Nepal

Nepal, officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked nation in South Asia that is home to a large indigenous population. In addition to being primarily located in the Himalayas, it also includes portions of the Indo-Gangetic Plain, bordering Tibet in the north and India in the south, east, and west. It is separated from Bangladesh by the Siliguri Corridor, and from Bhutan by the Indian state of Sikkim, both of which are located in the Himalayas. A varied topography, comprising fertile plains, subalpine wooded hills, and eight of the world's ten largest mountains, including Mount Everest, the world's tallest peak and the highest point on Earth, distinguishes Nepal. There are over 100 ethnic groups in Nepal and the country's official language is Nepali. It is also a multi-lingual, multi-religious, and multi-cultural society. Kathmandu is both the nation's capital and its most populous city.

The term "Nepal" made its first appearance in texts from the Vedic period of the Indian subcontinent, which corresponded to the period in ancient Nepal when Hinduism was established as the main religion of the nation. Gautama Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, was born at Lumbini, in the southern Nepali city of Lumbini, during the middle of the first millennium BC. Northern Nepalese culture was interwoven with Tibetan culture in parts of the country's north. The culture of the Indo-Aryans is interwoven with the history of the Kathmandu Valley, which served as the capital of the wealthy Newar confederacy known as Nepal Mandala and is centrally situated. The merchants from the valley controlled the Himalayan branch of the old Silk Road, which stretched across Central Asia. It was in this cosmopolitan area that unique traditional art and architecture emerged. It wasn't until the 18th century that the Gorkha Kingdom was able to bring Nepal together. The Shah dynasty established the Kingdom of Nepal, which subsequently made an alliance with the British Empire, which was led by the Rana dynasty of premiers, and became known as the Kingdom of Nepal. In spite of the fact that it was never conquered, the nation functioned as a buffer state between Imperial China and British India. Nepal's parliamentarian democracy was established in 1951, although it has been suspended twice by the country's kings, in 1960 and 2005. The Nepalese Civil War, which raged between 1990 and 2000, culminated in the creation of a secular republic in 2008, thus putting an end to the world's last Hindu monarchy.

After being enacted in 2015, Nepal's Constitution recognises the country as a secular federal democratic parliamentary republic split into seven provinces. There are presently no communist parties in power in this multi-party, completely democratic country, which makes it unique in the world. A friendship treaty with India was made in 1950, and another with China was inked in 1960. Nepal was admitted to the United Nations on 1955. Nepal serves as the permanent secretariat of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which it is a founding member. Nepal is also a member of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Bay of Bengal Initiative, both of which are international organisations. Known for their Gurkha heritage, especially during World War II, the Nepalese Armed Forces are the fifth-largest in South Asia. They have also made important contributions to United Nations peacekeeping missions.