Nepal

Nepal (Nepali: नेपाल Nep), officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked country in South Asia and the world's youngest republic. It is bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India. With an area of 147,181 square kilometres (56,827 sq mi) and a population of approximately 30 million, Nepal is the world's 93rd largest country by land mass[5] and the 41st most populous country. Kathmandu is the nation's capital and the country's largest metropolitan city. Nepal is a country of highly diverse and rich geography, culture, and religions. The mountainous north has eight of the world's ten highest mountains, including the highest, Sagarmatha, known in English as Mount Everest. The fertile and humid south is heavily urbanized. It contains over 240 peaks more than 20,000 ft (6,096 metres) above sea level.[6] By some measures, Hinduism is practised by a larger majority of people in Nepal than in any other nation.[7] Buddhism, though a minority faith in the country, is linked historically with Nepal as the birthplace of Siddhartha Gautama, who as the Buddha Gautama gave birth to the Buddhist tradition. About half of the population live below the international poverty line of US$1.25 a day.[8]

A monarchy throughout most of its history, Nepal was ruled by the Shah dynasty of kings from 1768, when Prithvi Narayan Shah unified its many small kingdoms. However, a decade-long People's Revolution by the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) along with several weeks of mass protests by all major political parties of Nepal in 2006, culminated in a peace accord and the ensuing elections for the constituent assembly voted overwhelmingly in favor of the abdication of the last Nepali monarch Gyanendra Shah and the establishment of a federal democratic republic in May 28, 2008.[9] The first President of Nepal, Ram Baran Yadav, was sworn in on 23 July 2008.Etymology Nepal Bhasa originThe word "Nepal" is believed by scholars to be derived from the word "Nepa:" which refers to the Newar Kingdom, the present day Kathmandu Valley. With Sanskritization, the Newar word Nepa became Nepal.[10] The Newars of present day Nepal, refer to all the inhabitants of Kathmandu valley and its peripheries (called "Nepa:") before the advent of Shah dynasty.

Ne Muni History and local traditions say that a Hindu sage named "Ne" established himself at the valley of Kathmandu during prehistoric times and that the word "Nepal" came into existence as the place protected ("pala" in Sanskrit) by the sage "Ne". The etymology of the name Nepal means, "the country looked after by Ne".[11]He used to perform religious ceremonies at Teku, the confluence of the Bagmati and Bishnumati rivers.[12] He is said by legend to have selected a pious cowherd to be the first of the many kings of the Gopala Dynasty.[11] These rulers are said to have ruled Nepal for over 500 years.[13] He selected Bhuktaman to be the first king in the line of the Gopal (Cowherd) Dynasty.[12] The Gopal dynasty ruled for 621 years. Yakshya Gupta was the last king of this dynasty.According to Skanda Purana, a rishi called "Ne" or "Nemuni" used to live in Himalaya.[14] In the Pashupati Purana, he is mentioned as a saint and a protector.[15] He is said to have practiced penance at the Bagmati and Kesavati rivers[16] and to have taught his doctrines there too.[11] LanguagesNepal's diverse linguistic heritage evolved from four major language groups: Indo-Aryan, Tibeto-Burman, Mongolian and various indigenous language isolates. The major languages of Nepal (percent spoken as mother tongue) are Nepali (48.61%), Maithili (12.30%), Bhojpuri (7.53%), Tharu (5.86%), Tamang (5.19%), Newari/Nepal Bhasa (3.63%), Magar (3.39%), Awadhi (2.47%), Rai (2.79%), Limbu (1.47%), and Bajjika (1.05%).Derived from Sanskrit, Nepali has roots in Sanskrit and is written in Devanagari script. Nepali is the official national language and serves as lingua franca among Nepalis of different ethnolinguistic groups. Hindi and related regional dialects Awadhi, Bhojpuri and Maithili are spoken in the southern Terai Region. Hindi is also widely understood by the many Nepalis who have lived in India. Many Nepalis in government and business speak English as well. Dialects of Tibetan are spoken in and north of the higher Himalaya where standard literary Tibetan is widely understood by those with religious education. Local dialects in the Terai and hills are mostly unwritten with efforts underway to develop systems for writing many in Devanagari or the Roman alphabet.

History
Main article: History of Nepal Prehistory Kathmandu Valley Neolithic tools found in the Kathmandu Valley indicate that people have been living in the Himalayan region for at least 9,000 years. It appears that Kirat ethnicity people were the first people to settle in Nepal and ruled Nepal for about 2,500 years.[17] AncientTerai News writes, "Nepal has been highlighted for the last several centuries in Indian Sanskrit literature like ‘Skand Purana’. ‘Skanda Purana’ has a separate volume known as ‘Nepal Mahatmya’, which explains in more details about the beauty and power of Nepal."[18] Nepal is also mentioned in Hindu scriptures such as the Narayana Puja[19] and the Atharva Siras (800-600 BC).[19] Around 1000 BC, small kingdoms and confederations of clans arose in the region. From one of these, the Shakya confederation, arose a prince named Siddharta Gautama (563–483 BC), who later renounced his royalty to lead an ascetic life and came to be known as the Buddha ("the enlightened one"). The 7th Kirata king, Jitedasti, was on the throne in the Nepal valley at the time. By 250 BC, the region came under the influence of the Mauryan Empire of northern India, and later became a vassal state under the Gupta Empire in the fourth century AD. In the fifth century, rulers called the Licchavis governed the majority of its area. There More>>