Southern Asia · AsiaNepal
Discover Nepal - home to eight of the world's ten highest peaks including Everest, the birthplace of Buddha, and a trekking paradise between India and Tibet.
Where Is Nepal?
Nepal is a country in Southern Asia. Its capital is Kathmandu.
- Capital Kathmandu
- Population 29.6M
- Area 147,181 km²
Nepal is vertical. From the steaming lowland jungles at barely 60 meters above sea level to the summit of Mount Everest at 8,849 meters, no country on Earth packs such extreme altitude variation into such a small area. Eight of the world's fourteen peaks above 8,000 meters are here, including Everest, Kanchenjunga, and Annapurna. This is the trekking capital of the world, where trails wind through rhododendron forests, past terraced rice paddies, and into the shadow of the highest mountains on the planet.
But Nepal is far more than mountains. Kathmandu Valley alone contains seven UNESCO World Heritage Sites within a few square kilometers - ancient palace squares, golden-roofed temples, and Buddhist stupas where prayer flags flutter in the wind. The Buddha was born in Lumbini in southern Nepal. Hinduism and Buddhism coexist here with an ease that is rare anywhere else in the world. And the Nepali people - Sherpas, Newars, Gurungs, Tharus, and dozens more ethnic groups - bring a warmth and resilience forged by life in some of the most challenging terrain imaginable. The greeting namaste, spoken with palms pressed together, is not just a word here. It is a way of being.
At a glance
Largest cities in Nepal
Kathmandu
Pokhara
Lalitpur (Patan)
Bhaktapur
Lumbini
Famous people from Nepal
Tenzing Norgay
ExplorationNepali-Indian Sherpa mountaineer who, with Edmund Hillary, became one of the first two people to reach the summit of Mount Everest in 1953
Siddhartha Gautama (Buddha)
PhilosophyBorn in Lumbini, Nepal around 563 BC, his teachings founded Buddhism, one of the world's major religions with over 500 million followers
Apa Sherpa
ExplorationSummited Mount Everest 21 times, once holding the record for the most ascents and earning the nickname Super Sherpa
Laxmi Prasad Devkota
LiteratureNepal's greatest poet, known as the Great Poet, whose works in Nepali elevated the language as a literary medium
Pasang Lhamu Sherpa
ExplorationFirst Nepali woman to summit Mount Everest in 1993, a national hero who tragically died during her descent
Traditional cuisine of Nepal
- Dal Bhat
- The national meal eaten twice daily - steamed rice with lentil soup, vegetable curry, pickles, and greens, with the saying dal bhat power, 24 hour
- Momos
- Tibetan-style dumplings stuffed with spiced meat or vegetables, steamed or fried, the most popular snack food in Nepal
- Newari Feast
- Elaborate multi-course meal from the Newar people of Kathmandu Valley with beaten rice, marinated meats, and fermented dishes
- Sel Roti
- Ring-shaped sweet rice bread fried until crispy on the outside and soft inside, traditional during festivals like Tihar and Dashain
- Thukpa
- Hearty Tibetan noodle soup with vegetables and meat in a warming broth, the essential comfort food of the mountain regions
Nature and landmarks in Nepal
- Mount EverestMountain
- The highest point on Earth at 8,849 meters, straddling the Nepal-Tibet border, the ultimate mountaineering objective
- Annapurna RangeMountain
- Stunning Himalayan massif with the world's most popular trekking circuit and Annapurna I, the deadliest of the 8,000-meter peaks
- Chitwan National ParkNational Park
- UNESCO-listed lowland jungle home to one-horned rhinos, Bengal tigers, and gharial crocodiles in the Terai plains
- Phewa LakeLake
- Serene lake in Pokhara reflecting the Annapurna range on its surface, the starting point for paragliding and lakeside wandering
- Sagarmatha National ParkNational Park
- UNESCO World Heritage park encompassing Mount Everest, home to Sherpa villages, ancient monasteries, and the elusive snow leopard
Sports in Nepal
- Cricket
- Surging in popularity, Nepal gained ODI status and the national team has become a genuine force in Associate cricket
- Football
- The most popular traditional team sport, with a passionate domestic league and South Asian tournament appearances
- Mountaineering
- Sherpa climbers are the backbone of Himalayan mountaineering, with Nepal hosting expeditions on the world's highest peaks
Did you know?
Nepal has the only national flag in the world that is not rectangular - it consists of two stacked triangles
Nepal's timezone is UTC+5:45, one of the few countries with a 45-minute offset, because the meridian passes through the middle of the country
Eight of the world's fourteen peaks above 8,000 meters are in Nepal, including Everest, Kanchenjunga, Lhotse, and Makalu
The Kumari, a living goddess selected from young girls of the Newar community, resides in a palace in Kathmandu's Durbar Square
Nepal has never been colonized by a foreign power, one of the few countries in Asia that can make this claim
The country went from monarchy to federal democratic republic in 2008, ending 240 years of royal rule
Lumbini, birthplace of the Buddha, draws pilgrims from all over the world and contains monasteries built by over 25 different countries
Can you find Nepal on a map?
Drop a pin where you think it is and see how close you got. A few rounds and you will place Nepal and its neighbours without a second thought.
