Nepal
Nepalwhose official name is Democratic Federal Republic of Nepal(in nepalí: מ.の.の.。 我的.的.的.。 א.の.の.の.の.。 我的.。 Sanghiya Loktāntrik Ganatantra Nepāl), (
Listen. (?·i)) is a sea-free country located in South Asia. Geographically located in the Himalayas, surrounded in the north by the People's Republic of China and in the south by India. It is separated from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim, by the so-called Siliguri Corridor. It is a country of a mountainous nature in whose territory some of the highest peaks of the Earth are in total or in part, highlighting Mount Everest (8848 m s. n. m.), as well as another seven of the so-called eight thousand.
The modern Nepalese nation has been configured as such since the unification of the regions under the direction and influence of the Gurkha king Prithvi Narayan, on September 25, 1768. Until 2006 Nepal was the only state in the world with Hinduism as official religion. Since the decline of the monarchy, the country has been transformed into a secular state. Its recent history has been marked by a bloody civil war that ended with the triumph of the Maoist rebels of the CPN-M, the establishment of a government of national unity and the convocation of a Constituent Assembly. This last body proclaimed on May 28, 2008 the establishment of a democratic federal republic, which put an end to more than 240 years of monarchy.
Nepal is considered a multicultural, multilingual and secular state. Despite being a small state, compared to its huge neighbors, the country has a wide and diverse variety of territories, which extend from the humid jungle plains of the Terai, to the highest and most icy peaks of the earth. The Nepalese people are mainly Hindu, despite having an ancient and deep Buddhist tradition, centered in the town of Lumbini, birthplace of Siddharta Gautama. A good part of the population is concentrated in the valley and the city of Kathmandu, which is the capital of the State. The official language is Nepali, the official currency is the Nepalese rupee, and the flag has the peculiarity of being the only one of a State that is not in the shape of a rectangle or a square.
History
Ancient history
Nepal has a long history that has spanned millennia. The Kirati are one of the earliest known Nepalese groups, circa 563 BCE. C. and Emperor Aśoka ruled over a vast empire that included northern India and the southern Terai region of present-day Nepal in the s. I a. C. By the year 200, the Buddhist empire was displaced by resurgent Hindu fiefdoms, such as the Licchavi Dynasty.
Around 900, the Thakuri dynasty succeeded the Licchavi era and was eventually succeeded by the Malla Dynasty, which ruled until the century. XVIII. In 1768, the Gorkha king Prithvi Narayan Shah captured the city of Kathmandu, making it the capital of his new kingdom. In 1814 Nepal was embroiled in a war with the United Kingdom (represented by the British East India Company).) in a conflict known as the Anglo-Nepalese War, which ended with the Treaty of Sugauli (1816), in which Nepal ceded Sikkim and the southern Terai, in exchange for British withdrawal. After Nepalese Gurkhas helped the British crush the Sepoy Mutiny in 1857, most of the Terai was returned to them in gratitude.
Democracy and civil war
The Shah Dynasty was suspended in 1846, when Jung Bahadur Rana seized control of the country after murdering several hundred princes and chiefs in the Kathmandu Kot (arsenal palace) massacre. The Rana (almost all Maharajas of Lambjang and Kaski) ruled as hereditary prime ministers until 1948, when the British colony achieved its independence. India proposed King Tribhuvan as the new ruler of Nepal in 1951 and sponsored the Nepali Congress Party. Tribhuvan's son, King Mahendra, dissolved the democratic experiment and declared a "panchayat system" (dictatorship without political parties) under which he would rule the kingdom. His son King Birendra succeeded to the throne in 1972 and continued panchayat politics until the Jana Andolan (People's Movement or Democratic Movement) of 1989 forced the monarchy to accept constitutional reforms.
In May 1991, Nepal held its first elections in almost 50 years. The Nepali Congress Party and the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist) received the most votes. However, neither party was able to hold power for more than two consecutive years. Critics argue that the government reforms did not appreciably improve the political order, as the new government was also characterized by extreme corruption bordering on kleptocracy. In February 1996, the Communist Party of Nepal launched an armed insurrection to replace the regime with a Maoist-leaning communist state. This conflict would last for 10 years, during which more than 12,700 people would die. According to the Informal Sector Service Centre, government forces are responsible for 85% of civilian deaths.
According to the account of some Nepalese government officials, on June 1, 2001, Crown Prince Dipendra, returning to his palace after a night out, assassinated his parents, King Birendra and Queen Aishwarya, as well as as well as several other members of the royal family, the product of a family dispute. Despite attempting suicide, Dipendra stayed alive, and though he fell into a coma, he was proclaimed king in his hospital bed, dying three days later. After the death of the short-lived king, his uncle Gyanendra acceded to the throne on June 4, 2001. The version commonly accepted by the people of Nepal is quite different: the murder of the entire nucleus of the royal family would have been planned by the one who later would be the king and carried out by his son.
Significant portions of Nepal are being retaken by the rebellion. The Maoists expel the representatives of the parties close to power, expropriate the local capitalists and implement their own development projects. They also run their own prisons and courts. In addition to coercive measures, the guerrillas are strengthening their presence due to their popularity among important sectors of Nepalese society, particularly women, untouchables and ethnic minorities. Thus, caste discrimination is eliminated, women receive the same inheritance rights as men, and forced marriages are prohibited. In addition, the Maoists provide free health care and give literacy courses.
In February 2005, Gyanendra dissolved the government and assumed full executive power to combat the Maoists, prompting the seven parties in parliament, with the support of the Maoist rebels, to stage a mass uprising. The insurrection achieved wide support, with demonstrations calling for the king's resignation. The pressure was maintained for nearly a year, until the monarch, in April 2006, called on the seven parties to elect a new prime minister and ordered the reopening of Parliament, pending new elections.
Republic
The new government and the Maoist rebels signed a ceasefire and began negotiations that fulfilled several demands of the insurgents, especially the conversion of the kingdom into a republic, ending more than two hundred years of monarchy. In compliance with these agreements, and once the new Constituent Assembly was installed, the establishment of a democratic federal republic was proclaimed.
This situation is maintained with difficulties, with a second constituent assembly coming out of elections in 2013.
On April 25, 2015, a devastating earthquake devastated the country, killing 8,151 lives and two World Heritage Sites, as well as causing a serious humanitarian crisis in the country, which was quickly addressed with the shipment of aid by the international community.
A new earthquake of magnitude 7.4 shook the country on May 12, 2015, leaving 36 dead and a thousand injured. Its epicenter was 76 km northeast of Kathmandu.
In 2017, flooding from a particularly strong monsoon left 143 people dead, some 1.7 million homeless, including 461,000 displaced.
Government and politics
Until 1990, this small Asian state was an absolute monarchy, under the sole control of the King of Nepal. In that year, King Birendra began a process of long political reforms establishing a system of parliamentary monarchy, where the position of head of state was exercised by the king, while the head of government was the prime minister.
A bicameral system was established, with a House of Representatives and a National Assembly. The House of Representatives was made up of 205 members elected by popular vote, while the National Council was made up of 60 people, of whom 10 were appointed by the king, 35 by the House of Representatives and the remaining 15 by an electoral college made up of by representatives of the towns and villages of the kingdom. The legislature lasts a period of five years, but can be dissolved by the king before the end of his term. Men and women over the age of 18 can vote.
Until the proclamation of the republic, the Nepalese executive branch consisted of the king and the Council of Ministers (the cabinet). Because it is a parliamentary system, the leader of the political party that obtained the most seats in Parliament was appointed prime minister. The rest of the cabinet was by the king, with the recommendation of the prime minister. Currently its definition is pending the approval of a new constitution.
The Judiciary is headed by the Sarbochha Adalat (Supreme Court) and appellate courts and justices of the peace depend on it. The president of the Supreme Court was appointed (until the proclamation of the Republic) by the monarch, on the advice of the Constitutional Council, and the members of the lower courts by the monarch on the advice of the Judicial Committee.
The Nepal Congress Party, created in the 1940s, is the oldest party in Nepal. The other major parties are the Communist Party of Nepal (Unified Marxist-Leninist), a split of the latter, the Communist Party of Nepal (Marxist-Leninist), and the National Democratic Party. The lives of governments in Nepal have tended to be quite short. The system has proven unstable, as no government has lasted more than two years without collapsing through internal conflict or actual dissolution. In 2005 Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba and other cabinet ministers were placed under house arrest, while King Gyanendra dissolved parliament and declared a state of emergency that lasted until April. In August 2005 Deuba was jailed after a Royal Commission found him guilty of corruption. In September of the same year, the Government announced, through a statement, the postponement of the general elections for two years.
In April 2006, after large and massive popular protests in the capital and other cities against the king's policy, all seven Nepalese political parties rejected the king's multi-party project. On April 21, as a result of popular discontent, King Gyanendra declared that "power will be returned to the people." The protests continued, and on April 24 Gyanendra announced that he was reinstating parliament. This led to the opposition alliance ending the protests and choosing Girija Prasad Koirala, president of the congress, as its candidate for prime minister. The Maoists rejected the agreement at first, announcing that they would continue the protests, but on April 26 they lifted the road blockade, demanding that the political parties initiate the creation of a constituent assembly at their next meeting.
In May of the same year, the terrorism charges against the members of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) were dropped, and the request to annul the international arrest warrants against the party members was sent to Interpol.
On December 24, 2007, Nepal's various political parties agreed that the country's monarchy would be abolished by a Constitutional Assembly to be elected the following year. Elections for the assembly took place on April 11, 2008, with the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M) winning. On May 28, 2008, the elected members of the Constituent Assembly of Nepal proclaimed the Republic.
On September 20, 2015, President Ram Baran Yadav announced a new constitution, the "Nepal Constitution 2015" (Nepali: नेपालको संविधान २०७२). The constituent assembly was transformed into a legislative parliament by the then president of that assembly. The new constitution of Nepal has transformed Nepal into a virtual federal democratic republic creating 7 nameless states.
In October 2015, Bidhya Devi Bhandari was nominated as the first female president.
Defense
Nepal has an army, with a strength of 95,000 soldiers. With a long tradition of warfare, Nepali soldiers, known as ghurkas, have fought many wars on the side of the UK. Nepali soldiers have also participated in various United Nations missions in the form of peacekeepers. The Nepalese army took part against the CPN-M Maoist guerrillas, during the Civil War between 1996 and 2006.
Territorial organization
Nepal is divided into 7 provinces (in Nepali, नेपालका प्रदेशहरू; Nepalka Pradeshaharu), which were created on September 20, 2015 in accordance with Schedule 4 of the Constitution of Nepal. The seven provinces were formed by grouping the existing districts and replaced the previous territorial organization where the country was divided into 14 administrative zones grouped into 5 development regions. The country was also home to a small Mustang vassal kingdom, now abolished.
Geography
Nepal is rectangular in shape about 600 km by about 200 km wide, with an area of 147,516 km². Its territory is usually divided into three zones: the mountain, the hills and the Terai zones. These ecological rings expanded in an east-west direction are cut by the basin of the various rivers that originate in the mountains.
The Terai region borders India, and is part of the Ganges and Indus river basin. These rivers originate in and are fed by three large tributaries: the Dudh Kosi, the Narayani and the Karnali. This area is hot and humid.
The hill country (Pahar, in Nepali) borders on mountains, and their height varies between 1,000 and 4,000 m. Two low-lying ranges, the Mahabharat Lekh (also known as the 'Little Himalayas') and the Shiwalik Hills (or 'Churia Range') dominate the region. This small belt of hills encompasses the Kathmandu Valley, the most fertile and urbanized of the cross valleys. Despite its geographic isolation and low economic potential, this region has been the cultural and political center of Nepal. Unlike the valleys, the areas above 2,500 meters are sparsely inhabited.
The mountain region contains the highest point on earth, Mount Everest (Sagarmatha in Nepali), on the border with China, reaching 8,844 meters, according to the Chinese State Bureau of Surveying and Mapping (in 2005) or 8850 meters according to a study carried out by American scientists (in 1999). Eight of the ten highest mountains on Earth are located in Nepal. The most serious problem in the area is deforestation, which brings erosion and degradation of ecosystems.
Nepal has five climatic zones, closely related to the height of the territory. The tropical and subtropical zones are below 1,200 meters. The temperate climate is between 1,200 and 2,400 m, while the cold zone is between 2,400 and 3,600 m. The subarctic zone covers between 3,600 and 4,400 m, and from this last height the arctic zone begins. Nepal has five seasons, summer, monsoon, autumn, winter and spring.
Nepal and Bangladesh do not share borders, although they are separated by a small distance of 24 km known as Chicken Neck (or Chicken Neck , in English).
The Annapurna massif in the Himalaya mountain range.
The throat of the Gandaki River is the deepest of the planet.
The valley of the Marshyangdi river is of glacial origin.
Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth, is on the border between China and Nepal.
Strong winds in Kalopani.
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Wildlife
Located in the great alluvial plain of the Terai (southern fringe of the country), the Royal Chitwan National Park, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This former royal reserve has, among others, more than 400 Indian rhinos, more than 450 species of birds, snow leopards, bears, monkeys, crocodiles and Ganges dolphins. Sagarmatha Park, in the Khumbu region, covers a large part of the Everest massif. In it are the main species of goats and Tibetan antelopes. In the north of the country, next to the border with Tibet, Langtang Park is an area inhabited by bears, fallow deer and snow leopards. These high-altitude cats are also found in the Dolpo region, Nepal's largest natural park, as are wild yaks and a characteristic Pamir sheep species. The Bardia Park, a place located in the southwest of the country, perfect for animal observation, is known for the royal Bengal tigers (of which Nepal has about 200 specimens), wild elephants and giant crocodiles.
Flora
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Over 6,500 varieties of flowers grow in Nepal. Offerings and ceremonial necklaces are adorned with magnolias, jasmine, camellias, dahlias, wallflowers, and hibiscus. Likewise, jacarandas abound, flamboyants and the red flowers of the Malabar bombax are very common in the Terai region. In the gorges of the Himalayas and under the humid dome of its jungles, more than 100 species of orchids grow. The most beautiful are gathered in the Royal Botanical Garden of Godavari (in the Kathmandu Valley), which also has an impressive collection of ferns. To admire the sublime forests of rhododendrons (the national flower), it is necessary to go to the Shivapuri reserve, at the gates of Kathmandu. For its part, the gigantic pipal, with its heart-shaped leaves, and the banyan tree, whose roots hang from its branches, have the status of sacred trees, since Buddha was enlightened under the foliage of one of them.
Economy
Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world, with approximately half of its population living below the poverty line. In 2001 it had a per capita income of just $240. According to data from the World Bank and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), GDP per capita had amounted to US$323 in 2006 and around US$1,100 in 2007.
Agriculture is the mainstay of its economy, providing sustenance for more than 80% of the population and constituting 41% of the GNP. Industrial activity is limited to the processing of agricultural products, including jute, sugar cane, tobacco, and grain. The production of textiles and carpets has recently expanded and has accounted for around 80% of foreign trade in recent years. Most of the industrial activity is focused around the Kathmandu Valley and Terai cities like Biratnagar and Birgunj. Agricultural production has a growth of approximately 5% on average compared to the annual population growth of 3.3%.
Since May 1991, the Nepalese government has carried out various economic reforms, particularly in those areas that encourage trade and foreign investment; for example, by reducing required business licenses and registration to simplify investment procedures. The government has also cut spending by limiting subsidies to its population, privatizing state industries and laying off officials. However, more recently political instability (more than five different governments in recent years) has hampered Kathmandu's ability to implement further economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating economic growth, for example by exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent interest to foreign investors. However, prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors remain dim due in part to its weak economy and technological backwardness as well as its remoteness, landlocked geographic location, susceptibility to natural disasters, and instability. policy. The role of the international community in financing more than 60% of the Nepali development budget and more than 28% of total budget expenditures is likely to continue to be an important ingredient in its growth.
Demographics
Nepal is a multi-ethnic country. The largest ethnic group is the Nepalese, descendants of the Khas or Pahari (mountain people). They were segmented according to the caste system into chatrias, bahun (or Brahmins), thakuri, gharti and kami (dalit, untouchables). The language, Indo-Iranian of the Khas, formerly known as khaskura, now Nepali, is the mother tongue of about 48% of the country's population.
The Madhesi who inhabit the Terai plains are various ethnic groups who speak the Indo-Iranian languages Maithili (3.6 million), Bhojpuri (2.2 million) and Awadhi. They mainly live in the Narayani, Janakpur and Sagarmata areas. They are also segmented according to the caste system, with the iadava (supposed descendants of the iadus, the family of the god Krisná) playing the role of chatrias. The concept of madhesi originally referred to the people of the plains as opposed to the pahari highlanders. An autonomy statute for the Madhesi is currently being discussed.
The Newa are the original people of the Kathmandu Valley. In the 2001 census, 1,245,232 Newa were registered. The majority, 825,458 people, speak their own language, Nepal Bhasa or Newari, related to the Tibeto-Burman languages, but with some elements of the Austroasiatic languages. Until the 16th century the power of the country was held by the Newa Dynasty.
The magar whose settlements extend from the Dhawalagiri and Gandaki area to the northern districts of Rapti and Lumbini, numbered 1,622,421 people in the 2001 census records. Their language is related to the Sino-Tibetan languages and according to their traditions they migrated to Nepal from Siberia. The ruling dynasty after the 16th century until 2007, came from the upper castes of the Magars.
The tamang are about 1.3 million people, living mainly in the Bagmati and Janakpur areas. According to tradition they were sent by King Trisong of Tibet in the year 755 as border guards for his kingdom. They speak a language closely related to Tibetan.
The Gurung, more than 500,000 people living in the Gandaki and Dhawalagiri areas, mainly in the mountains. They are dedicated to sheep grazing and trade. Their language is also related to the Tibetan language.
The Sherpa, numbering 155,000 in Nepal at the 2001 census, took refuge in the Himalayas after migrating from Sichuan, China.
Descendants of the first settlers of Nepal are the janajati or indigenous peoples:
The tharu are the aboriginal people of the jungles of western Terai, mainly south of the Seti and Bheri areas. There are 1,200,000 people who speak an Indo-Iranian language. They live in communal houses where more than 150 people stay. Many Tharu peasants were subjected to servitude by the system of "indebtedness" or loans in kind or money with labor in return.
The kirat, kirati or kiranti are various ethnic groups native to the eastern part of the country and speak Tibeto-Burman languages. They made up the Kirata Confederation and follow their own religion or mundhum. According to their traditions, they arrived centuries ago from Yunan (China), through northern Burma and Assam, although their sacred book, the Kerat Vedá, traces their origin back to Mongolia. The best-known Kirat ethnic groups are the rai and the limbu:
- Rai or khambu, more than 600 000 people. Most live in the Kosi area.
- Bahing Solukhumbu and Okhaldhunga districts
- Bantawa
- KhalingKhotang District
- Sunuwar, about 27 000 people.
- Thulun, approximately 34 000.
- Yakkha, about 17,000 people.
- Wambulein Okhaldhunga, Khotang, Udaypur and Sindhuli districts.
- Badsupur: about 12 000 people
- Limbu, a village of about 400 000 people, most of whom live in the Mechi area, to the eastern end of Nepal.
In recent political events, the Janajati are claiming their autonomy, both from the Nepalese state and from the Madhesi, Khas and Magar who have traditionally been dominant in their territories.
Religion
According to the 2001 census, 80.6% of the inhabitants are Hindus. Buddhists make up 10.7%, Muslims 4.2% and other religions 3.5%, there are also minorities of atheists and Christians.
There are small minorities of atheists, which are from 0.9% in 2011 to 0.5% in 2018, so they decreased by -0.4%, another religious group that presented decline is Hinduism of 81, 3% in 2011 to 72.8% in 2018.
This is due to two factors: the death rate and conversion to other beliefs. The 2015 earthquake caused the death of 8,832 people, of whom 75.3% were Hindus. Christians increased by 0.6% as well as Buddhists by 9% in 2011. Islam also increased by 1.9% of the total population.
Buddha, born as a Hindu, is also said to be a descendant of Vedic Angirasa in many Buddhist texts. The Buddha family surname is associated with Gautama Maharishi. Differences between Hindus and Buddhists have been minimal in Nepal due to the cultural and historical mix of both faiths. Furthermore, traditionally Buddhism and Hinduism were never two separate religions in the Western sense of the word. In Nepal, religions share common temples and worship common deities. Among other natives of Nepal, those most influenced by Hinduism were the Magar, Sunwar, Limbu, Rai, and the Gurkhas. Hindu influence is less prominent among the Gurung, Bhutia and Thakali groups who employ Buddhist monks for their religious ceremonies. Most of the festivals in Nepal are Hindu. The Machendrajatra festival, dedicated to the Hindu Shaiva Siddha, is celebrated by many Buddhists in Nepal as a major festival. As Ne Muni is believed to have established Nepal, some important priests in Nepal are called Tirthaguru Nemuni. Islam is a minority religion in Nepal, with 4.2% of the population being Muslim according to a 2006 Nepalese census. Mundhum, Christianity and Jainism are other minority religions.
Many Hindu temples in Kathmandu and the surrounding districts are centuries old with some of them of great national importance to Hindus such as the Pashupatinath temple, the Changu Narayan (oldest) or the Kasthamandap. Among the Hindu temples we can also mention the Bajrayogini temple, the Dakshinkali, the Guhyeshwari and the Sobha Baghwati sanctuary.
The Bagmati River, which flows through Kathmandu, is considered a holy river by both Hindus and Buddhists, and many Hindu temples are located on its banks. The importance of this watercourse also lies in the fact that Hindus are cremated on the banks of this sacred river, and kirants are buried on the hills on its banks. According to Nepalese Hindu tradition, the corpse must be immersed three times in the Bagmati River before cremation.
Although the constitution of Nepal offers religious freedom, proselytism is prohibited, that is, you cannot try to convert one or more people to a certain religion. In this sense, the Christian population is a minority. Christian churches have been established only since the 1950s, after multi-party democracy was instituted, despite efforts made in the XIX to bring Christianity to Nepal. The New Testament was translated into Nepali in 1821 and the entire Bible in 1914. It is said that there are about 170 Christian churches in Kathmandu alone.
Language
Nepali is spoken by 47.8% of the population as their mother tongue. Other languages are Mahithili (12.1%), Bhojpuri (7.4%), Tharu (5.8%), Tamang (5.1%), Newari (3.6%), Magar (3.3%) and Awadhi (2.4%). Other languages reach 12.5% of Nepalese.
Culture
Nepalese culture is influenced by South Indian and North Tibetan culture. Several similarities can be seen in terms of clothing, way of life, language and food. A typical Nepali meal consists of dal-bhat, lentils served with rice and other vegetables. This dish is eaten twice a day, once at dawn and once after dark. Between these two meals, there are various appetizers such as chiura (whipped rice) and tea. Meat, eggs and fish are also consumed, especially in mountainous areas, where the diet is usually rich in protein. There are several millet-based alcoholic beverages that are widely consumed, including jaad and rakshi distillate.
Folklore is an integral part of Nepalese society. The rich oral tradition serves to explain the local way of life, culture and beliefs, based on tales told by word of mouth about love, war, affections, ghosts and demons. Many of these stories are represented in dances and songs. The Newar people are famous for their masked dances about gods and heroes. The music is performed on percussion instruments, accompanied by flutes or shawms and intense nasal vocal notes. Musical styles include pop, religious and popular song, among other styles.
The sarangi, a four-stringed instrument native to India, is widely used by traveling peddlers. At present there is a strong influence of Nepalese rock, a native trend that is very popular among young people. Soccer is the most popular sport, followed by cricket and kabaddi.
There is only one television channel, although much of the signals from India are picked up by the readily available satellite dishes. In any case, the lack of a massive and reliable electrification system makes the massification of television channels impractical. Radio, on the other hand, is much more popular and universal, with 12 different stations.
The Nepali year begins in mid-April and is divided into 12 months. Saturday is the legal weekly holiday. Among the holidays are National Day (until 2008 it corresponded to the birth of the reigning monarch) on December 28, Prithvi Jayanti (January 11) and Martyr's Day (February 18). There are also festivals that mix Hinduism and Buddhism among the majority of the population, such as Dashai in autumn and Tihar at the end of the same season. Nepal has a rich tradition of ceremonies, including the nwaran (or christening of a child), the pasni (for the first time a child eats rice), the bratabandha (a penance ceremony), and the gupha for pre-adolescent boys and girls. The bel baha festival is the “marriage” between a pre-adolescent girl and a tree so that she is fertile.
Most marriages are arranged for convenience, with few divorces. Polygamy (multiple marriages) is prohibited by law, although in the most remote villages among the northern tribes (such as the Dolpo), cases of polyandry (one woman with several men) are found. Most of the houses in rural areas are built with a bamboo weave and covered with adobe. These structures keep cool in summer and warm in winter.
Sports
Pop Culture
- Kyratthe country where it is set Far Cry 4It is based in Nepal and the civil war of the same video game is also based on the civil war that occurred in that country.
- Chapters 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and to a lesser extent 13 and 14 of the video game Uncharted 2: Among Thieves they develop in Nepal.
- Between 1984 and 2001, there was an Argentinean thrash metal band, called Nepal; the name with which they identified in tribute to that country.