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NAVIGATION
Kingdom of Nepal
GOVERNMENT
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Country name:
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conventional long form: Kingdom of Nepal
conventional short form: Nepal |
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Government type:
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parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy |
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Capital:
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Kathmandu |
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Administrative divisions:
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14 zones (anchal, singular and plural); Bagmati, Bheri, Dhawalagiri, Gandaki, Janakpur, Karnali, Kosi, Lumbini, Mahakali, Mechi, Narayani, Rapti, Sagarmatha, Seti |
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Independence:
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1768 (unified by Prithvi Narayan Shah) |
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National holiday:
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Birthday of King GYANENDRA, 7 July (1946) |
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Constitution:
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9 November 1990 |
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Legal system:
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based on Hindu legal concepts and English common law; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction |
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Suffrage:
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18 years of age; universal |
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Executive branch:
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chief of state: King GYANENDRA Bir Bikram Shah (succeeded to the throne 4 June 2001 following the death of his nephew, King DIPENDRA Bir Bikram Shah)
head of government: Prime Minister Lokendra Bahadur CHAND (since 11 October 2002) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the prime minister elections: none; the monarch is hereditary; following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the monarch note: King BIRENDRA Bir Bikram Shah Dev died in a bloody shooting at the royal palace on 1 June 2001 that also claimed the lives of most of the royal family; King BIRENDRA's son, Crown Price DIPENDRA, is believed to have been responsible for the shootings before fatally wounding himself; immediately following the shootings and while still clinging to life, DIPENDRA was crowned king; he died three days later and was succeeded by his uncle |
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Legislative branch:
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note: Nepal's Parliament was dissolved on 22 May 2002 and elections are scheduled for 13 November 2002
: bicameral Parliament consists of the National Council (60 seats; 35 appointed by the House of Representatives, 10 by the king, and 15 elected by an electoral college; one-third of the members elected every two years to serve six-year terms) and the House of Representatives (205 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve five-year terms) election results: House of Representatives - percent of vote by party - NC 37.3%, CPN/UML 31.6%, NDP 10.4%, NSP 3.2%, Rastriya Jana Morcha 1.4%, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 0.8%, NWPP 0.5%, others 14.8%; seats by party - NC 113, CPN/UML 69, NDP 11, NSP 5, Rastriya Jana Morcha 5, Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal 1, NWPP 1 elections: House of Representatives - last held 3 and 17 May 1999 (next to be held 13 November 2002) |
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Judicial branch:
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Supreme Court or Sarbochha Adalat (chief justice is appointed by the monarch on recommendation of the Constitutional Council; the other judges are appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of the Judicial Council) |
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Political parties and leaders:
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Communist Party of Nepal/United Marxist-Leninist or CPN/UML [Madhav Kumar NEPAL, general secretary]; National Democratic Party or NDP (also called Rastriya Prajantra Party or RPP) [Surya Bahadur THAPA, chairman]; National People's Front (Rastriya Jana Morcha) [Chitra Bahadur, chairman]; Nepal Sadbhavana (Goodwill) Party or NSP [Bhadri Prasad MANDAL, acting party president]; Nepal Workers and Peasants Party or NWPP [Narayan Man BIJUKCHHE, party chair]; Nepali Congress or NC [Girija Prasad KOIRALA, party president, Sushil KOIRALA, general secretary]; Samyukta Janmorcha Nepal [Lila Mani POKHAREL, general secretary] |
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Political pressure groups and leaders:
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Maoist guerrilla-based insurgency; numerous small, left-leaning student groups in the capital; several small, radical Nepalese antimonarchist groups |
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International organization participation:
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AsDB, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, ICC, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO (correspondent), ITU, MONUC, NAM, OPCW, SAARC, UN, UNAMSIL, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNFICYP, UNIDO, UNIFIL, UNMEE, UNMIBH, UNMIK, UNMOP, UNMOT, UNTAET, UPU, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTrO (observer) |
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Diplomatic representation in the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador-designate Jai Pratap RANA
chancery: 2131 Leroy Place NW, Washington, DC 20008 consulate(s) general: New York FAX: [1] (202) 667-5534 telephone: [1] (202) 667-4550 |
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Diplomatic representation from the US:
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chief of mission: Ambassador Michael E. MALINOWSKI
embassy: Panipokhari, Kathmandu mailing address: use embassy street address telephone: [977] (1) 411179 FAX: [977] (1) 419963 |
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Flag description:
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red with a blue border around the unique shape of two overlapping right triangles; the smaller, upper triangle bears a white stylized moon and the larger, lower triangle bears a white 12-pointed sun |
ECONOMY
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Economy - overview:
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Nepal is among the poorest and least developed countries in the world with nearly half of its population living below the poverty line. Agriculture is the mainstay of the economy, providing a livelihood for over 80% of the population and accounting for 41% of GDP. Industrial activity mainly involves the processing of agricultural produce including jute, sugarcane, tobacco, and grain. Textile and carpet production, accounteing for about 80% of foreign exchange earnings in recent years, contracted significantly in 2001 due to the overall slowdown in the world economy and pressures by Maoist insurgents on factory owners and workers. Security concerns in the wake of Maoist activity, the June massacre of many members of the royal family, and the September 11 terrorist attacks in the US led to a decrease in tourism, another key source of foreign exchange. Agricultural production is growing by about 5% on average as compared with annual population growth of 2.3%. Since May 1991, the government has been moving forward with economic reforms, particularly those that encourage trade and foreign investment, e.g., by reducing business licenses and registration requirements to simplify investment procedures. The government has also been cutting expenditures by reducing subsidies, privatizing state industries, and laying off civil servants. More recently, however, political instability - five different governments over the past few years - has hampered Kathmandu's ability to forge consensus to implement key economic reforms. Nepal has considerable scope for accelerating economic growth by exploiting its potential in hydropower and tourism, areas of recent foreign investment interest. Prospects for foreign trade or investment in other sectors will remain poor, however, because of the small size of the economy, its technological backwardness, its remoteness, its landlocked geographic location, and its susceptibility to natural disaster. The international community's role of funding more than 60% of Nepal's development budget and more than 28% of total budgetary expenditures will likely continue as a major ingredient of growth. |
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GDP:
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purchasing power parity - $35.6 billion (2001 est.) |
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GDP - real growth rate:
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2.6% (2001 est.) |
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GDP - per capita:
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purchasing power parity - $1,400 (2001 est.) |
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GDP - composition by sector:
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agriculture: 41%
industry: 22% services: 37% (2000 est.) |
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Population below poverty line:
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42% (FY95/96 est. ) |
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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
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lowest 10%: 3%
highest 10%: 30% (1995-96) |
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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
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37 (1995-96 ) |
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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
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2.1% |
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Labor force:
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10 million
note: severe lack of skilled labor (1996 est.) |
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Labor force - by occupation:
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agriculture 81%, services 16%, industry 3% |
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Unemployment rate:
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47% (2001 est.) |
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Budget:
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revenues: $665 million
expenditures: $1.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (FY99/00 est.) |
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Industries:
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tourism, carpet, textile; small rice, jute, sugar, and oilseed mills; cigarette; cement and brick production |
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Industrial production growth rate:
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8.7% (FY99/00) |
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Electricity - production:
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1.454 billion kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - production by source:
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fossil fuel: 10%
hydro: 90% other: 0% (2000) nuclear: 0% |
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Electricity - consumption:
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1.431 billion kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - exports:
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95 million kWh (2000) |
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Electricity - imports:
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174 million kWh (2000) |
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Agriculture - products:
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rice, corn, wheat, sugarcane, root crops; milk, water buffalo meat |
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Exports:
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$757 million f.o.b., but does not include unrecorded border trade with India (FY00/01 est.) |
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Exports - commodities:
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carpets, clothing, leather goods, jute goods, grain |
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Exports - partners:
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India 48%, US 26%, Germany 11% (FY00/01) |
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Imports:
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$1.6 billion f.o.b. (FY00/01 est.) |
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Imports - commodities:
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gold, machinery and equipment, petroleum products, fertilizer |
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Imports - partners:
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India 39%, Singapore 10%, China/Hong Kong 9%, (FY00/01) |
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Debt - external:
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$2.55 billion (FY00/01) |
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Economic aid - recipient:
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$424 million (FY00/01) |
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Currency:
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Nepalese rupee (NPR) |
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Currency code:
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NPR |
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Exchange rates:
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Nepalese rupees per US dollar - 76.675 (January 2002), 74.961 (2001), 71.094 (2000), 68.239 (1999), 65.976 (1998), 58.010 (1997) |
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Fiscal year:
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16 July - 15 July |