Nepal is a landlocked country situated between The People's Republic of China and The Republic of India. It is also bordered on the east by Sikkim. There are 5 climatic zones in Nepal ranging from jungle in the lowlands to the south and high altitude sub-freezing conditions in the northern mountainous regions.

Mt. Everest, K2, and 3 other of the world's highest mountain peaks are in Nepal. The capital is Kathmandu. Nepal's total land area is  147,181 sq k.

The main religions are Hindu 80.6%, Buddhist 10.7%, Muslim 4.2%, Kirant 3.6%, other 0.9% (2001 census. It is illegal to proselytize Christianity in Nepal. The average life expectancy of citizens of Nepal is 61 years.  There are 5 doctors per every 100,000 people.

In 1951, the Nepalese monarch ended the century-old system of rule by hereditary premiers and instituted a cabinet system of government. Reforms in 1990 established a multiparty democracy within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. An insurgency led by Maoist extremists broke out in 1996. The ensuing ten-year civil war between insurgents and government forces witnessed the dissolution of the cabinet and parliament and assumption of absolute power by the king. Several weeks of mass protests in April 2006 were followed by several months of peace negotiations between the Maoists and government officials, and culminated in a November 2006 peace accord and the promulgation of an interim constitution. Following a nation-wide election in April 2008, the newly formed Constituent Assembly declared Nepal a federal democratic republic and abolished the monarchy at its first meeting the following month. The Constituent Assembly elected the country's first president in July. The Maoists, who received a plurality of votes in the Constituent Assembly election, formed a coalition government in August 2008. (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/np.html)