Nepal Geographical Condition

Nepal is a multi-geographic country. It is located in the southern Asia, between the two large countries, China and
India. Hence called 'Nepal is a yam caught between two rocks'. The total area of Nepal is 1, 47,181sq.km, where
92.94% is covered by land and the rest 7.06% is covered by water. It has 2, 926km total land border, where China
touches1,236 km and India touches 1,690km. The climate varies from cool summers and severe winters in the
north, to subtropical summers and mild winters in the south.

Topographically, it is Terai or flat river plain of the Ganges in south, central hill region, rugged Himalayas in
north. The lowest point of Nepal is Kanchan Kalan measuring 70m and the highest point is Mt Everest, which is
8848m.The land used for permanent crops is 0.64%, arable land is 21.68% and others 77.68% according to the
record of 2001. The irrigative land of Nepal is 11,350 sq km (1998 est.)Natural hazards of Nepal are severe
thunderstorms, flooding, landslides, drought, famine depending on the timing, intensity duration of the summer
monsoons.

Nepal is divided into three main physiographic regions-Hilly region, mountainous region and Terai regions. The
Terai region supports about 47.6% of Nepal’s population and a lot of the country’s cultivable land and covers
20.1% of the total area of Nepal. The Terai also includes the big cities: Nepalgunj, Birgunj, Janakpur, Bhairahawa,
and Biratnagar. The hilly region covers 56.2% of the total area of the country and it supports 45.5% of the
populations. This region includes Kathmandu, Pokhara, Patan, Gorkha and Jumla. The Himalaya region covers
23.7% area of the country. This region supports 6.9% of the populations and the region includes some of the
world’s most famous mountains such as Mt. Everest, Annapurna, Gaurishankar, and Machhapuchre.

Nepal is divided into 5 development regions geographically which are-eastern region, central region, mid-western
region, western region, far-western region. The Eastern region has a damp climate; on the contrary the far western
region has quite a dry climate even during the monsoon seasons. The influence of the monsoon is less in the west
and the climate is moderate in the central region. Nepal’s geographical outline is rectangular about 800km long
and about 200km wide. Most of the rivers flow southward from the glaciers of Nepal to join up the Ganges in
India; several rivers flow from Tibet through deep gorges in the main Himalayan range. There is vast diversity of
forests, animals as well as people in this Himalayan kingdom. The Karnali is the longest river of Nepal. Similarly
the largest lake is the Rara Lake. The geographic coordinates of Nepal are 28°00N and 84°00E