TOEFL Test Centers in Nepal

EDU February 16, 2019

Nepal Overview

Nepal, Republic in the Himalayas. The mountainous country stretches between India and China (Tibet). The main core of the Himalayas (Mount Everest) is in Nepal. The valleys are used for agriculture (including the cultivation of rice, jute, sugar cane, tobacco), and cattle is raised at higher altitudes. The industry is limited to the processing of agricultural products. Trekking tourism is of increasing importance. The largest group of the population are the Gurkha, whose mother tongue Nepali became the national language.

History: The Kingdom of Nepal was founded in 1769; it was linked to British India by treaties of 1816 and 1923. In 1990 the King declared Nepal a constitutional monarchy with a multi-party system. After years of fighting between Maoist rebels and the army, the monarchy was abolished in 2008 and a republic was proclaimed. In 2015, an earthquake west of Kathmandu wreaked havoc and claimed thousands of lives.

Country facts

• Official name: Democratic Federal Republic of Nepal
• ISO-3166: NP, NPL (524)
• Internet domain:.np
• Currency: 1 Nepalese rupee (NR) = 100 Paisa
• Area: 147 180 km²
• Population (2019): 28.6 million
• Capital: Kathmandu
• Official language (s): Nepalese
• Form of government: Federal Republic
• Administrative division: 7 provinces (states)
• Head of State: President Bidya Devi Bhandari
• Head of Government: Khadga Prasad Sharma Oli
• Religion (s) (2011): 81% Hindus; 9% Buddhists, 4% Muslims, 1% Christians, 5% others / not specified
• Time zone: Central European Time +4.75 hours

Location and infrastructure

• Location (geographical): South Asia
• Position (coordinates): between 26 ° 20 ‘and 30 ° 10’ north latitude and 80 ° 15 ‘and 88 ° 10’ east longitude
• Climate: warm, dry winter climate; in the high mountains ice climate
• Highest mountain: Mt. Everest (8,850 m)
• Road network (2016): 11 890 km (paved), 16 100 km (unpaved)
• Railway network (2018): 59 km

Population

• Annual population growth (2020): 1%
• Birth rate (2020): 18.1 per 1000 residents.
• Death rate (2020): 5.7 per 1000 residents.
• Average age (2020): 25.3 years
• Average life expectancy (2020): 71.8 years (men 71.1; women 72.6)
• Age structure (2020): 28.4% younger than 15 years, 5.7% older than 65 years
• Literacy rate (15-year-olds and older) (2018): 67.9%
• Mobile phone contracts (pre-paid and post-paid) (2018): 139 per 100 residents
• Internet users (2017): 34 per 100 residents

Economy

• GDP per capita (2019): US $ 1,048
• Total GDP (2019): US $ 30 billion
• GNI per capita (2019): US $ 1,090
• Education expenditure (2018): 5.2% of GDP
• Military expenditure (2019): 1.6% of GDP
• Unemployment rate (15 years and older) (2019): 1.4%

Population

The numerous population groups of Nepal sometimes have very different linguistic, cultural and religious characteristics. Basically, a distinction is made between the population groups of the mountainous region and those of the Tarai. In both areas there are again ethnic groups (with the exception of the Newar subdivided into non-hierarchical exogamous clans) and castes (hierarchical social order with endogamous groups). Most of the mountainous ethnic groups (around 30% of the total population), including some of the Tarai, speak Tibetan-Burmese languages ​​and practice Buddhism or Hinduism, interspersed with elements of their traditional religion. The Hindu castes of the mountains (around 40%), mostly descendants of the former Khas, speak Nepali as their mother tongue. In practice, their religion is also strongly influenced by traditional religion. The central ruling elite of a few Brahmin and Chetri families (Gurkha) has integrated the various ethnic groups as a closed unit into the lower areas of their social hierarchy created in the middle of the 19th century, but this was not accepted in this form by those affected. In the Tarai there are Hindu castes (around 16%), which correspond to those on the other side of the Indian border, as well as some ethnic groups (around 10%), of which the Tharu is by far the largest. In addition, the Muslims who are also caste should be mentioned, who make up a good 4% of the total population. In all areas, the once more clearly drawn ethnic boundaries are increasingly blurring thanks to continuous migration. The existence of some small ethnic groups such as the Raji, Musahar and Satar are threatened. The number of Nepalese is not insignificant, who live abroad temporarily (e.g. as guest workers in India, increasingly also in the Gulf States) or permanently (especially in Sikkim, Darjeeling and the north-east Indian states). In the past, ethnic and religious conflicts were often covered up by the catchphrase “Nepalese tolerance”; With greater freedom rights and better education in the democratized state of the 1990s, lawsuits and claims by disadvantaged groups increasingly came to the fore.

There is an increasing migration to the cities (especially in the Kathmandu valley). The proportion of the urban population has increased from 3% in the 1970s to 19% (2017). Around 6 million Nepalese live and work abroad today.

The biggest cities in Nepal