Facts & Figures about Nepal

Size
Area	147181 Sq. Km.
Geography	Situated between China in the North and India in the South, East and West
Location	Latitude: 26°22'N to 30°27' North   Longitude: 80°04'E to 88°12' East
Length	885 Km. [East to West]
Width	Non-uniform, Mean width of 193 Km. [North to South]
Altitude	70 meters to 8848 meters
Capital City	Kathmandu
Language	Nepali
Currency	Nepalese Rupee
Religion	Secular State
Fiscal Year	Nepalese Fiscal Year starts from Mid July
Political System	Constitutent Assembly (Peoples' Republic)
National Bird	Impean Pheasant (Danfe)
National Flower	Rhododendron Arboreum (Lali Gurans)

Administrative and Physical Division
Administratively, the country is divided into five development regions, i.e., Eastern, Central, Western, Midwestern and Far Western. The regions are further divided into a total of 75 Districts with a total of 3,915 village development committees (VDCs) and 58 municipalities. A VDC is the smallest administrative unit, which is further divided into nine wards, each of which elects a representative to the VDC. VDCs are considered as grassroots political institutions, through which the people are expected to participate directly in the planning, programming, and implementation of development programs and projects at the local level. The municipalities are also divided into wards, which range from 9 - 35. The number of wards varies as per the size of the town.

The next level in the administration is composed of the District Development Committees (DDCs). With the passing of the New Act on Local Self Governance (1998), the DDCs are supposed to undertake planning and programming exercises within districts and implement them. Only national level projects fall under the authority of the Central Government.

Climate
Nepal has huge variance in attitude and topography, hence diversity of weather and climate. The country experiences tropical, meso thermal, micro thermal, taiga and tundra type of climate. There are four climatic seasons in Nepal namely- spring, summer, autumn and winter. Spring and Autumn are the most pleasant seasons. The Terai is hot and humid in summer with temperature going up to 40o C. The mid-mountain regions are pleasant all round the year. The Northern Himalayan region has an alpine climate. In Kathmandu the maximum temperature in winter is normally 18° C to 20°C and in summer it goes to about 30°C- 32°C.

Nepal receives most of its rains during the three summer months Mid June - Mid September. The annual rainfall in Katmandu generally exceeds 1300 mm. The mean annual precipitation ranges from more than 6000 mm along the southern slopes of the Annapurna range in central Nepal to less than the 250 mm in the north central portion near the Tibetan plateau. Amounts varying between 1500 and 2500 mm predominate over most of the country. On an average, about 80% of the precipitation is confined to the monsoon period (June-September). The highest annual rainfall recorded so far is 4217 mm at Pokhara in 1993.

Geographic Division
(Census Year 2001) Ecologically Nepal can be divided into three ecological regions: Namely: Mountain - 35 percent, Hill - 42 percent, Terai - 23 percent.

Mountain Region:
The altitude of this region ranges between 4877 meters and 8848 meters with the snow line running around 8848 meters. It includes 8 of the existing 14 summits in the world, which exceed the altitude of 8000 meters. They are: (1) Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) - 8848 m (2) Kangchenjunga - 8586 m, (3) Lhotse - 8516 m, (4) Makalu - 8463 m, (5) Cho Oyo - 8201 m, (6) Dhaulagiri - 8167 m, (7) Manaslu - 8163 m, and (8) Annapurna - 8091 m.

Hill Region:
This region accounts for about 64 percent of total land area. The Mahabharat range that raises up to 4877 meters forms it. To its south lies the lower Churia range whose altitude varies from 610 meters to 1524 meters.

Terai Region:
The lowland Terai region, which has a width of about 26 to 32 kilometers and an altitude maximum of 305 meters, occupies about 17 percent of total land area of the country. Kechanakawal, the lowest point of the country with an altitude of 70 meters lies in Jhapa District of the eastern Terai.

VITAL STATISTICS

Population	1991 Census	2001 Census	2007 (Projection)
Male	9220974	11563921	13240233
Female	9270123	11587502	13187166
Total	18491097	23151423	26427399
Average Annual Population
Growth Rate	2.1%	2.24%	2.17%
Number of Households	3328721	4253220	--
Population Density per Sq.Km.	125.6	157	--
Average No. Household Size	5.6	5.44	--
Crude Birth Rate	--	33.1	29.2	per 1000 population
Crude Death Rate	--	9.6	8.5	per 1000 population
Total Fertility Rate	--	4.1	3.1	per woman
Infant Mortality Rate	--	64.4	48.0	per 1000 live birth
Child Mortality Rate	--	91.2	61.0	per 1000 live birth
Life Expectancy (yrs.) at Birth	--	60.4	63.7
Literacy Rate (of Total Population)
Both Sex	39.6%	54.1%
Male	54.5%	65.5%
Female	25.0%	42.8%
Economically Active Population (of Total Population)
Both Sex	39.69%	42.76%
Male	47.45%	48.48%
Female	31.97%	37.05%
Compiled by Research & Information Division of FNCCI from various publications of Central Bureau of Statistics.

Population Projection:

Year	2008	2009	2012	2015	2018	2021
Total	26966581	27504280	29128517	30772071	32452967	34172144
Male	13515938	13790836	14621285	15461687	16320848	17199235
Female	13450643	13713444	14507232	15310384	16132119	16972909
Compiled by Research & Information Division of FNCCI from Statistical Year Book of Nepal, 2007.

EDUCATION:

A. Non-Technical Manpower Production in Higher Education
(Certificate, Bachelor, Master and PhD)

B. Technical Manpower Production in Higher Education:

C. Number of Schools and Students:

					Number of Students in '000
Academic	Primary		Lower Secondary		Secondary
Year	School	Student	School	Student	School	Student
2004	24276	4030	7436	1445	4547	588
2005	27525	4502	8471	1375	5039	587
2006	27901	4515	8880	1301	5329	679
2007	29220	4419	9739	1444	5894	671

D. Number of Teachers:

					In Number
Academic	Primary		Lower Secondary		Secondary
Year	Total	Trained	Total	Trained	Total	Trained
2004	101483	30967	25962	7818	20232	9727
2005	91679	34857	22817	7813	16130	9635
2006	95503	57191	26716	12398	19398	19386
2007	116846	77630	27903	14606	20674	14478

E. Sectoral Distribution of Schools, Students and Teachers under Public and Private Sectors for the Academic Year 2007:

							In numbers
Sector	Primary			Lower Secondary			Secondary
	School	Student	Teacher	School	Student	Teacher	School	Student	Teacher
Nepal	29220	4418713	116846	9739	1443515	27903	5894	671182	20674
Public	23209	3723401	90032	5130	1023593	16212	3138	486905	12131
Community	2587	242526	5422	2329	231948	4243	1063	84171	1848
Private	3424	452786	21392	2280	187974	7448	1693	100106	6695

HEALTH SERVICES

In Numbers
SN	Description	2003/04	2004/05	2005/06	2006/07	2007/08*
1.	Extension of Services	4401	4390	4396	4396	4396
	a. Hospitals	83	87	87	87	94
	b. Health Centers	10	6	6	6	6
	c. Health Posts	700	699	699	676	676
	d. Ayurvedic Services Centre	287	287	293	293	293
	e. Sub-Health Posts	3141	3131	3131	3129	3129
	f. Primary Health Centre	180	180	180	205	205
2.	Hospital Beds	5250	6796	6796	6944	6944
3.	Skilled Manpower	89311	90847	90849	91744	91840
	a. Doctors	1259	1257	1259	1361+	1457+
	b. Nurses#	10099	11637	11637	11637	11637
	c. Kaviraj (Ayurvedic Physicians)+	387	387	387	394	394
	d. Vaidya (Ayurvedic Physicians)+	354	354	354	360	360
	e. Health Assistants	7491	7491	7491	7491	7491
	f. Health Workers (MCHW)	3190	3190	3190	3190	3190
	g. Village Level Health Workers	3985	3985	3985	3985	3985
	h. Other Members (Trained Sudeni, Women Health Volunteers)	62546	62546	62546	63326	63326
* First Eight Months, + Total Doctors including 188 Scholarships
Compiled by Research & Information Division of FNCCI from Economic Survey.