Jeff Albertson, age 15,of Watertown, N.Y., for his question:
IS NEPAL AN OLD COUNTRY?
Nepal is a small, landlocked, mountainous country that is located between India to the east, south and west, and the Chinese province of Tibet to the north. Covering more than nine tenths of Nepal is the world's highest mountain range, the Himalaya. The country became independent in 1923.
Officially the country is named the Kingdom of Nepal.
Nepal's early history is clouded by myths and legends. From the 400s A.D. the region was made up of a number of small, independent kingdoms. Bands of conquering nomads and refugees from Central Asia, India and Tibet regularly came into the area.
In the mid 1700s a Gurkha king named Prithwi Narayan Shah led a military action that unified most of the .region. There was regular conflict with the British East India Company, but by the early 1800s the Kingdom of Nepal and Britain became allies. Then in 1923 the British government signed a treaty of friendship and recognized the complete independence of Nepal.
At first Nepal was a military dictatorship. The rise of popular political parties came after 1950 and in 1959 the first democratic consitituion was written. In 1962 a new constitution was proclaimed that provides for a parliament called the panchayat.
The southern section of Nepal is a plain called Terai. About one third of the country's population lives here and is engaged in agricultural jobs. Thick jungles also can be found here.
About~two thirds of the population lives in the fertile Katmandu Valley, which is located between the Himalayan and Mahbharat mountains. There are two ethnic groups in Nepal: the Sherpas and the Gurung. The Sherpas, a group of people who live in the Himalayan region, have become famous as guides and porters for expeditions of mountain climbers. Members of the Gurung group have provided men for Nepal's army. All Nepalese soldiers are called Gurkhas. Many have served in the British and Indian armies.
Nepal has two main racial groups: the Mongolians, who settled is the Himalayan area, and the Iado Aryans, who settled in the lower region. Many of the Nepalese today have ancestors in both groups.
Nepali is the kingdom's official language. It is also the country's most widely spoken language.
There are two important religions is Nepal: Hinduism and Buddhism.
Unfortunately, the Nepalese have a very low standard of living sad the life expectancy there is short. Medical care is limited. The average yearly income is low. Almost 90 percent of the people cannot read or write.
Gurkha soldiers employed is the British sad Indian armies help Nepal's economy. The salaries and pensions these Nepalese soldiers receive is more than twice the amount that Nepal receives from foreign trade.