Nepal - Facts and Figures
General Information about Nepal
Location:
Latitude : 26°22'North to 30°27'North
Longitude : 80°04'East to 88°12'East
Size:
Area : 147181 Sq. Km.
Length : 885 Km. [East to West]
Width : Non-uniform, Mean width of 193 Km. [North to South]
Altitude: 305 Meters to 8848 Meters
Capital: Kathmandu
Government: Parliamentary Democracy
Language: Religion Secular State
Currency: Nepalese Rupee
Fiscal Year: Nepalese Fiscal Year starts from Mid July.
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.
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