uttar pradesh.

In the north, the boundary markers set up in accordance with the Boundary Agreement of 1961 demarcate the border between Nepalese territory and Tibetan Autonomous Region of the People’s Republic of China. Nepal is a land – locked country, the nearest seacoast being 1,120 kilometers away at Calcutta in India.

GEOGRAPHY AND PHYSICAL FEATURES

Natural Features

The Terai
The Terai region is composed of a 26 to 32 kilometer wide belt of fertile alluvial plain in the southern part of the country. This belt extends all the way from the western of the eastern border, and covers about 17 percent of the total area.

Between the Churia hills, rising abruptly to the north of the southern plains. And Mahabharat range, are a number of low valleys called Duns. The Duns resemble the Terai in relief and climate and are called the inner Terai. The churia range runs east- west across the country and has a hogback profile with a steep south face. It averages 600 to 1220 meters in altitude and 8 to 16 kilometers in Breadth. The soil is immature and dry.

The Hills
The Mahabharat range, running closely parallel to the Churia range, separates the Terai from the Hill region. This range averages 1,525 to 3660 meters in altitude and 16 kilometers in breadth. Its structure is synclinal and the topography is steep and jagged. Forests are usually found on the higher elevations whereas the lower and gentler slopes are used for terraced cultivation. North of this range and south of the Himalayas lies the extensively cultivated broad hill complex of the Pahad or Hill region which covers about 64 percent of the total land area, the major area of Nepalese settlement. Topographically rather subdued in character, the hill region has a generally salubrious climate. Broad fertile valleys including the Kathmandu valley are the areas of densest settlement in the region.

The Himalaya
The himalaya or ‘abode of snow’ is the youngest and highest mountains system in the world. It extends over 2,400 kilometers as a vast south-facing arc between the Indus and Brahmaputra fivers with Nanga Parbat (8,125 m) in the west, in India and Namcha Brawa (7,7655m) in the east in Tibet, as its terminal high points. Fully a third or 800 kilometers of its central section traverses Nepal and is known as the Nepal Himalaya. Here congregate more than 250 peaks that exceed 6,000 meters in height -- a unique concentration of lofty dazzling summits. Of the thirty-one Himalaya, including eight of the world’s 14 highest giants.

The Himalayan range within Nepal is the culmination of a series of parallel ranges. The main range lies about 90 kilometers north of the Mahabharat Lekh. The intervening space between the two parallel ranges is made up a lower belt of low hills (pahad) and a higher belt of elevated ridge (Lekh) that provide the first intimation of fthe high snow peaks (Himal). The main Himalays do not form a continuous chain, but are a series of lofty peaks and ridges separated by deep gorges. Each of these mountain peaks or Himals in turn sends out a maze of spurs studded with numerous peaks.

In western and central Nepal, there is yet another mountain range that defines the boundary between Nepal and china. This border range has elevations ranging from 5,000 to 6,000 meters with comparatively less rugged relief but a harsh climate. Between the main Himalayan range and these border ranges lies some of the elevated Bhot Valleys.

Much of the high country above 5,000 meters is under snow and ice, although the permanent snow-line varies according to aspect and gradient. Winter snowfall occurs up to an elevation of 2,000 meters and is much heavier in the west. While winter is harsh and bitter, summer is the season of alpine flowers, when the high pastures teem with grazing animals from lower valleys. For the mountain communities, it is the time for harvesting their main crops before the winter migration to warmer climates.

Glaciers, Rivers and Lakes

Glaciers
The Himalayan region abounds in glaciers. Most of the bog glaciers lie in the eastern Himalaya. The western Himalaya receives only a small amount of rainfall but heavy snows in winter. The sources of some of Nepal’s mightiest rivers are in fact glaciers.

Nepal’s largest glaciers lie in the Khumbu and the Makalu ranges. Khumbu has the biggest glacier and Langtang the longest.  Kangchenjunga, yalung, Nupchu and Lamtang are some other glaciers in the eastern Himalaya. Tukche and Hidden valley glaciers are in the central Himalaya but these are comparatively small. Eroding the land along their course, the glaciers have left their mark in the Himalayan landscape in the form of gigantic cirques and rock basins, hanging valleys and morainic ridges.

Rivers
Nepal’s rivers can be broadly divided into three categories in accordance with their origins. The rivers arise either in the Himalaya, the Mahabharat Range or the Churia Hills.

The first category comprises the three main river systems of the country – the Koshi, Gandaki and Karnali river systems, all of them originating from the glaciers and snow-fed lakes of the Himalaya.

The Koshi river system consists of the Tamor, Arun, Dudhkoshi, Likhu, Tamakoshi, Sunkoshi and Indravati rivers. Of these, the Arun, Tamakoshi and Sunkoshi originate in Tibet. The confluence of these rivers is at Tribeni (near Dharan) in Sagarmatha Zone. Flowing from almost 10 kilometers through a narrow gorge before entering the plains, the ‘Sapta Koshi’, or ‘Seven Koshi’ as it is swollen with the waters of the seven rivers, finally merges with the Ganges in India.

The Gandaki river system in central Nepal consists of the Kaligandaki, Budhigandaki, Marsyangdi, Trisuli, Seti, Madi and Daraundi Rivers. The Kaligandaki is the longest river and the Trisuli is the main tributary of this system. The Kaligandaki originates in Mustang and converges with the Trisuli at Deoghat in Chitwan. The river is then called the Narayani and goes on to meet the Ganges.

The Karnali river system in western Nepal consists of the Humla Karnali, Mugr Karnali, Seti and Bheri rivers, and is the longest river system in the country. The Humla Karnali, which arises in Tibet, is the main tributary. After entering India, this river assumes the name Gogra.

The Mechi, Mahakali, Bagmati, Kamala and Rapti, which have their origin primarily in the Mahabharat range, constitute the rivers of the second category. The Bagmati, which rises at Bagdwar and drains out through the Chobhar gorge, is the principal river of Kathmandu Valley.

Streams and rivulets originating from the Churia hills make up the third category; these streams rely on monsoon rains and are otherwise dry.

Lakes
There are number of lakes of glacial and tectonic origin in Nepal. The mountain lakes Rara, Phoksundo and Phewa are majestic in both size and beauty.

Rara Lake, in Mugu district of western Nepal, is the country’s largest lake. Phewa Tal at Pokhara is the most popular among tourists. Lake Phoksundo in Dolpa district is large but less known than Phewa Lake due to its difficult approach. Rupatal and Begnastal (Pokhara), Gaduwaltal (Chitwan), Satyabatital (Palpa), Khaptadtal (Doti), Bahrakunetal (Dang), Surma Sarobar (Bajhang) and Tilicho (Manang) are some of Nepal’s other well-known lakes.

Gosainkunda and other lakes in the Langtang Himal region are of religious significance (for more details please refer to the section “Places of Pilgrimage”).

Climate and Rainfall
Weather conditions in Nepal vary from region to region. Summer and late spring temperatures range from about 28 degrees Celsius in the hill region of the country to more than 40 degrees in the Terai. In winter, average maximum and minimum temperatures in the Terai range from a brisk 7 degrees to a mid 23 degrees. The central valleys experience a minimum temperature often falling below the freezing point and a chilly 12 degrees maximum. Much colder temperatures prevail at higher elevations. The Kathmandu Valley, at an altitude of 1,310 meters, has a mild climate, ranging from 19 to 27 degrees in the summer, and 2 to 20 degrees in the winter.

The annual rainfall in Kathmandu generally exceeds 1,300 mm. The mean annual rainfall ranges from less than 250 mm in the north central part of the country, near the Tibetan plateau, to more than 6,000 mm along the southern slopes of the Annapurna range in central Nepal. Most of the country averages between 1,500 and 2,500 mm. About 80% of the rain falls during the monsoon period, approximately from the end of June to the middle of September.

Flora and fauna
Nepal is a land of geographical extremes, ranging from near sea-level elevations in the southern Terai to the world’s highest mountains. The country contains a variety of ecosystems: treeless subalpine pastures and dense fir forests of the high valleys, oak and rhododendron woods of the middle hills, and tall sal forests of the south. Along the southern borders of Nepal are preserved much of the lowland jungles and grasslands that once covered this part of the subcontinent. Here one can see birds and animals found nowhere else. Although animal habitat has been somewhat depleted as a result of agriculture, deforestation and other causes, through Nepal’s extensive and effective park and reserve system, the country still has more varied flora and fauna than any other area in Asia.

1)      Tropical Deciduous Monsoon Forest. This includes the Terai plains and the broad flat valleys or Duns found between hill ranges. The dominant tree species of this area are Sal (Shorea robusta), sometimes associated with semal (Bombax malabricum), Asna (Terminalia Termentosa), Delbergia spp. And other species, and pinus roxburghi occurring on the higher rebges of the Churia hills, which in places reach an altitude or 1,800 meters. Tall coarse two-meter-higher elephant grass originally covered much or the Dun valleys but has now been largely replaced by agricultural settlement. This tropical zone is Nepal’s richest area for wildlife, with gaurs, wild buffalo, Four species of deer , tiger, leopard and other animals. Rhinoceros, swamp deer and hog deer are found on the grasslands and two species of crocodile and the Gangetic dolphin inhabit the rivers.

2)      Subtropical Mixed Evergreen Forest. This includes the Mahabharat Lekh which rises to a height of about 2,400 meters and comprises the outer well or the Himalayan range. Great rivers such as the karnali, Narayani, and Sapta Koshi flow through this area into the plains of the Terai. This zone also includes the so-called ‘middle hills’ which extend northward in a somewhat confused maze of ridges and valleys to the foot of the great Himalaya. Among the trees species characteristic of this region are Castenopsis indicia in association with Schima wallichii, and other species such as Alnus nepalenisis, Acer oblongum and various species of oak and rhododendron, which cover the higher slopes where deforestation has not yet taken place. This zone is generally poor in wildlife. The only mammals which are at all widely distributed are wild boar, barking deer, serow, ghoral and bear. Different varieties of birds are also found in this zone.

3)      Temperate Evergreen Forest. Northward, on the lower slopes and spurs of the Great Himalaya, oaks and pines are the dominant species up to an altitude of about 2,400 meters. Above these are found dense conifer forests of picea, Tsuga, Larix , and Betula spp. Abies and Betula are usually confined to higher elevations, with Betula typically marking the upper limit rhododendron, bamboo and maples commonly mingle with the conifers. The composition of the forest varies considerably, with coniferous predominating in the west and eracaceous in the east. The wildlife of this region includes the Himalayan bear, swrow, ghoral, barking deer and wild boar, with the Himalayan tahr sometimes being seen on steep rocky faces above 2,400 meters. The red panda is among the more interesting of the smaller mammals found this zone; it appears to be fairly well distributed in suitable areas of the forest above 1,800 meters. The rich and varied avifauna of this region includes several spectacular and beautiful pheasants, including the danphe pheasant, Nepal’s national bird.

Sub alpine and Alpine Zone. Above the tree line, rhododendron, juniper scrub and other procumbent woody vegetation may extend to about 4,200 meters where they are then succeeded by a tundra-like association of short grasses, sedge mosses and alpine plants wherever there is sufficient soil. This continues up to the lower limit of perpetual soil. This continues up to the lower limit of perpetual snow and ice at about 5,100 meters. The mammalin fauna is sparse and unlikely to include any species other than the Himalayan marmot, mouse hare, tahr, musk deer, snow leopard and occasionally blue sheep. In former times, the wild yak and great Tibetan sheep could also be sighted in this region and it is possible that a few may still be surviving in areas such as Dolpa and Humla. The bird life at these altitudes includes several interesting species such as the lammergeyer, snowcock, snowpartridege, chough and bunting, with redstars and dippers often seen along the streams and rivulets,