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 48.4% of Nepal’s population and a lot of the country’s cultivable land and covers 17% of the total area of Nepal. The Terai also includes the big cities: Nepalgunj, Birgunj, Janakpur, Bhairahawa, and Biratnagar. The hilly region covers 68% of the total area of the country and it supports 44.3% of the populations. This region includes Kathmandu, Pokhara, Patan, Gorkha and Jumla. The mountain region covers 15% area of the country. This region supports 7.3% 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.
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